Shock,horror - posting this from at the Stealer
 

Yes its true, I am posting this thread from my laptop using the free wireless at the dealer and/or stealership. :D I am here for a valve adjustment because I decided I didn't want to deal with doing it myself this time. :D


I did do one small thing this morning myself though, I replaced all my tranny fluid and filter with Mobil 1 Synthetic!!! I never could have imagined how messy that job is, wshew. I did it in less than two hours though. I managed to get the torque converter plug to show up with minimal effort by turning the engine maybe 4-5" with a 22mm wrench on the PS pump bolt (I don't have a 27mm deep socket) I managed to get the drain plugs out of the pan and converter with not too much effort, but they were stubborn to break loose. Putting them back in I went as tight as I could muster with my little 5mm allen key and two hands, so I think it should be fine. I poured in 4 quarts of fluid, then started her up, let it idle a few mins, added a 5th quart, then ran it between D and R a few times, then added another quart and drove it around the neighborhood a little while, SO SMOOTH. Its far quieter, shifts are way smoother but very firm to engage, and the vast majority of that "shudder" I'd had when slowing down, now it is very minimal, or doesn't do it at all most of the time. YAY. Fourth gear engagement is also much nicer and firm, it used to slip and play around to engage, but now it does it very nice. Engageing Drive and Reverse are also much gentler, just like our 1983SD does it. Nice change!! Overall I am very happy with it so far...and I think I installed the pan and gasket right because there are no leaks...(yet) so far as I can tell, the pan is dry.
Also, there were no shavings or particles in the pan, it was clean, fluid was still sorta red, but there was varnish on the pan forming. I cleaned it all out.

Car should be running super well within a few hours! Valves/tranny/brakes all serviced now in the last 300 miles. :cool:

Now I think I'll sit here and surf/eat free food. :D

just curious how much for a valve adjustment from the local "stealership"?next time i bet you will attempt to do it yurself. :sun_smile

They want $150 to do it total. Includes gasket and labor. (and internet access....cookies...coffee.....and drooling on other cars in the showroom.... :D)

Considering I only do it once every two years or 18-20k miles....its not that big of a deal.

I'd do it for you for $100.

It'd cost me over $125 in fuel just to make a round trip from where you are ;)

Update:

It didn't cost nearly as much as it would have because appearantly not much needed adjustment or something, and it came out to $116! Yay! Man this thing runs smooth now :D No shaking or vibrations whatsoever!!!

anytime you can leave a dealership with a far better running car AND have a bill of only $116 dollars is a good day.

pawoSD, I just serviced my tranny last weekend, but could not find the torque converter plug .... I looked and did not find a link (at the time) that vectored me in to its elusive location. So...I only was able to drain and replace about 4 quarts. Of course my fluid looked good (relatively) and did not smell burnt...but I really wanted to get it "All" changed out. The reasoning was that I would rather partially change it twice to (mostly) exchange the old fluid than wait to find the torque converter plug and get it all at once. My 300 has 330k mi. on it and I really didn't know how long it had been since it was changed. Can you clue me in as to where the plug is and what if anything that I have to remove to gain access to it. Of course if there is a link that I just have not seen yet, could you direct me to it? Thanks
Tony

They just unhooked that pesky fifth cylinder. Cures the shakes every time.

Link for transmission fluid change tutorial, with pictures:

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/Trans7226Fluid

Danny

Turbo Tony,

That pictorial is nice but looks like a newer vehicle than most of us have. My '81 240 has "ribs" of cast aluminum around the converter drain hole, so rather than try and turn over my engine a zillion times trying to hit it just right, I used a large screwdriver and pried the converter around until the drain plug lined up. You have to be VERY careful so as not to break a cast aluminum rib, and it only moves a little bit at a time. I decided to do it that way rather than continually getting up from under the car and momentarily turning the key or turning the flywheel. Supposedly there is a remote start tool that you can use while under the car but I didn't have it. Also, from all that I have read on this subject, it is critical that you have the correct amount of fluid back in, not too much or too little, either one will cause shift issues. I drove around for 15 miinutes, went through the gears, etc. I would up having a little too much in so I sucked out the excess with my MityVac. Handy tool.
I used all Mobil 1 Trans fluid. Noticed an improvement, but not as dramatic as pawoSD.

You did it backwards! You should have had the dealer do the crappy job, ie trans fluid change. Then did the bread and butter job, ie valve adjustment yourself. :D

Changing trans fluid is a job I can't stand. I did it once, next time off to the dealer.

Just a bit of info for the future don't tighten the trans pan bolts to much. Torque spec is really low like 10ft pounds. If you tighten them to much you risk warping the pan. I'd rather leave them a little loose then snug them up if they leak.

I have to say that the last time I did a tranny fluid change (two weeks ago) it was quite a mess. I did find particles in the pan aswell...little black granules. what is this a sign of?

Oh I didn't tighten the pan bolts too much, I used my small 3/8" drive wratchet with an extension and 13mm deep socket to do the pan bolts, and a 5mm allen key to do the plugs. I put my hand on pretty much the hub of the wratchet (didn't use any handle-amplified force) to tighten the pan bolts, so as to make sure I didn't over tighten them. I was lucky that it was windless outside for the first part of the job, but I still got dripped on a few times, the whole $##@ valve body just keeps dripping!!! It got on my face, hair, and ALL OVER my hands, it looked like I was a surgeon, with the red fluid and all :D

Also, I don't know why you all say to remove that big crossmember, its completely unnecessary to do so, just remove the plug from the torque converter and let it dribble into a pan off the crossmember, then wipe it off, I didn't spill any nor get any on me during that part, it was the pan part that was messy. As for finding that pesty little plug on the torque converter, mine also has that small opening with the "aluminum ribs", I tried using the key/starter to slightly move the engine half a crank at a time, but got sick of that, so I just put my 22mm wrench on the PS bolt and gently moved it an inch or so at a time, and kept going under and looking. Finally it came into view, I nudged the wrench a tad more, and it was nice and perfectly lined up. Then I proceeded to drain it. :D All in all it went pretty smoothly. Had I not wasted 35 mins finding that drain plug and getting it and the pan plug out the whole job would have been barely over an hour. Total fluid put into the tranny from empty was exactly 7qts. Sounds about right? Now I have 3 bottles left.

The mobil 1 really is great though. Its nice and smooth feeling now and shifts much better. I still think I am going to adjust the bowden cable a little though, if I don't use more than lightly touching the throttle its in 4th by 22mph. Is this normal? I'd like to drag 4th out to at least 30mph or so...somewhere higher than 22.

Sounds like clutch disk particles, does your tranny slip?