99 E300 D turbo W210 722.6 transmission

I've been having transmission issues off and on since the summer. Basically I would put the car in Drive and it would go into first gear but when I accelerated it would never shift out of first. The solution was to stop, put the car in Park and then back in Drive. The car would drive as usual. This would happen once a week or two and once the car shifted to second gear everything was fine. Also, as a note the car would not start in 2nd gear or even manually shift gears while this was happening.

As the weather got colder this would happen more often and I started to notice that it only happened when the trans was cold and never hot. For example, the problem would show up in the morning if it was in the 30's or low 40's overnight. Once the trans made the shift to second gear it was fine. If I stopped somewhere on the way to work the car would work fine but if it was cold that day I'd have the problem heading home from work. After looking through a number of posts in the forum I figured I needed to check my trans fluid level and that is was probably low. This caused me break out in a "what no dipstick?" rash. Anyway, since the car has 115k miles a trans fluid change would be a good place to start. Well that was last week and I was trying to find the time to do it. Since I plan on having this car for a while I figured the aamco power flush was a good idea. Also, I didn't have a good experience at the local MB stealer.

Well it's been colder here in NJ this week and the shifting problems have been daily and even when the car was warm. The first place that had an appointment was Aamco and i took them up on their free diagnostic which only came up with the following:

1. Transmission Fluid level was OK.
2. Transmission Fluid was burnt and had metal particles in it.
3. Car showed a few ODB II codes but none tranny related (i.e. headlight out that i know about).
4. Transmission showed no ODB II codes. I told them to do this but i'm not sure they really did.
5. They noticed the shifting problem as well as a slipping problem which i only felt yesterday.
6. I also noticed (with the headlights on) that if the D (Drive) was not lit up the car wouldn't shift. If I wiggled the shifter to light the D then it would shift fine.

At this point I was remembering what all the other posts here said regarding transmission problems: don't wait get it looked at right away!

My choice was leave it at aamco who assured me he could do the job or get it to a MB dealer (tomorrow) who could read the top secret codes and fix it (whenever they could fit me in). The wife was at work and I need my car sooner than later so I left it with aamco. Labor in and out is $495 then parts and labor to fix are extra.

So here are my questions:

1. Any idea what the problem could be? I've read about electric kit replacement and some kind of air/vacuum filter on the tranny itself. Could it be electrical because the 722.6 trans is electric shift.
2. Metal particles are not a good sign but does that mean a tranny rebuild?
3. Anyone else have similar problems and what happened? Should i just get the complete rebuild now (not my first choice)?
4. Other opinions or comments?

1) guessing game until trans module is read. OBDii wont read those codes. Is not vacuum related; is electronic.
2) some metal particles are normal in the 722.6; depends on how many, how big, etc. Fluid does not follow past fluids in terms of appearance when burnt, etc. Different rules apply, read this article by "Gilly". http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=702285&postcount=8
3) read codes before rebuild.
4) go somewhere where they have SDS and can alos read the trans adaptation values. That will tell whats going on with it.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

There is a decent chance Aamco will put the wrong fluid in. Opinions are mixed on how much it matters, but MB has a specific fluid recommendation. If I were planning to keep the car a long time, I'd go to an indy or the dealer and get the right fluid put in and SDS read. It would cost a bit more perhaps, but then you would really know.

I have a filter kit and the correct 722.6 oil (actually the 722.9 oil which MB also recommends) sitting waiting for the next service, myself. It's shifting fine, but with 105k on the fluid I'm suspecting it could be better. Yes, the dipstick is annoying, but you can make one if you hunt down the measurements here. I bought one through Phil.

What the heck are they charging you $495 for if parts and labor to fix it are extra? To change the fluid and filter?? That's nuts, absolutely nuts. Probably close to double what even your dealer would charge.

Get the car out of AAMCO ASAP...hopefully they haven't done more harm than good. This is an issue best left to the dealer. If you don't like/trust your local dealer bring it to another one in your region but I would never bring one of these to AAMCO...ever.

What part of NJ are you in? There are probably 3-4 dealers within an hour of you you could choose from.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Basically right now I am stuck where I am at aamco because, at this time, the tranny should be out. This forum is a great place to research so at a minimum I should know what needs to be done. The guy has been there for 20+ years and the mech does only tranny work so that is a plus. The only downside is no code reader.

For the fluid I already told him he needs the MB fluid and I'd help him get it to make sure.

The $495 is for the labor to drop the transmission, diagnose it, change the filter and fluid and put it back in again. Fluid, filter and other parts extra.

Does anyone have the MB DVD? I was thinking of buying it and if it has transmission stuff on it I'll pick it up and let them use it.

The upside to SDS and adaptation values is that it tells you which components are causing the problems with certainty and at a minimum you get those repaired.

W/O SDS you are dependent upon the skill of the mech doing the teardown to understand what tehy see and repalce the appropriate parts and in the end unless it is a complete rebuild you are left hoping they knew what they were doing.....

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

First port of call is to open the shifter unit and clean the contacts. It almost sounds as though the shifter is defaulting to '1'.

Metal particles aren't a big deal. They could have been there since the day the car was first driven. Change the ATF and buy a pan magnet.

Thanks TMAllison. Gilly's article is great and helps a lot. Hopefully the metal particles are not the big ones or the copper ones! I'm wondering if the fluid is even burnt at this point as it says the graphite can make the fluid appear darker. I'll take a trip over there tomorrow. The guy wanted to show me everything anyway.

Parrot of Doom, I'll have them check the shifter unit. Is that on the transmission or do you get to it inside the car?

Without the SDS reader he might as well be blind and tie his arms behind his back when working on a 722.6XX tranny.

Apparently it's water over the dam now but I never, ever would let them pull the tranny before at least having the codes read at the dealer and doing a fluid and filter change first. What can he see from removing the transmission that could not be seen from dropping the pan?

IMHO He's soaking you for $500 and knows it is just putting the foot in the door because I would bet you that you will be looking at $3,000-$4,000 for replacement with them. You should have posted earlier with the symptoms and we'd have told you that these electronic transmissions are not the same as the old style ones. So much of them is controlled by the electronics which have known flaws that the dealers can remedy relatively cheaply. You can always seek a second opinion if the dealer said it was unrepairable but once this guy has it out are you going to have him replace it broken and pay him $500 for nothing? No, he's going to sell you a rebuilt...period - I'd bet that was his plan all along. AAMCO...we call them scamco around here.

I know I sound like I'm scolding you...I don't mean to do that, I just want to warn others who might read this in the future...when you are having trouble with a 722.6XX, get the codes read first - pay the dealer or a specialty indi who has the proper scanner to diagnose it, usually it is about $100 if you don't have them fix it...once the codes are read you can see where to go from there.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

This is the part that would worry me. I have never seen any good trans with burnt fluid. Usually, the trans will follow the fluid. If it is toast, so is your trans.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

The problem is the fluid can look burnt (black) and be perfectly normal in the 722.6 with over 100K miles on it due to the graphite that the fluid will pick up. To someone used to working on other types of trannies the black fluid makes them think there is something wrong when there isn't.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Mine was darker than what came out of the can at 60K. I would say you could be right about that. I was assuming he sniffed it and it smells like burnt fluid. Wish he could confirm if it looks black or smells burnt. If it is the former, there is hope. If it is the latter, game over.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Its the very unit that the gear lever is located in. Lift the console up (put your fingers underneath the wood, near the mirror position lever, and pull up. Its in there.

Guide:

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=6722&highlight=switch

BTW this is what my fluid looked like at 168,000 miles:



It really was as black as it looks. Didn't smell though.

Mine was a dark brown color. Smelled kind of earthy, a little like 80/90wt gear oil of old. Collected 10 pcs of metal 1mm x 2mm x tin foil thickness. Was a pretty normal pan for 220K I'm told......as POD stated, they may have been there from day one.

I refilled with 7.5L of the newer 722.9 (G-tronic #3353) fluid and am happy with it.

Will change again in 60-100k probably as I drive 35k freeway miles per year and am pretty easy on it overall.

This fellow (different car/same trans) is in somewhat the same position as you are. His car is now at a local (to me) trans shop that does not specialize in 'sMB. I recommended privately that it go to our local dealer. The end of the 1st page shows some of the data that the trans module can provide if scanned. I think he got it from the first indie he went to. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=206778

__________________
Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)