Hello All, I just finished doing a valve adjustment, changed motor mounts and shock as well as changed the transmission fluid and filter. Now the tranny doesn't work. In gear it will roll a few inches and stop and no more.
What could it be? I had also tried to change the transmission mount but couldn't get the bolt loose so left it alone for now. Is it possible I messed something up trying that?
I've been trying to get this car in shape to be my daily driver but am starting to get discouraged. One thing after another. Can't imagine it could be anything too complicated. Possible vaccum issue?
Any help greatly appreciated. JEFF

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1981 240d aka "The rust bucket"

It's an automatic transmission. I had also drained the torgue converter also if that matters. The torgue converter does get filled by the tranny right?

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1981 240d aka "The rust bucket"

Did you recheck the trranny fluid after letting it run for awhile, shifting through all gears manually. Does it engage in any gear?

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Dave
1983 300D Daily Driver

Yes, I checked the fluid as you described but will do it again tomorrow to check my accuracy. No, It doesn't engage in any gear. Hope it's just the fluid level. Thanks

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1981 240d aka "The rust bucket"

Check the vacuum line running down the pass. side to the trans modulator.Does your car have a bowden cable or pressure rod.Should be on the pass side also.Shift linkage also might be worth a look.Something probably got knocked off or shook loose.Don't get too discouraged it is probably not something major.

Something similar happened to me with my 86 300E... It didn't turn out well. I was doing all the maitnence as told to do, changed the oil, sparkplugs, air filter and got the tranny fluid changed, I only changed the trani fluid because I didn't know how long it had been in there with the past owner and might as well change it to freshen it up a little. The tranny worked 100% fine mind you... I got the trani fluid changed and about a week later, it just totally gave up. Wouldn't shift.... I got stuck on the freeway during a sandstorm! out of all times, because I was driving nomrally and it would just shift into neuteral, the only way I could get it back into gear was flooring it and getting RPM's so high that it would somehow catch on and get me to at least 2nd gear. there were somedays where it worked like normal when it was cold, but when it warmed up all hell broke loose and it had a mind of its own, shifting in wrong gears and not shifting at all and then working fine like nothing ever happened. I didn't understand why this was happening, all I did was change the tranny fluid. Now on the other Mercedes forums it casued a big ol debate on how you shouldn't change your tranny fluid if its been in there awhile and others who said you need too. when I finally could afford taking her to the mechanic, it ended up needing a new tranny!!! When he opened it up he said all the bands were broken and gears were messed up, but it worked 100% fine beforehand.... Still to this day with my 240D i'm hesitant to even touching that.... Or messing with it. I want to change it but i'm soooo afraid of going through all that again, and being a college student with no job at the moment I can not afford another 1,200$ tranny. Hopefully though you're not in the same situation.. I would advise checking the tranny fluid levels too, while it was being a skank (My 300E) I took her to a oil change shop and they said my tranny was a bit overfilled, so they drained some out and it worked just like it did before changing the fluid, but that was only shortlived and lasted about a week before going back to the crazy b**** mode lol Good luck and keep us updated! sorry I wrote a novel ... Oh also I've been wanting to get a vavle adjustment too, does it really give you more power? I've heard it makes the car feel totally different driving wise...

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2007 BMW 328XI

Jordaan: I suspect that your trans was messed up, the PO poured lots of trans-medic type stuff in it to make the seals work, when you changed out the fluid the seals shrunk back to normal leaky size, and the nasty revving and shifting stuff took care of the internals after that.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

You know that never crossed my mind! Thank you, now I have at least a suspect in that case.... I want to change the trani fluid on my 240D, but i'm very, VERY hesitant to do so... when there was a debate going on in the other Mercedes forums, people said that it was because metal shrills helped fill the gap and helped the tranny work, sounded like crap to me but w/e. Others said it was crap and that you should change it. It was crazy lol. thank god that's overwith. It was a bad time between my 300E and I too, since she didn't work and I didn't have the money at the time to fix her, I stopped caring and would still take her out and rev the crap out of the eingine. spilled stuff in the back and didn't bother to clean it... But after she was fixed I fell in love with her again. I would say I miss it but i'd be lying, the only part of that car I miss is the memories I had in it. They were some good ones! But new ones are to be made in my 240D.

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2007 BMW 328XI

When you change transmission fluid, you must keep everything ABSOLUTELY clean. Even wiping the pan with a cloth can lead to damage due to deposited fibers. If these get into the valve body, all sorts of things can go wrong. I suspect that many transmissions that fail shortly after service fail due to contamination.

Not certain how the filter attaches on this trans, but if it came loose when the pan was reattached this could cause the problems you described. Happened to Mr Goodwrench once when doing maint on a chevy truck I once owned.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

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

In all my 40 years, I have never heard a car described as a skank. My wife burst out laughing when I asked her what it meant, she's still in the kitchen giggling to herself.....

Well the one who did the trani fluid change was our mechanic... I thought it was his fault at one point because it's was fine until he did that, but it's overwith and I belive the additives were in the fluid already. glad someone found it funny, which is what I was aiming for with that . Although she was called a "ho" and a "whore" many times! This came about with my 300E when I had a jazz band performace one morning which was about 25 mintues away and the day before I had just washed her and cleaned her all up, she looked great. I let her warm up as I always did and she just died... out of nowhere. She was turning over just fine but wasn't catching... It ended up being her rely and ever since then I called her a "skank" and "ho" and all that, especially when the trani was going out! I guess it was just my way of venting by calling the car names. It cought on to my friend with his 300E when his had problems, so now if something were to go out on his car or mine, our initial response is: "Is she being a ho?" lol i'm still feeling around for the personality of this 240D though... even though it's a car. It's just more fun to think it has one, aye?

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2007 BMW 328XI

The atf was WAY low. Went back out this morning and checked it again. This time letting it warm up alot longer. Once I added the proper amount of fluid it worked perfectly.
BTW I just changed my motor mounts and engine shock and it's like a totally different car. Much smoother. I've noticed in other post people mentioning there engines vibrated more after doing the mounts/shock. Mine was doing this as well so I jacked it back up and tightened the bolts down again that hold the motor arm to the engine mounts. Presto! problem solved! Runs smooth as silk now. Maybe these people just didn't have everything as tight as they thought. Thought this might help someone. JEFF

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1981 240d aka "The rust bucket"