who said maintenance never hurt? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pdxman · #1 01-15-2003, 08:39 PM

Murphys law always catches up with me...Changed the tranny fluid recently as I never knew when the last time it was changed by previous owners. Thought it wouldn't hurt even though the tranny has never given me any indication of a problem. Shortly afterwards (within a 100 miles) it has started to slip and is getting worse. It can hesitate engaging into gear when cold and sometimes will act like going into neutral at a highway speed.

It does improve when car warms up.

Whats up with this? I read in archives where others say that new fluid can remove varnish that actually had been protecting seals, etc...

I drained the torque converter when I changed the fluid and put in what I was told the recomended type: DextronIII with Mercon

Car is a '79 240D with 225k. Realize at that mileage the tranny has probably lived its life, but didn't think it would give up the ghost after trying to help it out!

suginami · #2 01-15-2003, 08:49 PM

A transmission can slip if there is not enough fluid in it.

pdxman · #3 01-15-2003, 10:20 PM

The fluid level is correct.

I was going to take this car over the coast range this weekend, but now may have to rethink that. How far along is complete failure away?

leathermang · #4 01-15-2003, 10:53 PM

I have used TRANS-X for 20 years with great success.... I do not believe in the "varnish" protecting anything.... I do believe it can gum up very small holes very necessary for the hydraulic functioning of the transmission...
If you don't want to look like a Newby,,, go the other post like this one and hit " edit" and then click on " delete"....

PDXman, Did you ever participate on a Subaru Forum ?

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Whoever dies occupying the most web space wins...

pdxman · #5 01-15-2003, 11:28 PM

What is Trans-x?

Could my problem be particulates that loosened and plugging something? I would think that the filter would catch these.
Part of my inquiry on the problem is it's relation to the tranny fluid/filter change. It just seems too coincidental that since it worked so well before the change and now is having the problem.

Nope, not on any Suburu boards. I've had Suburu's before but that was before the internet. I have been on the Ford diesel board though. Another good group of people over there too!

Oops on double post...never did that before and didn't know how to remove.

rwthomas1 · #6 01-15-2003, 11:51 PM

Trans-X is a tranny-rebuild-in-a-can additive. It contains seal softening and swelling agents to help them seal again and restore function. I believe you drain off about a quart and add the quart of Trans-X. Leave it in for 2-300miles and then drain the pan/converter and put in fresh fluid. The idea is that if you leave the Trans-X in it continues to swell/soften the seals past the usable point. Put in fresh fluid and you are on your way. Hopefully.... Its a cheap deal so why not try it?? RT

pdxman · #7 01-15-2003, 11:52 PM

TXBILL, in your first post in this thread you mentioned that you did not think the '79 240D used vacume to control the tranny.

Come to think of it though, about the same time this has been happening my door locks stopped working. If this car does use vacume for tranny, it might be causing the problem. How many lines are we talking about here?

Richard Eldridge · #8 01-15-2003, 11:52 PM

The tranny of my 90 300D began to slip around 120K, and I took it to Helmut and Herman, a couple of austrrian guys that run an indy shop here in Miami.

They changed the fluid and filter and adjusted the bands and it has worked perfectly for the last 24K miles.

The old fluid has a rather burned smell to it and looked more brownish-red than red. I suppose someone should have changed it earlier: the PO perhaps.

At least I know that I can trust these guys, since it was slipping pretty bad and had they been less honest and more like the local Aamco shop, I could have been diddled out of a grand or more.

#9 01-16-2003, 12:20 AM

Your car shouldn't have vacuum going to the transmission. All I can say is to take it to a good transmissions shop or independent shop to have it looked at. That way you can have a professional look at it, and tell you what the problem is. You might have a problem with the tourque converter, since you drained it.

I am just speaking out of experience when my tourque converter broke, and caused the front pump to break also.

leathermang · #10 01-16-2003, 12:41 AM

RT is correct... but read the label because some cars need two quarts to be at the specified strength... my 1981 TD did... and I just pulled two quarts out like RT mentioned... This is something I do with most any auto trans car as soon as I get it.... I drive it a couple of hundred miles....then change the fluid and filter....

md21722 · #11 01-16-2003, 01:18 AM

Sometimes I forget myself, did you check the tranny fluid at the right temperature, with the car running and in Park??

If the fluid and filter were really dirty, I would check it again and replace as necessary.

Good luck.

The Warden · #12 01-16-2003, 03:15 AM

Is Trans-X available at auto parts stores, or what? I don't think I've seen it around before...

My tranny's happy, but I have no idea when the last time the fluid was replaced was, so I'd like to do that at some point. However, I've never done an auto tranny fluid change before. Is there by chance a write-up on this anywhere? Ideally, I'd like to do a flush, get all of the old fluid out, and go to synthetic (either Royal Purple, if available, or Redline).

Any suggestions on how to go about getting all the fluid out? Again, if there's a complete write-up already posted, I'd love to see it...thanks!

{added in edit} What type of fluid's best? The person who started this post said that Dexron III was recommended, but looking in my Haynes manual, it says that Dexron II is recommended. Of course I can't find anything in the owner's manual

pdxman · #13 01-16-2003, 07:28 AM

TXbill, I don't have the vacume lines you mentioned and therefore conclude it's a mechanical tranny.

I have checked the fluids at their temperature and pretty close to level parking. What are the tolerances on these? If it was, say, a 1/2 qt over or under would the result be drastic?

If I can find it, I may try the TRANS-X.

Kyle Blackmore · #14 01-16-2003, 08:51 AM

Hi Pdxman, I have had shifting problems with my 300D for about 60,000 miles, when I first bought the car it would barely climb a speed bump.It was down a 1/2 liter of fluid, I topped it up as I left the PO's place and it started shifting almost normally right away. I believe your tranny has an adjustment to change the shift behavior but doublecheck your fluid level first.Check it after a highway drive of 20 minutes at least. My tranny is a semi-auto now (almost rebuild time) and will slip if left in D,I manually hold S to keep it in 3rd gear,on a big hill starting off I'll let it shift to 2nd and then slip it back into L to hold 2nd then to S to get 3rd. Takes a little practice but it's worth it, if I can baby this engine and tranny to 500,000 km (391,000 km now

)it will get a rebuild then to go till 1,000,000 km.A local indy shop will rebuild a MB tranny for about $1800 Cdn as long as it isn't broken just tired,a friend paid $2600 for an Explorer tranny rebuild.So when it starts slipping just drop down a gear and you should get a few more miles out of it

md21722 · #15 01-16-2003, 09:26 AM

The min/max marks on the dipstick are sensitive to about a few oz.

Not sure the effects of being 1/2 qt over or under, maybe someone else does.