I need a new transmission for my '78 300D. Reverse gear is just about gone. It will move the car on level ground, but won't back uphill. I tried tightening the adjusting nut, but it was already tight.A local boneyard specializing inMBZ says he has one that appears to be a recent rebuild.($850) Is there anything I can look for to validate his claim? It looks like it will run about $2250 to have a reman unit installed, vs.~$1200 for a used unit. I hope to keep this car a long time, the engine does not leak or burn oil or smoke, and I just rebuilt thr front end. I bought the car a year ago for $800 and am into it for about $4300 now. Of course, since I bought this one, I have seen at least a dozen in better shape for less than I am into this one, but I am still happy with it. I would hate to install a used unit only to have it fail in a couple of years so it would be nice to have a way to inspect the unit as to servicability prior to purchase. thanks, D

davidg,

I put a rebuilt auto trans in my 300SD for about $1200 a few years ago. You should still be able to get a rebuilt trans for about the same so I think $2200 is too much.

Of course I think $1200 is too much for a used unit unless you get a long warranty. If the used unit gets thru the warranty period, chances are that it will go a lot farther.

You pays your money and takes your chances.

P E H

Several years ago, I had a transmission installed in that was from Mercedes Benz and rebuilt by them.

It cost about $1600 and the owner of the shop that ordered it said that Mercedes was reducing the price on parts for the older cars to reduce their inventory. I don't know how you would find out if theyare still doing it but it might be worth inquiring about it. They might be less now.

Whaddya got to loose? Dump in a can of the stuff.

Trans-X is leathermang's fix for all things bad in the realm of automatics.

He swears by it...and because of that, I'm going to give it a spin in a ratty old GM turbo-hydramatic of mine that's leaking like a sieve. But first, I just gotta give these 17 staples holding my belly together a chance to do their thing...too bad Trans-X cant fix that.

IF Trans-X doesn't work, rather than buying an unknown quantity auto tranny from a boneyard, I'd keep an eye out for a running donor car with the trans you need. That way at least there's a way to tell if the doggone thing shifts without having to do the whole swap-out.

Boneyards are notoriously unscrupulous and, if the replacement is a lost cause, it may be difficult to get any satisfaction.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Trans-X is designed to dissolve varnish built up in the auto trans... which can affect the shifting because the hydraulic actuators on the clutch bands are engaged by hydraulic pressure.. thus if a passage is partially blocked then the engagement can be slow... which is the same as ' riding ' the clutch on a manual... and causes much much faster wear...
However, if the reverse gears are actually damaged the Trans-X will not help them....
On the other hand, on my 1981 wagon they were sounding very bad when I bought the car and over the 20,000 miles I had it I saw (heard) no change in their sound...
The Trans-x is cheap... and it would be interesting to see if it fixed your reverse problem....if the reverse band is not engaging with enough force due to varnish it certainly could help...
If you decide to try it... use two cans... these MB 's have more fluid in them than some cars....and give it several hundred miles to do it magic....
Of course the usual rules apply to NOT OVERFILLING THE TRANS... so you need to suck out the amount you want to add of Trans-X....

one vote from the east, um...midwest..(forgot I moved)..

I took the advice and tried Trans-X in an 81 td and got the hard shift knocked down and smoothed out. Why varnish was causing a hard shift instead of a sloppy one is beyond me, but after the Trans-X and a few hundred miles, I actually had to adjust the vacuum modulator to tighten up the shifts.

Now I am dealing with an 83 TD and it has the sloppy 1-2, and 2-3 slip condition. need to get under it and adjust the vac-mod ..((scratching my head to remember..counter-clockwise to firm up shifts..or is it clockwise?..hm..))

Must be the aftereffects of the hard 70's flaring up again.


Do or do not, there is no try. Frank

__________________
'85 white 300SD - "YCAGWYW" as in: "You Can't Awlays Get What You Want."
'85 gold 300D - "Pain"..for sale, as in..Anyone want to date my Ex-wife... I'll Pay !!
'83 300td - "Tumblin" as in "Dice"
'81 black 300TD Fenix, risen and sold, now residing in NJ

I bought 2 cans of trans-x this eve. It is labeled trans-x for trucks and the label on the 32 oz. can says it will treat 10 qts. of fluid. I think my tranny holds 7-8 qts of fluid, and the can says not to overtreat the fluid. Does it come in smaller cans for cars? I am inclined to use only one can. I looked over the reciepts saved by previous owners, it seems the original trans. was replaced with a rebuilt model in 1989 at about 120,000 mi. Since then, it was serviced(fluif and filter) at130,000 ('91) 139,000in '93, 155,000 in97, and I just did it again in jan this year. Tranny is very quiet in operation, and car has only about 20,000 miles in the last 6 years. Here's hoping it is just gummed up. It does act like it is slipping in reverse, not like the band is broken. I will put the trans-x in tomorrow and take it for a ride this weekend and report back. Do you suppose it would help to circle an empty parking lot in reverse for a 1/2 hour or so?Stay tuned for the further adventures of gretel the 300D

today I siphoned off 1 qt. of tranny fluid, added 1 qt. trans-x, let it idle for a couple of minutes and checked the fluid level, and shut it off. I did this at work, so an hour later at quitting time, I drove home(5 mi.) It seemed to be better already, but I really couldn't believe it had enough time to work. After dinner I thought about taking it for a spin,and went to an empty lot and drove ina circle in reverse for 5 min by the clock, then straightened out stopped and applied the brakes and fuel simultaneously. It spun the tires against the brake! I checked it against a sloping driveway, and it backed up it fine, though it did take about 2or 3 seconds to engage. Now I am wondering, should I back off the reverse band adjusting nut until it slips, then tighten until it grabs again? My previous attempt at tightening the nut(prior to trans-x) resulted in me advancing the adjusting screw about 1/3 of a turn. Will damage result if this is too tight? Anyway, after about 7 mi. of driving, my reverse gear works again. much better to spend 6.99 than about $1500. thanks!

Another Trans-X success story!

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Leather or RLeo,

Do you think Trans-X would help me? My '80 300SD tends to stick in 3rd gear when first driven from cold. Once it shifts into 4th after a mile or so, it works perfectly after that.

The trans was rebuilt about 50K miles ago and I use Mobil 1 trans fluid and change it every 25K.

Where is Trans-X available? Does Pep Boys, Auto-Zone or National Auto sell it?

One other question: Do I leave Trans-X in all the time or change the trans oil after a certain time after adding it?

P E H

PEH,
At the present, I've never personally used Trans-X...but, based on Greg's advice will be doing so in the very near future on a sour GM turbo tranny.

The GM has a leaking front pump seal that basically allows the converter to drain out on the driveway after the engine has shut down.

I've never been a fan of 'snake oil' pour-in fixes but Greg swears by the stuff plus, the evidence in this post supports his claims too. I was getting geared up to have the tranny pulled out of my '72 Buick Centurion when Greg and I crossed paths and he recommended a can of Trans-X. I've got nothing to loose and everything to gain.


I can't answer this but, I'll look on the can of the stuff that I have at home and see what the instructions say.

Regards,
Randy

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

PEH,

Sticking B2 piston, maybe? B2 is engaged in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, releases as K2 engages for 4th. If it was slow engagement of K2 clutch I imagine it would flare. Does that make sense to any tranny pros out there?

Jerry

PEH, I have found it at most normal auto shops ..... I put this into all manual trans autos when I buy them... because most trans are not serviced nearly as well as you are tending to yours... While I can not imagine varnish build up on YOUR trans it is a cheap shot at a potential problem....
I usually put two cans in , run it several hundred miles and then replace the fluid and filter . However, on that 81 with reverse noise I did put one can back in and leave it.
Anything sticking due to varnish has the possibility of being fixed with this stuff...and trying does not cost much money compared to hardware fixes....