Hi All-

I was driving in for the holidays when I noticed a large cloud of white smoke come out of the rear of my truck. (2000 ML430) I immediately pulled off the interstate to have a look, and the bottom of the ML was covered in fluid- checked oil, pwr steering, - both were fine. Truck drove and moved fine- no slipping, strange noise or other indication of anything being wrong. If I had been driving at night, I would never have known anything went wrong at all. Looks as though it came from the transmission- didn't want to risk anything, so called tow truck and had it towed to a good indie about an hour away, he looked at it today and said that they could not find any leaks coming from the transmission but it looks as though it came from the top. He doesn't have the dipstick to check, but seems to think that the last time the trans was serviced that it was overfilled, and that it just vented the excess. Trans was dealer serviced (fluid and filter change) at 60k. Current mileage is 86k.

I'm kind of lost here. If my trans was overfilled, wouldn't it have vented before this?? What is on the top side of the trans that could have failed- brake/shift cable or electrical connector? I really don't want to risk an out of warranty trans replacement.

Any help appreciated. I am having the truck towed across town to the dealer to have the level checked and replenished if necessary, and to see what they can find, but the local dealer is not known for their great service dept., and I don't want to get hosed. Unfortunately I don't have any other options.

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2000 ML430 86k
2000 C280 Sportline 100k
'86 420 SEL 178k
'91 Audi 100 179k
'88 BMW 750il 167k
'83 300 SD 167k (sold)
'79 300 D 78k (sold)