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  #1  
Old 06-12-2005, 09:39 AM
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Exclamation 1986 420SEL Leaking Transmission

I have a 1986 420SEL in mint condition. It has 100K on it. A month or two ago I noticed that there have been a few drips here and there in my garage. It's red so I know it's transmission fluid. I just had a transmission flush and refill a week ago. When I'm driving the transmission is fine and shifts appropriately, but sometimes when I park or go into reverse, it rolls a tiny bit before it catches itself. I went to the service center that flushed the transmission and they said it is full, so I know this is not the problem.

Is anyone familiar with this or know what I should do? Since it seems like a minor problem, isn't there a stop leak formula I can purchase? Anyone, thanks for your help. I travel a lot and would hate to see something happen when I'm 300 miles from home.

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Old 06-13-2005, 02:18 PM
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I had my step-son pull his car into the garage when we first picked up his '86 420SEL with just over 100K miles. When he pulled out, there was a HUGE puddle of Transmission fluid. Turned out the pan gasket needed replacing (don't know why it went all of a sudden like that...). Anyway, flushed the old oil out and replaced the filter and gasket. No problem since.
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Old 06-15-2005, 03:46 PM
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1986 420sel

These transmissions are prone to leaks after 100K. However, your problem could be an overfilled trans. If the mechanic topped off the unit without paying attention to the fluid temperature, he could easily have overfilled it. The unit should show full after driving the car at an operating temperature of 80C. Check it while car is at idle.
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Old 06-15-2005, 03:52 PM
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Lenny may have the answer - overfilled and the other gentleman who replied - pan gasket. Folks have a tendency to over-torques the pan bolts. You only need about 5 lbs on the torque bolts.

Now for the "flush" thing.

Flushing is typically used on systems that don't have drain plugs on the converter. MBs have converter drain plugs. I would never flush this type of system.

You remove a 5mm allen-head from under the converter and one from the pan and drain the entire system, negating the need for a "flush".

There's a filter on the other side of the pan.

The guys who did the flush didn't know what they were doing if they did indeed "flush".
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Old 06-16-2005, 12:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1991300SEL
Now for the "flush" thing.
Sorry, poor choice of words - drained.....

Geno.
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Old 06-30-2005, 11:37 PM
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Thank you for the info.
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Old 07-01-2005, 12:34 AM
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Do also check the dipstick tube o-ring at the front left (when viewing from front of car) of the transmission case right above the pan.

Definitely not uncommon for these trannies to leak after 100K miles, we usually just do a complete reseal when we have one leaking.
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Old 07-01-2005, 01:08 AM
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start with the easiest thing

always start with the easiest thing and work your way back..
1. you said you just had your fluid changed... this presumes that the mechanic did not tork the bolts completely or used the old gasket...so take it back and let them check it... this happened to me last month..


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