Draining torque converter?? w140
 

I was wondering if the s600 (1992) has a drain plug on the torque converter? I was thinking about doing this myself. And wondering how tough of a job this would be? What fluid would you recomend to replace the old trany fluid with?

Any tips, trick, or what not to do?


Thanks.

I'm pretty sure that you have the torque converter drain. I'd recommend Mobile 1 ATF, mostly because of other's recommendations here. I have yet to put it in mine, although I did recently buy some.

I plan to change it in stages, first draining and filling the pan, running for a few hundred miles, then dropping the pan to change the filter and draining the converter. I figure that if I don't drive it too far, I'm not likely to plug the filter with crap that the Mobile 1 might break loose.

Just to get a quick idea, how much trany fluid (qts) would it take to do the pan and torque converter?? Also how much do you think it would cost for a shop to drain the converter and pan and change the trans filter? If its outrageous I will do it myself.


I did a few transmission filter changes on my camaro I would imagine the basic idea is the same right??

Also lets say I used just a "regular" trans fluid would I use dexron III or what? would I use?

Regular would be Dexron 2 or 3. I don't recall the capacity, but I think it's six or seven quarts. Certainly not so much that the price of Mobil 1 is a real factor.

I don't know how much a shop would charge for the job. I do know that the dealer would charge too much for my taste, and I don't want to take it to a non-MB shop.

I believe the guy i bought the car from asked the mb dealership when we both took it to have the smog done at the time of the sale. I want to say the dealership said $425.00 :eek: I know working at a previous shop we charged around $125.00- $160.00 can anyone let me know if that sounds right?

I can believe 425 from the dealer, but I wouldn't pay that. I would pay less than $200 if I trusted the shop. Unfortunately, I don't.

I was hoping someone would chime in here on my idea of a partial change before the full change. Perhaps I just need to be patient.

I just changed oil & filter and drained the converter on my E320. Filter and pan gasket from Benz is about $50+7 qts ATF + 1hr labor @$100. You guys do the math.

Ok that doesnt seem bad if Im reading it right. It cost you about $160??? If so thats not actually to bad for mb to replace the trans filter, gasket, and drain and fill the transmission right??

It cost me the parts, I do my own labor. If I still was in the business, I'd charge an hour labor @$100/hr.

Hmmm I bet it would only take mb an hour worth of labor, but I could of swore they told the previous owner $425.00 and theres no way I would pay that for a transmission fluid and filter change.

I wouldn't pay $425 either. Was there additional work included in that figure? It's way high, even for a dealer.

They didnt mention any additional work, and my first thought was damn I can get a chevy tranny rebuilt for damn near that. I called a local pep boys just to get some kind of idea how much a regular place/ non mb would charge and they said between 125-150. So who knows.

So I'm not sure what Im going to do, my biggest fear is that if I did the work I would mess something up or damage something. Thats why I love taking it to a place and watching them the first time so I know what steps to do.

See my thread on ATF change. I don't know what gearbox you have but it can't be that different, mine is a 722.6

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=23969

I would recommend using only MB ATF. If you've ever done an engine oil change, you can do an ATF change. It will help to have a gearbox dipstick. Here is an image of the markings for the 722.6 box dipstick.

Please note that this dipstick may not be suitable for your transmission!

His transmission, like mine, is quite different. It has a dipstick, and MB does not sell the fluid.