1987 W124 230E (M102 engine) 190,000 km (105,000 miles)

Hi all,

This is my first post with a query. I'd like to say what a great resource this site is, and I've learnt much from members' experiences, problems and solutions. I'm doing more and more work on my car, and enjoying the break from the desk job.

Now to my problem. Following my Haynes manual recommendation for 36,000 mile service, I drained the transmission and torque converter, changed the ATF and filter, replaced the gasket with a dealer one, and tightened pan bolts to 8 NM.

Positives: I've never done this job before. The car was shifting fine, and shifts even nicer now. The fluid was still red but had a brown tone to it, and the filter was dirty, so glad to have done this service job.

But woe is me: there were no leaks before, and there is now a gasket leak. I noticed some corrosion on a small area of the outer lip of the pan, but it didn't affect the mating surface where the pan rim meets the gasket. It looks like the gasket slipped very slightly at the corroded area on reinstallation and now ATF is dripping from there.

I thought that 8 nm torque on the pan bolts may not be enough, so I've tightened it to 10. Slowed the drip, but it's still there.

The questions: maybe tightening the pan bolts will work? What's the maximum torque you've ever applied to the transmission pan bolts? And, it looks like I may need to drain the tranny and check the gasket. Sob. Is it OK to save the new ATF and re-fill the tranny with it when I've checked the gasket? Or are there risks?

Is there anything else to look out for/be aware of? Please help, the wife needs the car and I'm in the "there was no leak before and you've 'fixed' it and now there's a leak" dog box -- when preventative maintenance goes bad.

Cheers
John