Should the tranny fluid be changed?
 

Hey guys,

My 97 S600 has a 722.6 AT and Alldata states the following:

"The Transmission Type 722.6 is filled with a newly developed special transmission fluid and is considered to be "filled for life". No other fluid is authorized to be installed in this transmission, This fluid is not to be used in any other transmission"

Is this really true? What are the procedures to change/flush the AT fluid?
Thanks.

why do it, may void the warranty . What does the dealer say?

There would be no warranty after 10 years!!
I had a 97 C230 with the filled for life tranny, talked to my dealer and they refused to change the fluid, talked to my indy and he said better off leaving it alone, put 250,000 miles on the car before it was totalled in a rear ender, never had a problem with the trans, shifted like the day I bought it.
Lots of post about changing the fluid and not changing the fluid you decide

I suggest changeing out the trans fluid and filter in between 60k and 100k.
At first MB said it was a fill for life, but now they suggets changeing it out before 100k.

I heard MB modified their recommendations for new cars.... to change the fluid at 30K, then every 100K after that. The 30K services flushes out the break-in wear debris, then the transmission can see a more realistic 100K service interval from the fluid. Can someone verify this?

Personally, I'm with redcoupe and would recommend 60K-100K changes... especially if I plan to keep the car a long time and can do it myself.

kchemers appears lucky. Most of my friends who've had problems with their transmissions never changed the fluid.

OK I am going to come clean, I ignore all the extended mileage claims on fluids and follow my old well learned and proven mileage time lines:o
Good , I feel better now..... :rolleyes:I just don't own anything real new except my suburban and that has one of those "oil computers" I ignore that and stick to 3500-4500 miles

Change it !
I would let an M-B dealer do it, as the fill-level is very critical ( and you don't have a dipstick.
It's true, M-B now recommends one fluid/filter change @ 40 k miles.

I've seen the dipstick kits sold somewhere online which once again would easily enable you to check the ATF level in your "sealed" transmission. I'd do it in a heartbeat, wouldn't want to be kept in the dark about that.

I'm guessing MB decided to eliminate the dipstick in the first place because there where too many inexperienced "while you fill it up check under the hood" mechanics at gas stations eager to overfill, or add non-approved ATF, etc. Or maybe they just don't want anybody besides the dealer to touch that.

But bottom line is, the ATF needs to be checked, and replaced from time to time, along with the filter.

How do you remove the cap?
 

How do you remove the plastic cap on the transmission fill tube and can it be reused? Thanks.

Great, thanks for all the comments. I'll get busy this weekend. Are there any instructions out there to do this job?

You'll probably break it in removing it but they are cheap ~$1 if you want to replace it. If you have a new one in front of you then you can see how to remove it without breaking it.

The clip is not needed to cap the fill tube. As mentioned it might be good to have to keep the wrong fluids from being added by uninformed repair people. Also if you take your car for dealer service, then it would indicate no DIY "tampering".

glenmore
1991 300CE
2000 C280
1990 LS400

It's quite possible, given the syntax, that "filled for life" could mean:

Life of the vehicle, which will be subject to the transmission working.
Life of the transmission, which will be shortened if there's a lubrication issue
The remaining time you've been alloted on planet Earth, so how's the HDL/LDL thing going? :D