$850 is for ten hours labor to remove and reinstall the transmission from Peter Schmid (www.peterschmid.com) the installer wanted to let me know that if any of the exhaust manifold bolts broke off, he would need to charge additional labor hours......which is understandable. two other merc Indy shops have quoted me $1,000 and $900 respectively to install the tranny from the rebuilder. I took time to view the posts on this forum for Peter Schmid and they come up a winner every time. 24 month unlimited mileage warranty is hard to beat.

My concern is they might consider my core "junk" and charge me the $500 core charge. however, MY REAL concern is that if there is a warranty issue, I have to pay to have the transmission removed, pack it and ship it to California and then have Peter Schmid ship out a new one....all the time the car is out of commission.

my indy priced a rebuilt tranny for $1850 plus $350 for a new torque converter. He has rebuilt over 500 of these transmissions. He says that on older mercs (pre 1992) he NEVER replaces the torque converter. well, I'm just not all that sure that that is a good solution. BUT for the additional $350 for a new torque converter, I can sleep at night. right now he is looking like the best over all solution financially.

going with my indy and having them install a new (reman) torque converter. I am going to ask my indy to flush the lines using the 5 quart bucket method. transmission repair is difficult on older (pre 1992) mercs due to the fact it is difficult to find anyone that a) knows the older merc transmissions and b) willing to do the job correctly. everyone is an "expert" when it comes to taking your $$$$$$. obtaining a tranny from an out of state source is risky to say the least, thus the decision to go with a local rebuilder. I'll keep the forum posted on the results of the repair....i'm still nervous about getting it done though......

Tell us how you like your "Re-Man".

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

My transmission man told me that the transmission flush machines were the best thing that ever happened to his shop. He won't even let a salesman that sells them in his shop. He sees flushed transmissions daily that have valve body problems. He does flush the coolers, but never the transmisssion.
We have a lot of people coming in our shop with "electrical" problems which are not electric, but valve body problems. In a lot of cases when we say has the transmission been serviced lately they may say, "Yes, I had it flushed at ??? last week". We send them directly to my transmission man. I'm not saying it will happen every time but is happens enough times to make it a problem. Drain all the fluid you can, change the filter, refill and drive it. This is what the transmissions were designed to have done.
My $.00 worth.
Paul

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

The local "scAAMCO" does this scenario all the time...
"Well we tried the Power Flush but we just couldn't save your Transmission...so its $1295.00 for a rebuilt unit plus you owe us $99.50 for the Power Flush"

Isn't that like Torturing me by Waterboarding and then charging me for the privelige AND the water used?

Ten hours to R&R a trans when you have access to a lift? Just, wow. I can pull a motor from a W126 w/ the trans attached in less time... on jack stands.

Unless the one from the Peter Schmid was inexpensive, sounds like you are getting hosed in the end.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]