little piece o' clutch in the tranny pan
 

Just serviced the trans 722.409, 170k- there was clutch flake about the size of an index fingernail in the pan, along with a thin film of grey silt. The silt was there the last time I changed the transmission fluid, and I take that as normal. However the clutch chip worries me. Should I be looking for a new transmission is what I would ask. Shifts fine currently.

Mr Delano,

You were on borrowed time because mine failed at 120kmiles.

Look for a new one? as in new(used one) one for the car, NO! A new one or rebuilt yes! The 722.3 to 722.5 are good for 120k to 160k miles. 722.6 is good for 170k to 200k miles

If you are a DIY'er, I would rebuild it. The rebuild kit for Mercedes transmission is about $240 bucks.

If you continue to use it, you will pit and scratch the mating "steel plates" in the clutch pack. See picture

If you decide to fix it, I can help you. It is simpler than my 722.5 which a active thread is going.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/321329-722-5-tear-down-side-start.html?highlight=722.5

Best of luck,

Martin

There is no set time or mileage at which a transmission will fail. There are just too many variables. How it's driven, city, highway, and how well it is maintained.

If it is still working normally, keep it serviced frequently and keep going down the road. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The main destroyer of a/t's is heat. For every 10 degrees above normal fluid temp the life of the fluid is cut in half. The fluid temp is not determined solely by ambient. Fluid temp will increase a little in stop & go driving, and a LOT when towing.

Hope this helps.

would you consider slow moving traffic, driving solo, A/C on and engine temp gauge at 98-100*C as transmission fluid torture? My tranny fluid is pretty pink and clean but shows overfilled when the system temperature gauge is 100 and shows below the cool mark when the car is started from cold in tx mornings

The 722.3/4 last longer than 160k...I've seen some members with 350k miles on them with only a reverse rebuild.

The 722.6 has documents showing that some taxi's have over 500k miles on them with nothing but fluid services.

So those #'s portray a very wrong picture. Yours was not the norm. A transmission failure at less than 150k is very uncommon. (excluding reverse bands).

Slow moving traffic like a traffic jam on the freeway won't be too bad, but full acceleration stoplight to stoplight on a hot day would certainly warrant more frequent fluid changes than would pure highway driving.

How do you figure on the 722.3? I have nearly 300k on my STOCK trans in the 300SEL. The SD and SDL both are around 250k. 560 came with a factory reman.

My old 300SD had 340,000 miles on the original tranny. the PO always changed the fluid every 30,000 miles though (i got the car w/ 301,000)