92 300E Transmission Fluid - Should I?

[rusher]

what do you mean with "topped - off"?

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[rivcal4life]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stanley

My ex borrowed my 89 300ce... Took it to jiffy lube, last week... They "topped - Off" the tranny fluid... The next day I totally lost reverse!

Have you heard about the jiffy lube scams that were going on for a long time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI

Theres no saying theyre arent still.

[Brian_I.]

Can one of the experts here outline what is needed to do a transmission fluid change? I'm wondering if it's worth giving it a shot or taking it in to have done. No experience under the hood other than changing the oil a few times on other Benzes.

[ps2cho]

I currently have Dexron III in my transmission...and as far as I know...has always had it. 93k miles on it.

Can I still switch over to Redline High Temp Synthetic ATF or should I stick with Dexron III?

I am at roughly 30k miles so its getting close to a transmission change. I'm also getting a little hard shifting so I would like to change it at this point.

[treiberg]

Just another update...have probably driven another 500 miles since that one incident when it slipped badly and I thought I maybe had lost my tranny - never had it happen since. Makes me think my transmission is not in as bad a shape as I originally thought. I am just going to keep driving it. Who knows, maybe I am good for another 50k!

[berti_00]

JIffy lube is effing horrable and sh!it..... they changed my cuzins oil on his e46 m3 and left the plug loose and it came off when he was driving and it ****ed up his engine, pistons inside broke and pretty much the whole car was trash... STAY away from them

[Federic0W124]

why would you get your E46 M3 worked on at a jiffy lube
in the first place?

[timmyr]

hello to all. i have been doing some research on transmission fluid change for some time now, however i was hoping that maybe some of you could help me out with a few things. i managed to figure out that my transmission is a 722.433 using the russian vin decoder, however i have not been able to find any official mercedes benz document which provides the mb specified oil for this particular transmission, does anyone perhaps have any links? all i have to go by is other peoples posts. any help would be appreciated. and for TREIBERG... did the transmission fluid that you used, meet mb specs? has the slippage gone away? you can also do a search for the k1 piston spring replacement kit, from what i've read its helped a lot of people and is a pretty cheap fix. good luck

[treiberg]

I have now driven another couple of thousand miles and have had no problems at all. I am pretty easy on the transmission and kind of baby things along (no hard acceleartion, etc). I used a high mileage recipe (Valvoline MaxLife) that was Dexron III fluid which does meet the spec based on my research at the time.

[ps2cho]

^ I am about to put that into my 260E for its change. Glad to hear it is working out good.

[ohlord]

note the warning in the lower corner of the page.
You do not want to use 722.6 or 722.9 fluid in your old school transmission.
Dex 3 proper level,work clean,measure at operating temp,replace filter,make sure pan is level and torque properly when reinstalling.Drain the torque converter.
http://www.billsden.org/fileadmin/me...ducts_2005.pdf

Had no problems at 138mph with fresh Dex3 and 190k 300E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoLkd2HSJw8

[Real1shepherd]

Originally Posted by ohlord

note the warning in the lower corner of the page.
You do not want to use 722.6 or 722.9 fluid in your old school transmission.
Dex 3 proper level,work clean,measure at operating temp,replace filter,make sure pan is level and torque properly when reinstalling.Drain the torque converter.
http://www.billsden.org/fileadmin/me...ducts_2005.pdf

Had no problems at 138mph with fresh Dex3 and 190k 300E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoLkd2HSJw8

TheGerman made a good point (earlier in this thread), about Dex IID in the older w124 transmissions. He said Dex III is not 'backwards compatible'. I believe his information to be correct, along with the fact that present MB dealers don't give a crap about 15+ yr old cars and would happily sell you Dex III now, along with a new transmission down the line or better yet, a trade in.

And curiously, what's with you guys that are so interactive 'dependent' that you have to have a radio or music on at 138+MPH? I think the visceral effect of going 140MPH really ought to be enough of a rush. My old E type Jag would do an honest 160MPH and I sure as hell didn't want the radio going or any distractions....if for no other reason, I could listen for noises in the engine/drive train that might prove fatal at some point.

Kevin

Kevin

[timmyr]

hello to all again. to ohlord : what i find really annoying about this whole tranny fluid debate is that no where in the factory approved service products list does MB specifically state what MB spec tranny fluid to use in their transmissions. for example: for engine oils, it specifically says that the 1997 and earlier engines require the MB spec 229.3 or 229.5 engine oil. so judging by the factory approved service products list, it is safe to say that as long as we dont have the following MB transmissions: 722.6 and 722.9 we can use any of the oils from the list, regardless of their MB spec number? or would it be smarter to just try and find some transmission fluid with the MB spec 236.6 / 236.7 ?

thanks

[Brian_I.]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but where can you buy the right transmission fluid? Does it have to be from the dealer's parts dept. or can you buy it at an auto parts store?

[Wulf]

Originally Posted by Brian_I.

Sorry if this is a dumb question

I was about to ask the same question.

Is Dexron IID easy to find? (I assume I need that for my '90 300TE).

[Real1shepherd]

Originally Posted by Wulf

I was about to ask the same question.

Is Dexron IID easy to find? (I assume I need that for my '90 300TE).

You can find it at the auto box stores.....you can start with NAPA. They can order about anything. Or, you can take the plunge and buy Amsoil with the right MB specs for your transmission. I still haven't made my mind up on that one.

Kevin

[Brian_I.]

Originally Posted by Real1shepherd

You can find it at the auto box stores.....you can start with NAPA. They can order about anything. Or, you can take the plunge and buy Amsoil with the right MB specs for your transmission. I still haven't made my mind up on that one.

Kevin

I've checked with the two brands of auto parts stores in my area (Autozone and Kragen's) and neither carry Dexron IID. They have Dexron III and up but no IID.

[Kestas]

I don't think you'll find Dexron IID anywhere. It's an old spec. Dexron III should be backward compatible to all previous Dexron specs. I use Dexron III for my 95 E320. It should work fine in your transmission.

[Brian_I.]

I've read several posts on here that say it is not backward-compatible. Just as an aside, I checked my transmission fluid level last night (with the car running but in P) and it was really low, way below the first line.

I have a slight leak underneath my car that I always assumed was oil, could it be I'm actually leaking transmission oil/fluid? Anyone else have this issue before? Would it be worth it to do a fluid/filter change at this point? The last record I have of transmission service was in 2000 when the car was at 90k mi, today I have 173k mi on it.

[timmyr]

hey brian,

as far as the leak goes.... put some cardboard underneath the car, preferably white, an see if its a redish color then its probably ATF, brown could be engine oil or perhaps power steering fluid.

as far as the low atf fluid reading goes... did you take the car for a drive before taking the reading, IF NOT(assuming the engine was not at normal operating temp) then from what i've learned and read it is ok for the trans fluid to be low.(see the MB Service manual library, section 2710)

the haynes manual suggests that you take the car for a short trip(about 10 miles) do not turn the car off, and then park on level ground, and then check your atf fluid level.

good luck

[Brian_I.]

Originally Posted by timmyr

hey brian,

as far as the leak goes.... put some cardboard underneath the car, preferably white, an see if its a redish color then its probably ATF, brown could be engine oil or perhaps power steering fluid.

as far as the low atf fluid reading goes... did you take the car for a drive before taking the reading, IF NOT(assuming the engine was not at normal operating temp) then from what i've learned and read it is ok for the trans fluid to be low.(see the MB Service manual library, section 2710)

the haynes manual suggests that you take the car for a short trip(about 10 miles) do not turn the car off, and then park on level ground, and then check your atf fluid level.

good luck

Thanks for the advice Timmy. I will try the cardboard and see if I can do my own analysis of the fluids. I will also take the car out for a spin before re-checking the AT fluid next time.

[Brian_I.]

Just wanted to chime in to say I completed the fluid/filter change and everything went smoothly. I was a little intimidated at first to attempt this but after doing it I feel much more confident in working under the car. I wanted to say thanks to Quicksilver for the write-up and for everyone else that gave tips and what not on how to do this job right.

The oil I pulled out was really dirty (almost brown) but surprisingly, the pan gasket, the filter and the pan itself were all in good shape (still replaced the gasket though). My drain plug on the pan wouldn't budge so I just drained the torque converter first (that was a pain to get to the drain plug by myself) and got about 80% of what came out of the tranny from there. Then I just slowly drained the rest from the pan itself and got the remaining 20% of fluid. I must have been really low on fluid because I barely filled up a 1.3 gallon container with the old fluid (which would be just over 5 quarts). I put in 3 qts and started her up running through each gear (as recommended) and then put in another 3 qts to top it off.

Took it for a spin and it was very noticeably smoother when shifting gears, not perfect but much improved from before.

Thanks again guys, total cost for supplies and what not was just under $100 and took me about 3 hours to do. I just feel good that I did it myself and I know everything was done clean and done right. I can't imagine most shops you would take it to and spend upwards of $300 would pay nearly as much attention to the details.

[Wulf]

I'll need to do this on mine soon. Which transmission fluid did you use? What year is your W124? Did you find the filter and fluid at a local store or did you order online?

[Brian_I.]

Originally Posted by Wulf

I'll need to do this on mine soon. Which transmission fluid did you use? What year is your W124? Did you find the filter and fluid at a local store or did you order online?

I used Valvoline MaxLife Dex/Merc fluid that I purchased from PepBoys (local auto parts shop) for $5/qt. Picked up 7 qts. but put in 6 so far. Will let it sit and then test drive it again before topping it off completely (my dipstick reading is showing full with just 6 qts in)

The filter I ordered from autohausaz.com for like $11. I also ordered the pan gasket ($5) and also a new torque converter plug and washer ($2).

My wagon is a '92 3.0L (722.358).

[Wulf]

I searched to find out which transmission I have and it seems to be the 722.358 as well. Is there an easy way to confirm this info? Is there a number on the transmission or somewhere else under the hood?