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Transmission Service: First Attempt

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Kajtek1 
#1 ·
I would like to do a full transmission service (pan and tc) myself. I had the only tranny shop in town do it several months ago and wasn't happy with what I saw nor with what they charged. I did see that the old fluid was very dirty which I why I want to do it again.

I have everything needed, I think, except for an infrared thermometer, which I have ordered.

DIY is pretty straight-forward.

Torque rotation is counterclockwise if you are under the car and looking toward the engine?

What sort of drain plug is on the TC?

How many people do the tranny service using ramps? That is what I have at my disposal. A lift would really be nice, but...

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
Drain plug on TC is same as Pan. Same torque and takes the same washer/seal. My suggestion is to measure what you take out and put the same amount back in. Then you can drive car until transmission is fully warmed up when doing final level adj. You can 'calibrate' an old 1g plastic milk bottle (or other translucent container) by adding 1 qt of water at a time and marking the side with a sharpie.

Amendment: Just to make it as fool-proof as possible always check the level after servicing and before driving the car. It should be at least at the lower 25C level.

Don't know about issues with ramps as I did mine on 4 jack stands.

Good luck.:)
 
#3 ·
When I did transmission flush, the measurement with dipstick was very misleading.
Tranny had a saturation issue and I was adding the fluid 3 times on next 50 miles.
So sounds like measuring the drained fluid and refilling the same amount is much better start.
Make sure you care extra bottle in the trunk.
 
#4 ·
As an anecdotal story:

I just finished working on my friend's G500.

When draining the fluid, I only got 2,5 quarts out. Hmmm, not right...

Indeed, when RE-FILLING, it took the "Expected" 4,5 quarts.

I found a small leak out of the ETC harness Plug, and change to the updated bushing.

Soooo, I don't know if I completely agree with the "Replace what you drain" mantra.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I just did 2nd car W210 tranny service. On the first one I collected about 2.7 quarts from the pan, on the second close to 3 quarts, so I believe the 4.5 quarts is what mechanics charge the customers for, not what they put in the car. Even gallon from the converter.
The manual gives some tolerance what per my observation is about a quart, but there is long way from below 3 quarts to 4.5.
For the record, about 197,000 on the car and replacing 7 quarts brought no noticeable difference. Comparing to the first car where I did the service at 220k, the latest very likely had some fluid exchanged by PO. I didn't have any goo in the pan and besides dark dust (clutches) no contamination.
On my diesel I don't see converter lock engaging. Even at 80 mph letting the gas pedal go will lower rpm by about 300 with no change to the speed. I heard that those locks act only at high speed, so I will try next time at 100, but have you guys notice that?
 
#5 ·
I got 6 Liters out when I let it drain overnight (about 11 hours) E420 M119 engine.
best thing to do is measure accurately what you take out cold.

For the record the engine needs to turn clockwise when looking directly at front of motor.
 
#8 ·
Thanks to everyone for all the info. I will probably do the actual tranny service weekend after next when all the supplies have arrived.

I am having no issues with the transmission and would like to keep it that way. I ordered an electrical harness adapter and a pressure spring, both of which are known to have problems.

Should I keep them on hand for the day when a problem arises, or, change both items now as preventative? On the one hand if it's not broke..... On the other hand, if I'm already under the car, why not....
 
#9 ·
The spring and harness don't wear out, they just fail occasionally.
Meaning you have good chance than the new replacement might fail sooner than the old "well tested" one.
If you had gasket and filter replaced just months ago, you could reuse them as well.
I went through the trouble of cutting open filter removed from transmission with 220k on it and besides clutch dust all I saw was minimal aluminum shavings. Nothing that would judge the replacement, but since the filter come with the gasket and my gasket was 11 years old...
 
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