The broken piece is most likely jammed in the tube and is not going anywhere.
Did you pull the square stop that is between the cable and the scale?
Even if somehow the piece would drop down in the pan, it will stop on pump strainer.
Still good excuse to drop the pan, do pilot bushing and ATF refresh is you have not done it for some time.

 

I changed filter and gasket 25k miles ago, wasn't gonna do it again as I will replace the car next year.
I looked online and it seems that the opening of the filter is quite narrow so the plastic piece won't be able to go through it and the filter inside it.
A short metal cable that was on the plastic is also in there, hopefully firmly attached to the plastic but should it separate it should be caught by the magnet, if it is not made of aluminium.

I just inserted the cable and pushed it down to check the level. First time it went down easily, the second time it seemed to get stuck so I forced it down and twisted it at the same time and I guess that did it. When I pulled it out the bottom part was broken off. The pipe with which the filter is attached to the valve body is about an inch and a half in diameter so I presume there is quite a suction going on there but I'm still hopeful that I won't have to drop the pan, I really don't have time to mess with it. Not to mention the dealer doesn't even stock the parts so I would needed to wait a day or two to get the gasket and the filter. Ridiculous.

 

I just inserted the cable and pushed it down to check the level. First time it went down easily, the second time it seemed to get stuck so I forced it down and twisted it at the same time and I guess that did it. When I pulled it out the bottom part was broken off.

I looked at my trans dipstick and took these pictures.
The black plastic end easily unscrewed from the cable. Might help you decide if you can extract the wayward piece.

I don't think the tip broke off. You might of unscrewed the tip when you twisted it. The tip is made out of a nylon type material that is very flexible and is unlikely to break (at least on MB ones).

I have a Genuine MB transmission dipstick. The cable is crimped onto the tip and will not unscrew. I bought the MB one because I have heard of tips breaking/coming off of cheaper generic ones.

The MB dipstick cost about $45 TO $50 more than the ones on Ebay. Pretty expensive crimp, but the piece of mind is priceless!

 

The black plastic part has a larger square section at the top that is designed to lodge in a restriction at the end of the dipstick tube. It would take a lot of force to get it to drop into the pan. I would investigate how to remove the dipstick tube as it should be hanging from the tube. What caught you out is that it does not go all the way into the tube. You are supposed to push it in until it hits the stop. There will be 8 to 10 inches still sticking out. I think it just unscrewed from the spiral portion. With a bit of luck you might be able to open up the first turn a bit and stick the spiral back down the tube, turning it so it will draw the plastic part back inside, so it can be pulled out.

 

^^^^
I wouldn't really worry about it. Try what Nelbur suggested if you want. It you hear or feel the cable hitting the bottom of the pan, then you will know the tip is in the pan.

 

my take. until you remove the piece, you won't be able to check fluid level. as pointed out the tip stops in the tube.

so, this is the excuse to drop the pan, change the fluid and filter and new pilot bushing.

 

He intends to sell the car as is.
I can only imagine the face of whoever will do PPI during ATF check.

 

The car will be junked, nobody would buy a car with 150k miles (by the time I replace it) on it in Japan, where I live.
This car has been a money pit for me and I intend to spend as little as possible on it for the one year I will keep it hence my reluctance of doing yet another transmission service as I had done it 3 times already.

I drove the car yesterday and today and it is shifting and running fine so I hope it will stay that way.
I checked the cable again and it looks like it broke off right where it is attached and only the black plastic tip, about 7.5 cm long, is the piece that is stuck either in the tube or floating around in the pan.
The cable is useless now so I will need to buy another one for the wife's car, she drives an A class, another money pit.
It is MY 2003 with barely 90K on it yet we have changed the starter, combination switch, rear shocks, thermostat, CP sensor, engine mounts, etc. on it.
Currently the driver side window doesn't work very well, according to my StarDiag the Hall sensor is broken, I bought a used motor already hasn't had the time to install it yet.

The opinion that Mercedes cars between 2000 and 2010 were of sub-par quality definitely seems to be true in my experience.
I most certainly hope that the 2013 - 14 E350 BluTtec and B180 I will replace the E320 and the A class with will be much more trouble free than these two were.

 

The opinion that Mercedes cars between 2000 and 2010 were of sub-par quality definitely seems to be true in my experience.
I most certainly hope that the 2013 - 14 E350 BluTtec and B180 I will replace the E320 and the A class with will be much more trouble free than these two were.

IMHO W210 proved themselves to be reliable workhorses, that only W123 could beat in the past.
I read few reports that 350 Bluetec seized at low mileage due to motor oil sludge.
That on dealer-maintained cars, where it was not completly clear if the dealer used the best oil.
Anyway, MB seems to have ups and downs with part suppliers.
When on W210 I was using window regulators from older models, my 2008 Bluetec has few 20+ years old parts in it as well, as those manufactured in 2008 have tendency to break between fingers.
I am still impressed with wiring and plastic strenght on my father's 29 years old W124.
I can pull, twist, bend and wire insulation will not crack. The same with hose clips and similiar.
So good luck finding more reliable model than W210

 

So if I understand you correctly, your metal spiral has a piece of the black plastic still stuck flush in the end. If there is no diamond shaped piece of black plastic extending about 3/8" beyond the metal, then it must be stuck in the dipstick tube and will not be loose in the pan. The diamond shaped piece is a stop designed to stop the black tip in exactly the correct location to measure the fluid level.

There is likely a way to extract the black piece, but removing the tube might be the easiest. Given your situation, I would just drive it.

 

.... .The diamond shaped piece is a stop designed to stop the black tip in exactly the correct location to measure the fluid level.

I looked at the EPC and WIS and they both show a pipe that is the same diameter all the way through so I am not sure where the part is that should stop the cable hitting the bottom.
The dipstick I have looks like the one on the picture I attached and the tip that broke off is the one on top with the two marks for 25C and 80C.

IMHO W210 proved themselves to be reliable workhorses, that only W123 could beat in the past.
I read few reports that 350 Bluetec seized at low mileage due to motor oil sludge.

I can only speak from my personal experience but in the 11 years and 100K miles I have owned the car I have replaced an awful number of parts that shouldn't have failed or expected to fail at much higher mileage.
For instance control arm bushings, engine mounts, MAF sensor and the CP sensor shouldn't have gone bad at barely 60K. Or fuel pump at 90K. Or both tail lights at 100K, and I am talking about the inside circuit board. Or water pump at 110K. The list is very long and I don't want to bore you but I feel that the two W124s I had owned in the past were infinitely better cars, both of them reached over 250K with significantly less problems than the W210.
Two months ago the damn thing almost caught fire when the headlight switch shorted out and started to smoke like crazy. I removed the key from the ignition and the car kept running! I had to remove the entire switch, in the company parking lot, in order to drive the damn thing home. Currently the headliner is held up by 60 thumbtacks, on an originally $60K car. If that is not crappy quality I don't know what is.

As I have posted earlier I drove my friend's MY 2010 E350 turbo diesel company car two years ago with 150K miles on the odo and according to him he had no problems with the car, granted it was only 5 years old.
I did 150miles/hour on the Autobahn and it was rock solid. I will give it a try and see how it fairs, it could only be better than the one I am suffering with now.

 

I looked at my trans dipstick and took these pictures.
The black plastic end easily unscrewed from the cable. Might help you decide if you can extract the wayward piece.

Skippy

 

Just a thing you can try is a electric oil removal pump with small bore pipe on the end, just small enough to get it in the dipstick hole. Trial and error i am afraid.

 

Thanks for the pics guys.
I also took a picture of the end of my dipstick and it is clear that the black plastic piece is broken, a small portion of it is still inside the cable (see attached photo).
So, I can either try to extract the small piece by screwing in a wood screw or drill it out or I can just spring for a new dipstick. If the black measuring tip is available separately then removing the stuck piece would make economical sense. As for the broken off piece being stuck in the tube, the only issue, and the reason why I wanted to check the transmission fluid level in the first place, is that I have a small leak at the flex hose where the transmission cooling line is connected to the radiator. I have the replacement tube already and wanted to change it in the next few days, but now that the plastic is stuck in the tube it will be rather difficult to check the fluid level in the tranny. So I will see how difficult it is to remove the tube, according to the WIS there are 3 bolts holding it but access maybe an issue.

 

No easy fix it seems. The pan drop 'should' allow retrieval of the plastic tip and hose replacement though I do understand your reluctance to burn more time and money at this point.
I'd be inclined to drain the trans, drop the pan, reuse the pan gasket and filter the fluid prior to refill. It sounds like the pan gasket is not too old. Should get a new sealing washer, but that's pretty cheap.
Of course if you drop the pan be certain to examine the electric connector and perhaps replace it. I've replaced it with trans full, but had to radically raise the passenger side of the car to minimize fluid loss. It was uncomfortable to be under the car at that point.

Skippy

 

What a nice little cash earner, making these dip sticks.. Whats the mater with a solid dip stick .MB just love to make obsticals for owners .I think it is a bad idea to have these parts that part company in a critical area as the at box. I f i had one like the one in the picture i would bin it, and find one of the same length beforehand

 

I think other way around.
Per my observation -MB makes lot of things to protect the cars from stupid owners.
Lot of crucial sensors do have bolts that require safety bits, so no shade-tree Joe will pull it with screwdriver.
Limp mode is to prevent the transmission from total destruction some owners wouold attempt to do.
722.6 transmissions were desing as "lifetime filled" that is why you had seal on the tube and no scale. Than back in early 1990's when those cars were design, not too many cars would be on the road for more than 10 years/100-200k miles, so now when W210 proved themself hard to wear out, the predictable "life" of ATF has to double and created need for service.
Personally I would not complain much that my about 20 years old car still runs well and I have to spend money on dipstick after all those years/miles
Than for years I was using steel cable to measure ATF level. A bit harder to read and you have to calculate 6 mm difference with cable hitting the pan, but very doable even if you have to pay $2 for cable.

 

I like Trevor's suggestion to try an electric oil removal pump (or a manual pump like a MityVac). My MityVac creates a pretty strong suction. If you have access to one it would be worth the few minutes it would take to try.

 

I didn't understand first what Trevor meant but I thought about it and it is an idea to try. I have a manual extractor, I will see if it works. The only question is if the pipes that came with it have the right diameter to fit in the dipstick tube and the vacuum will be strong enough to pick up the piece, if it is inside the tube.

About Mercedes' philosophy, while the cars are under warranty owners will probably not do any repair, once the car is out of warranty the less the owners can work on the cars the more money the dealers make.

As for the W210 being a workhorse, I am sure the people who's got the rusting spring perch problem, the disintegrating harmonic balancer, or the broken window regulator would disagree with Kajtek1.
It would be interesting to see what the German taxi drivers think of the car as the E-class has always been the taxi drivers' choice for car in Germany and in many other European countries.
If Mercedes' advertising slogan is "Engineered like no other car in the world", surely they should be able to back that up with quality cars.
I had much less problems with my Renault Fuego, which has also traveled about 240K miles, than with the W210.

 

With any used car you need a good dose of luck to be satisfy.
When we know that early CPS and MAF sensors did not last, window regulators broke, MM and flex disks need replacement at about every 100k miles, I consider myself having good luck to MB brand.
Sure broken CV joint on one W210, at the time when dealer with $1200 price was the only option, or $500 radiator on the car Deplore is driving now did not me happy, but I bought those cars cheap enough to not to sweat it.
And again, the $100 sensor or hose does not count for me as a problem, especially after spending $5000 on Ford differential.

 

 

Now that's awesome Al Savage, thanks!
The only question is, is that an e-bay auction?

 

I'm fairly certain I grabbed that image and saved it from an eBay auction a year or so ago. But I've seen the image other places (forums) too.

 

Was the broken part removed from the transmission ? interested .

 

Not yet as the car is running fine and I didn't have time.
I will try your suggestion first, if that doesn't work then I guess I could try to remove the dipstick tube and get the piece out however it looks like access is an issue and I haven't checked the WIS yet. I will change the leaking cooling hose this weekend and then, if i have time, I will try the vacuum method but will have to ask the wife to help as my pump is manually operated.
I will post the result after I tried.

 

I own one of the large, six-quart Mity-Vacs with a bicycle pump type handle. I use it all the time, but there's not a chance that it would grab & hold that plastic piece and allow me to pull it back up the dipstick tube. IMO, the pan is going to have to come off to retrieve it.

 

Maybe try duct taping your dip tube to shop vac?

 

A shop vac would work only if enough air could get in from somewhere else. Since almost all the air coming into the trans is going to have to come down the same dipstick tube you're trying to get the part (and oil!) up, it's not the appropriate tool for this job.

 

I vote for a tube that will fit down the dipstick tube, taped to the end of the shop vac nozzle. Turn it on and push it down until it hits the broken tip and see if it will allow it to be pulled up. The oil extractor would work the same way, but a person is less likely to have an oil extractor.

 

How hard is it to remove the dipstick tube? IIRC, the top is attached to the back of the cylinder head then the bottom is probably just pushed into a hole in the trans housing?? I don't have the WIS handy but dipstick tube removal should be one step of transmission R&R...

Fred