[Edelweiss]

Hi everybody,

I have just called the dealer to ask for a quotation for an oil change of my transmission. My car is a 230, from '99, automatic. Well, to my surprise, he said that my tranny actually doesn't need to flush the fluid because it is guaranteed for life. Hence, I should never worry about this. Hmmmmm .... Really strange. Never heard of smth like that before. My car has already 141k on it (km, not miles). That would be roughly 90k miles.
For a couple of days I have noticed that it changes the gears pretty badly. It might be due to the cold weather (it's ok, when the car warms up) or because of the MAS?
The "check engine" light comes on now and then, but lately it's more on than off.
The dealer told me that the MAS would cost me about 440 CAD. Is that a good price, or can I get a better price somewhere else?

Thank a lot for any answer.

 

[Kirill]

Insist on changing the fluid. It's not guarantied for life - it's guarantied for 4 years\50K miles, than if you transmission will fail - it's your problem, not Mercedes

Failing transmission is expensive - check this out:
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1202749&posts=9&fid=26

There is also an urban legend that if you already got a high mileage on a car you better not change transmission fluid at all. That's a BS too. It's based on a fact that some hight mileage transmission fail right after fluid change - that's because shop either used an incorrect type of fluid or new fluid had cleaning agents and started to dissolve old junk in the tranny and became abrasive - the way around this is to change the fluid again short time after you'll do a first change.

 

[430]

Like Kirill said don't listen to the dealer. Get the transmission fluid changed as soon as possible.

 

[Edelweiss]

Thank you guys. That's what I needed to hear. I'll get the fluid this afternoon.
Sorry for the confusion in my previous post. Instead of the MAS I was thinking at the MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor). It looks like I have to replace it eventually.

 

[Kirill]

i believe 300$US for MAF is a normal deal - i think it's plug and play (5 min labor) you can try cleaning it with electronics cleaner - if it doesn't help than you go for a new one. Do a search - some people posted their experience with failing MAF

 

[TXmudman]

Change the fluid and filter. On yours you can have the torque converter drained, too. This will get almost all of the fluid out of your tranny. If you need a cheap source for Mercedes fluid and filter, go to thepartsbin.com. Make sure that if you have a shop other than Mercedes change your fluid that they use the Mercedes brand synthetic fluid.

 

[TXmudman]

procedures

 

[Miked619]

While I was at it I also had did the diff. It wasn't as nearly ready to be replaced as the trans fluid (at 50k) but since you already got the car up might as well do it.

 

[Edelweiss]

Thanks again folks. I bought yesterday from the dealer all that I need. I got 8 liters (about 2 gallons) of synthetic oil. Yes, I am going to change the oil from the torque convertor as well. Kirill, I will try to clean the MAF but in the end, I am afraid it's time to replace it. Tomorrow, early in the morning I shall be at the mechanic. Will let you know how the car acts after the service.
Have a great week end. You've been priceless.

 

[darktek]

Mudman, I'm planning on changing my fluid/filter as well. Could you email me the full-size jpegs of the procedures you've posted? (the ones here I cant read) If you could, please include any instructions showing how to change the AT filter too. Thanks for any help.
-nick

 

[TXmudman]

darktek - 3/12/2005 11:37 AM

Mudman, I'm planning on changing my fluid/filter as well. Could you email me the full-size jpegs of the procedures you've posted? (the ones here I cant read) If you could, please include any instructions showing how to change the AT filter too. Thanks for any help.
-nick

You bet. I'll send them to you. There's no tricks to the job. To find your torque converter drain plug, pull off the rubber plugs on the bottom of the tranny near the flywheel. You'll be able to rotate the torque converter with a big screwdriver by the teeth on the front of the converter. You will need a torque wrench that can measure 70 inch pounds for the pan bolts. Be sure that you put some loc-tite on these bolts.

It's a good time to change that differential fluid, too. I think the procedure is on www.slk32.com if you need it. My fluid looked really dark and bad at 42,000 miles.

 

[TXmudman]

The tranny filter just pushes into the bottom of the transmission. Be sure that the old O-ring comes out with the old filter. If not, pull it out before you put the new one in. The new filter will sort of snap-in. On the end of the filter opposite the pickup tube, there are some plastic tabs that snap into the bottom of the transmission to keep the filter from moving/falling.

 

[TheBuck]

Please learn from my troubles. Last week I had to pay almost $4,000 for a new transmission. I, too, was told the same BS about seing "sealed" and "worry-free" for life. BS!

My SLK was doing the same things your was only it left me stranded in the middle of the road with a failed transmission. The transmission was so destroyed it was even difficult to push off the road.

Change the fuild and a transmission expert go over your car. You don't want the inconvenience and cost I had to endure.

Best of luck.

 

[Edelweiss]

As I promised I shall come with an update. I changed the tranny oil last Saturday and I am very happy I did it. The oil was very dark. The car continued tough to drive sluggishly and at 120 km/h on the highway or in the middle of intersections was impredictably losing power. Especially when the engine was cold. Hence, I changed the MAF sensor and everything come back to normal. No more hesitations. Check engine light turned off and, touch the wood, things seem to run smoothly now.
Thank you once again for your advice.

 

[ATYSLK320]

Hello Guys,

First of all I would like to thank you guys in this forum for all the information you've been sharing! Keep it up!
I'm a newbie and since the problem I just had with my SLK is with the transmission fluid, I decided to just post a reply to this subject and share my experience. Just 2 days ago when I backed out of my parking, I saw oil on the ground so I said oh no, you know I mean I was really pissed so I checked the engine compartment and it was clean, no signs of oil leaking or anything like that. A car I bought brand new in Nov. 2000 and now with only 27,500 miles on it. I took the car to a service station to be able to see from underneath and there it was, transmission fluid leaking! The service station mechanic immediately concluded that it's the gasket so I asked if he'll be able to fix that and he said sure for $80.00 so long as I bring him the gasket and the trans fluid so I was really tempted in doing that. I mean it's no major thing since it's just a gasket according to that mechanic but I said to myself I don't wanna risk that. What if it's something else so I decided to take it to the dealership where I bought the car from and I was told by the service rep that it's just minor that it was most likely an O ring and it'll take about an hour to fix. So I said okay and from my estimate I was looking at paying around $300.00 cause I know my car's warranty has expired. But guess what guys, they did the repair under warranty! Written on the invoice was "Goodwill adjustment per MBUSA". So I said Yes! I almost forgot, it was the auto transmission electrical connector and seal that were replaced.

ATY []