Automatic transmission oil

[garygilbert]

Hi,

How much automatic transmission oil does my car take?

Is their 1 or 2 drain plugs, if 2? is the second drain plug behind the flywheel?

What oil would you recommend?

cheers.

 

[rapide]

ATF oil

Hi, have look on the "opie oil" web site for quantity, spec ,price etc, fuch oil was the factory fill! have a look! if its a 5 speed 722/6 box it will have only one drain plug for the box only and a dip stick tube ( no stick you have to buy one, e.bay) 7 speed no tube, drained and filled from underneath, both different oils!

 

[garygilbert]

cheers good man. its 5 speed and yeah, no dipstick, so bought one on ebay, hot and cold marks

 

[mobi]

Following all the advice about changing auto box oils I decided to have a go on my 1998 C200 petrol auto.
Firstly the drain plug has a T30 torx socket which stripped out rather than undo, a hammer and chisel few moments cured this problem. Then comes .the six screws that hold the sump up to the block (also T30 torx). 5 were tight but gave way, not the last screw.! Mercedes decided to hold the sump pan up to the block using shaped aluminium blocks to fit into the lip around the edge of the pan and be pulled up tight to the block with a 6mm torx head screw.
Steel screw in an aluminium block means serious corrosion after a while, certainly after 15 years and boy ,was this screw corroded.! Nothing would free it off, the torx key snapped, the screws are hardened so drilling was out, so I had to resort to breaking the screw complete with block which was corroded on by forcing it from side to side, all the while being covered with hot oil leaking from the sump.
Eventually it came away and I could drop the sump pan and then remove the broken stub of screw from the block leaving me to remove the broken screw from the block,believe me it was REALLY in there.
After cleaning up and fitting the new filter,sump pan and fresh oil a road test proved it all worthwhile, no more jumping when going into first or sometimes sticking in one gear up to max revs before changing, it drives like a new car, but beware, it's not always plain sailing, as I found out. It may be a good idea to try to undo each screw holding the sump one at a time and then nipping them up until you are sure they will all come undone before you drain the oil and have the sump hanging half down as I did and then realizing you have reached the point of no return without being fully prepared. BE WARNED, !!

 

[Pathfinder]

Did you fit a new gasket?

 

[mobi]

Yes, I fitted a new gasket as well. Strange thing though, when putting in fresh oil it only took 5 litres not 6 1/2 as advised Warmed up engine, put it through all positions several times but still showed full. Went out Saturday for a drive of around 70 miles when I could hear a slight whine when pulling away through the gears, when I got home I again checked the oil level and found it to be about 1 1/2 litres short which I immediately put in to bring it up to full.
I presume you should check the level with the engine running and after going through the gears a few times, ? Hope I haven't done any damage.! What do you think. ?

 

[initialbdriftracer]

got mine done last week. took 8 litres.
I used semi synthetic auto box oil. fully synthetic would have been better but its £8 per litre.
the semi is, £27 for 5 litres.

 

[Pathfinder]

Yes, I fitted a new gasket as well. Strange thing though, when putting in fresh oil it only took 5 litres not 6 1/2 as advised Warmed up engine, put it through all positions several times but still showed full. Went out Saturday for a drive of around 70 miles when I could hear a slight whine when pulling away through the gears, when I got home I again checked the oil level and found it to be about 1 1/2 litres short which I immediately put in to bring it up to full.
I presume you should check the level with the engine running and after going through the gears a few times, ? Hope I haven't done any damage.! What do you think. ?

How much oil did you manage to drain?

 

[rapide]

mobi and gear box oil!

Hi, everything i have tried to undo on my 230 has broken off! brake pipes and hoses, body fittings etc must have been robots that fitted them up in the dark!
I have all the stuff for the gearbox service but getting over cancer treatment i have not got the stamina at the moment and the thought of stuff breaking off well!, i am trying to way up if a car thats worth £600 even if like new! is worth all the effort! I may just drop the oil from the converter and box and refill I think by the time the box has had it it will be time to move on to another model! Did you drain the converter! up to 1999 they had a plug! thats where the other 2 litres is. all just my thoughts ,i might try one sump bolt if i get underneath, on the other hand i may not! If it works dont try and fix it!. I am also in reigate! small world all the best rap

 

[mobi]

Yes, I did drain the converter as well but as a lot of the oil drained out over me and the workshop floor when the sump partly dropped it was difficult to measure just how much DID come out, but at a guess it was a full 5 litre can full plus about 2" in a bucket as well. Must be about 6-7 litres.
All seems well at the moment, another annoying thing is that I can't buy just one torx driver (T40) to replace the one I broke I have got to buy a whole new set.! Hey Ho.

 

[Pathfinder]

Yes, you can buy a single T40 torx socket at many tool outlets on line.

 

[rapide]

mobi and gear box oil!

Hi Mobi, do you fancy servicing the gearbox my car! I have got all the bits!

 

[Miffy]

Hi Mobi, do you fancy servicing the gearbox my car! I have got all the bits!

your going to drive to glasgow for an oil service?

 

[rapide]

miffy and oil change

Hi Miffy, he says in his post that he is in reigate my town, i could go via glasgow to warm up the box i suppose! only joking of course!

 

[Pathfinder]

You could drive up here to glasgow after the oil change and I can dip it for you, top up if necessarry?

 

[oigle]

Hi,

How much automatic transmission oil does my car take?

Is their 1 or 2 drain plugs, if 2? is the second drain plug behind the flywheel?

What oil would you recommend?

cheers.

To answer your question - no drain plug on TC so can't just drain it easily. The remainder (about 4.5 litres) will drain via the sump plug. There is a process to flush out the TC which holds about another 4 litres. You should pull the sump off and clean it out (sludge) and give it a new filter. You'll need a new gasket too.

 

[Miffy]

Hi Miffy, he says in his post that he is in reigate my town, i could go via glasgow to warm up the box i suppose! only joking of course!

Oops, I thought you was talking to Pathfinder at the time, my bad

 

[grober]

Picky I know---- but why do people call it gearbox oil its gearbox fluid since its more akin to hydraulic fluid than engine oil surely? I can make this mistake myself sometimes :Oops: but try to use the correct terminology if I can. The original stuff came from Sperm whales way back in the dim and distant past I believe.

 

[Pathfinder]

If you remove the fuel pump fuse and crank the engine for a few seconds, the centrifugal force will throw some out of the flywheel. Do this a couple of times to get some more out. It worked for me.

 

[JimM]

Picky I know---- but why do people call it gearbox oil its gearbox fluid since its more akin to hydraulic fluid than engine oil surely? I can make this mistake myself sometimes :Oops: but try to use the correct terminology if I can. The original stuff came from Sperm whales way back in the dim and distant past I believe.

A person after me own heart!

But I am quite old and grey-haired, and in my day everything was "oil". Brake oil, engine oil, gearbox oil, hair oil, hydraulic oil, clutch oil later...

So it's a hard habit to break, and in addition we old'uns resent young'uns changing the name of things just for the sake of it, or so they can say they invented something.

So I and many others like me still like "oil" much much more than "fluid" which can be anything that flows, from mud to perfume.