Mercedes E320cdi 722.9 DIY Gearbox oil change

Wighty

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Just finished the gearbox oil change . I'm embarrassed to say it probably took about 5 hours over yesterday afternoon and this morning .
God know where the time went , probably lots of tool retrieval from the garage and a healthy dose of second guessing .
I didn't intend to start yesterday , the plan was get the car on ramps as in the picture and check to see if I have a torque converter drain screw . So underbody panels off , popped out the rubber cover that hides the TC . Got my neighbour to turn the engine using a 27mm socket from the front drivebelt .
When I spotted the TC drain screw I shouted stop and intended to leave it there . I then thought it's taken 45 mins to get here already so I might as well crack on .
I undid the tiny TC drain screw and left it draining whilst I went to MB for a new £2.76 drain screw . The parts guy laughed and said that's the cheapest bill you will ever get here .
Back to the car , installed the new drain screw 10nm and then dropped the sump plug to drain the rest of the ATF .
After draining about 8L in total I unscrewed the sump bolts and discarded them for my new 6 single use bolts . Removed the gearbox filter and found that my clothes and the human body absorb ATF easily .
A thorough clean of the sump and magnets , installed the new plastic "level setting" tube . Fitted the new filter , cleaned around the edge of the gearbox casing .
Refitted the sump with a new gasket and bolts , torqued them to 4nm followed by 180 degree turn with no problems .
At this point I called it a day and left the car where it was .
This morning I got 9L of Fuchs ATF at MB spec 236.14 red fluid and made up my pumping device from eBay orders . In the pic you can see I used a 10mm gas isolating valve to allow me to trap the fluid in the gearbox whilst running the engine . (£13 in parts for the valve,pump,gearbox attachment).
I used a spirit level on the bottom of the sump and had to jack the front of the car up a few inches to get things level .
I pumped in nearly 8L then turned the car on and cycled through all the gears a couple of times . I then pumped in another half Litre . I fiddled with the icarsoft for an hour (very stressful !) because I couldn't find where the transmission temperature was in the menu , eventually after searching YouTube I found it .
So with icarsoft plugged in and hanging under the car , I cycled through all the gears again, left the engine running whilst in P and got back under the car again . Disconnected all of my pump tubing and just left the adapter a isolating valve hanging out of the sump whilst watching the gearbox temp rise to 45 degrees C .
When it hit 45 I opened the valve and about half a L of fluid drained out , when the fluid stopped running smoothly and began dripping I quickly unscrewed my adapter and installed the sump plug at 22nm .
I'm now covered in Voltarol to ease my aching body .
I'll refit the under panels in a couple of days after a leak check , but so far everything looked OK under there .
I had done a 5g box a year or so ago , but for me this was stressful doing it first time . I could probably bring my time to 2+ hours if I need to do it again .
Anyway I now know a little more about the car and saved a few quid (not a great deal of £ but I wanted to test myself )
Total cost about £108 ?
Included 8L of Fuchs oil (already had 1L) an eBay pump with gearbox adapter and isolating valve , MB gasket,filter,bolts,TC plug .
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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Well done Wighty, how did you confirm you fully drained the heat exchanger of old oil as well?
I had no plans for doing that buddy, stress levels were at maximum anyway :D , I'll just have to make do with the 8+L of old oil that came out
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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:eek: wow thats a lot of work for an oil change :shock:

back in the day when I had mini's all you had to do was crack open the sump plug - let the oil out - replace sump plug - change filter and fill - 20 mins start to finish :D

Darran
That's modern cars for you :D
 

Capra

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Well done Wighty, does the oil that you fill the gearbox with fill the TQ as well?

These MB's take a lot of fluid, 8L for the ATF and another 8 or so for the engine!!
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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Well done Wighty, does the oil that you fill the gearbox with fill the TQ as well?

These MB's take a lot of fluid, 8L for the ATF and another 8 or so for the engine!!
Thanks buddy , yes the fluid is half in the TC and half in the sump (ish) with a Litre in the oil cooler I believe
 

Capra

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Thanks buddy , yes the fluid is half in the TC and half in the sump (ish) with a Litre in the oil cooler I believe
Does the transmission feel any different now, I suppose if there were no issues with levels it shouldn't. I would like to do this in the future, but just having the weekends free is a gamble.
 

steveq

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Hi,

Well done and great photos.
It is a bit stressful and does take time particularly as there is a lot to think about in terms of bolts, torque, filling procedure, temps, etc.

With the 7G+ with Stop/Start there is the added hassle of an electric pump over the TC drain bolt hole. That has to be disconnected, unbolted and removed to drain the TC.
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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Does the transmission feel any different now, I suppose if there were no issues with levels it shouldn't. I would like to do this in the future, but just having the weekends free is a gamble.
It feels slightly crisper , but it felt pretty good anyway at 95k . This is the 3rd ATF change .
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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Accomplished at least?
Some of the future big engined cars I would like to own requires that I hurry up and get learning , because I'll never be able to afford to get someone else to do the work after I've bourght one :D
 

Capra

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Some of the future big engined cars I would like to own requires that I hurry up and get learning , because I'll never be able to afford to get someone else to do the work after I've bourght one :D
If I'm keeping mine I do want to be able to do the servicing, but at the moment I'm happy to pay someone else. On previous cars I've done what I could, but never owned at auto before. I don't even know where the fuel filter is!!
 

ajlsl600

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:eek: wow thats a lot of work for an oil change :shock:

back in the day when I had mini's all you had to do was crack open the sump plug - let the oil out - replace sump plug - change filter and fill - 20 mins start to finish :D

Darran

tech helping us out again. i used to do a lot of ford gearbox,s when younger,a lot younger.! i could have one out AND in in 45 min. and overhaul the thing in an hr. .inline box that is ,how things have moved on. lucky if you can see the damn box in an hr .. doing my ml next week when bits arrive ..looking forward to that !!!!!
 
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Wighty

Wighty

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tech helping us out again. i used to do a lot of ford gearbox,s when younger,a lot younger.! i could have one out AND in in 45 min. and overhaul the thing in an hr. .inline box that is ,how things have moved on. lucky if you can see the damn box in an hr .. doing my ml next week when bits arrive ..looking forward to that !!!!!
If you pick me up in your plane I'll help buddy :rolleyes:
 


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