JimM
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2012
- Messages
- 309
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Berks, UK
- Your Mercedes
- W210 E320 CDi Avantgarde Estate 2002
Again I am sorry for starting another thread if it's not needed, I have searched and read topics without clear answers for over two hours again and I'm tired of fruitless searches, so I have decided to start this thread, but by all means delete it if you think it's unnecessary or in the wrong place.
Be warned, as usual I go to detail to explain things - so that when I read it again in 20 years I will understand it all over again!
In several topics and in other forums most people say "stick with the MB oil, let MB do it", etc., and this is not a bad thing - until we know we will have to pay over £300 for a mere gearbox oil change using fairly standard oils (in my case). Then I tend to start thinking of alternatives.
For example, I also have a Volvo V70 with a very touchy autobox, and the oil for that is also "problematic", "dealer only!", over £300 to change it, etc., and solicits claims of gearbox damage when the wrong oil is used.
I cracked that one quite easily, by going to Eurocarparts, giving my car's reg, and they came up with 1 oil only, Comma ASW, and I bought and used it with absolutely no problems, and the gearbox recovered its former smooth gearchanges. Since then others confirmed that Toyota Type-IV is also the same JWS3309 spec as for the original Volvo oil too. And on the Comma bottle label, it clearly says "Volvo and Saab and Aisin Warner and Toyota Type-IV and JWS3309". The V70 has the Aisin Warner box ("ASW"). No, you can't put cooking oil nor Dexron-III in that.
So here I will try to help for the Merc model that I have.
But first: I am not saying to anyone that you should use this alternative oil for your own car whether it is the same as mine or not (OM613 engine).
I am just telling what I have found and what I am about to do, and my experiences, but I am merely solving my own car's problems.
So please check and follow your own intuition, Mercs are expensive to repair when things go wrong. I have thick skin and my car's not worth so much but I would still hate to lose it or ruin it.
The recommended MB oil for my auto gearbox is MD236.12 as I have seen on some topics? And it is also supposedly compatible with... Dexron-III! Hmmm.
So? I am just more confused, since Dexron-III is a quite low spec Power Steering oil which I used to use years ago on old worn out Fords and my old Mercs.
Comma (I like Comma since they fixed my V70 for me!) have an identical spec oil which they guarantee for my model, named: MVATF - Multi-Vehicle Auto Transmission Fluid.
Note that it is semi-synthetic, not fully synthetic. Some sites lie that it is fully synthetic. It is not, I prefer to believe Comma. It comes in 1-Litre and 5-Litre bottles at about £7-£8 per litre or less.
Here is the link to the info: http://www.commaoil.com/productsguide/view/6/180
You can also put in your own reg at http://www.commaoil.com/ and the site will show you the compatible oils for your own car.
There is also a higher-spec Comma AQ134 oil which they guarantee as fully compatible with MD236.14 (listed for many other Merc models but not for mine), and this oil is also "downward-compatible with MB 236.10 and 236.12", which covers the MVATF oil too.
They are very precise in their description for this oil:
The full pdf document lists all the Mercedes models that it is guaranteed for.
Unfortunately I can't upload the pdf document for you here, it's too large, but here is the original URL: http://www.midlandvehiclecomponents...a/MS02008 AQ134 Gear Oil Leaflet_WORKSHOP.PDF
And here is the link to where I uploaded it for your (and my own later) convenience: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/NLyr9EBkF1/MS02008_AQ134_Gear_Oil_Leaflet_WORKSHOP.PDF.html
I would be quite happy to use either the MVATF or the AQ134 oils in my box if/when I change it myself, but as it is a pain to get all the old oil out and to get the sump off (mine seems to be a one-piece long sump combined with the engine sump?) I will see how much my local indies want first.
So please don't follow me blindly, do your own analysis. I've tried to make it a bit easier here for you to find the info. The only thing now is to compare the prices yourselves and then decide for yourselves.
If you put the wrong Comma oil in your box, I have sloping shoulders!
Hope this helps, pals.
Be warned, as usual I go to detail to explain things - so that when I read it again in 20 years I will understand it all over again!
In several topics and in other forums most people say "stick with the MB oil, let MB do it", etc., and this is not a bad thing - until we know we will have to pay over £300 for a mere gearbox oil change using fairly standard oils (in my case). Then I tend to start thinking of alternatives.
For example, I also have a Volvo V70 with a very touchy autobox, and the oil for that is also "problematic", "dealer only!", over £300 to change it, etc., and solicits claims of gearbox damage when the wrong oil is used.
I cracked that one quite easily, by going to Eurocarparts, giving my car's reg, and they came up with 1 oil only, Comma ASW, and I bought and used it with absolutely no problems, and the gearbox recovered its former smooth gearchanges. Since then others confirmed that Toyota Type-IV is also the same JWS3309 spec as for the original Volvo oil too. And on the Comma bottle label, it clearly says "Volvo and Saab and Aisin Warner and Toyota Type-IV and JWS3309". The V70 has the Aisin Warner box ("ASW"). No, you can't put cooking oil nor Dexron-III in that.
So here I will try to help for the Merc model that I have.
But first: I am not saying to anyone that you should use this alternative oil for your own car whether it is the same as mine or not (OM613 engine).
I am just telling what I have found and what I am about to do, and my experiences, but I am merely solving my own car's problems.
So please check and follow your own intuition, Mercs are expensive to repair when things go wrong. I have thick skin and my car's not worth so much but I would still hate to lose it or ruin it.
The recommended MB oil for my auto gearbox is MD236.12 as I have seen on some topics? And it is also supposedly compatible with... Dexron-III! Hmmm.
So? I am just more confused, since Dexron-III is a quite low spec Power Steering oil which I used to use years ago on old worn out Fords and my old Mercs.
Comma (I like Comma since they fixed my V70 for me!) have an identical spec oil which they guarantee for my model, named: MVATF - Multi-Vehicle Auto Transmission Fluid.
Note that it is semi-synthetic, not fully synthetic. Some sites lie that it is fully synthetic. It is not, I prefer to believe Comma. It comes in 1-Litre and 5-Litre bottles at about £7-£8 per litre or less.
Here is the link to the info: http://www.commaoil.com/productsguide/view/6/180
You can also put in your own reg at http://www.commaoil.com/ and the site will show you the compatible oils for your own car.
There is also a higher-spec Comma AQ134 oil which they guarantee as fully compatible with MD236.14 (listed for many other Merc models but not for mine), and this oil is also "downward-compatible with MB 236.10 and 236.12", which covers the MVATF oil too.
They are very precise in their description for this oil:
The full pdf document lists all the Mercedes models that it is guaranteed for.
Unfortunately I can't upload the pdf document for you here, it's too large, but here is the original URL: http://www.midlandvehiclecomponents...a/MS02008 AQ134 Gear Oil Leaflet_WORKSHOP.PDF
And here is the link to where I uploaded it for your (and my own later) convenience: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/NLyr9EBkF1/MS02008_AQ134_Gear_Oil_Leaflet_WORKSHOP.PDF.html
I would be quite happy to use either the MVATF or the AQ134 oils in my box if/when I change it myself, but as it is a pain to get all the old oil out and to get the sump off (mine seems to be a one-piece long sump combined with the engine sump?) I will see how much my local indies want first.
So please don't follow me blindly, do your own analysis. I've tried to make it a bit easier here for you to find the info. The only thing now is to compare the prices yourselves and then decide for yourselves.
If you put the wrong Comma oil in your box, I have sloping shoulders!
Hope this helps, pals.
