300te - oil light and gear box

[Jon1978]

I have recently bought a 1988 300te with approx 150k on the clock. I have just had it serviced and in spite of this the oil light comes on at least once in every journey. There's no evidence of a leak and the garage said that it's not burning any so does this mean I have a faulty sensor? If so are they simple to replace and how much to do it?

In addition to this the auto box slips when changing between 2 and 3, is this the beginning of the end? The local bod refused to change the oil/ filters in the box as he'd had trouble with one the week before ( I don't know if I'll be going back to him again). If I get this done will it sort the slipping and if the gearbox goes bang how much to supply and fit a new one

Plenty of questions, but I'm new to this old car lark. I'm totally in love with it though, the engine is smooth as silk and it drives fantastically

Cheers

 

[Peter 300TE]

gear box

I am no expert on what is wrong with the box however to have mine refurbished did not leave me with much change out of a grand.

 

[Andy]

Hi


Peter. You shoud of bought your vehicle to me.

Jon. It sounds like the valve stem seals require replacement. Or the valve guides are worn out. The valve stem seal replacement will cure the oil consumption in the short term. May be not in the long term. As for the gear box. The oil & filter should of been changed @144k. I doubt this will cure it. Sounds like the clutch packs are wearing out. But get it checked first. If it is the clutch packs then the gearbox will have to be stripped.

Hope this helps.


Regards

Andy@ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[Arnie]

hello,

if the car is not burning oil, then it may just be a faulty sensor or faulty wiring. The snesor can sometimes get gunked-up on the oily side. They are cheap to replace, though. Do you have an oil-pressure gauge on the dash? Does the light come on at idle or when motoring?

It may be good to change the valve-stem seals in ny case at this mileage.

As for the Gearbox, well... £! :cry:

 

[TimN]

Had a similar problem once. Oil pressure needle idled just above zero. I took the rocker cover off and ran the engine for a few seconds. You could crank it over without the spark plugs and it may have the same effect without the potential for a mess. Didn't suffer an mess anyway.

By doing this it could be seen that vast quantities of oil were leaking from the camshaft journal behind no. 4 cyclinder. This is the point where the oil transfers from the cylinder head up to the camshaft lubricating rail. A the oil heated up the situation just got worse.

Remedy, went a bought another car.

You may have a jammed oil pressure relief valve or blown a seal. I would get

Is it an oil level or oil pressure indicator?

 

[Jon1978]

300te Oil light and slipping gearbox

I will try a new sensor for the intermittant oil light and please will someone give me an idea of how much to replace the clutch plates to stop it slipping between 2nd and 3rd?

thanks

 

[Jon1978]

ps the oil pressure is fine, idles between 2+3 and is straight up to 3 as soon as I pull away, I think it's the sensor

All the gearbox chat is scaring me!

 

[Arnie]

Jon,

I think that to have the gearbox stripped and rebuilt will be costly. possibly upto £1000.

However, I think that this is by far the best route to take with a professional outfit, that knows what they're doing.

Avoid the replacement gearboxes at all cost, as in nearly all cases, these outfits are run by cowboys who will fit a "working" gearbox taken from a scrapyard, and in most cases will not even fit it properly. This is from a good friend of mine's experience.

Hope the new oil sensor works out, but if you have a pressure gauge, the oil lamp may be to indicate low oil in the sump (?)

 

[Andy]

Hi

To rebuild your gearbox including removal & fitting would cost from myself apporx £550-600 plus vat.


Regards

Andy@ www.mercedeservicing.com

 

[Jon1978]

Thanks very much for all your help, £500 for a working gearbox sounds ok, I think I'll leave it for a while yet though as my girlfriend doesn't notice it and it's not annoying me too much!