Auto gearbox oil leak

[rallen]

Hello

Some long time ago the E320 developed a fault - it would leak oil from the auto-gearbox, but this oil would travel upwards into the wiring loom and into one of the ECU cartridges that you'd need a glass to empty it into. This immersing of the ECU in oil would also cause gear change issues and car performance issues.

We used the car for some time with me simply draining the ECU and sometimes also rinsing it in petrol to get rid of the oil.

Then we took the car to a garage (can't recall where) where they replaced the auto-gearbox wiring loom oil seal.

The oil travels within the cables, ie between the cable insulation and the copper core. Looking at the wiring loom, it is completely dry, you would never imagine there was oil inside each wire.

As I have never seen this "seal" can someone please describe the mechanism to me? I am finding it hard to imagine how oil escapes the auto gear box, somehow finds its way into the wires and then travels all the way up into the ECU.

Thanks

 

[Rasius]

Hi. Did the garage change just electric conector seal or the whole conector?

 

[rapide]

auto box seal!

there is loads of info on here about this, including detailed info on how to change it etc! use the thread search , W210 gearbox etc and you can fill your boots with info! all the best Rap.

 

[BachelorDays]

there is loads of info on here about this, including detailed info on how to change it etc! use the thread search , W210 gearbox etc and you can fill your boots with info! all the best Rap.

Yep! Common problem on this model. 2 of the 3 I've had have done this (I didn't check on the first, blew the 2nd and didn't have the time to make sense of MB in Paris when they gave me this weird explanation, checked the 3rd just in time before low fluid was going to blow it too).

The 'connector' connects TCU to the transmission's conductor plate. This connector is, as many other things on this nth generation MB, much below par in terms of quality.

One would've thought once an organisation has been hailed for a hundred odd years as being par excellence, their primary aim would be to maintain their reputation.