Gearbox oil

[W140]

This is going to sound like a stupid question , but I am honestly stumped on this.
I am trying to simply check the gearbox oil level and fill up as needed on my 1995 S320 ,W140.
The problem is I can find no dipstick and no way of filling the damned thing.
Yeah I know it sounds stupid but I am absolutely stumped. The manual says take it to your friendly Mercedes Dealership and give him obscene amounts of money to do the job for you.. I'd rather not..
Also what grade gearbox oil does the box take ?
Any help would be most appreciated

 

[turbopete]

IF its the same 'box as mine, there will be a dipstick tube but no dipstick. if thats the case, you have to buy or make a dipstick for it. gearbox oil is special stuff in that box (722.6 IIRC) assuming its the same as mine. oil is approx £10 per litre. only other way to check oil level is to plug into STAR or similar at MB or local indie

FYI when i had mine checked by MB dealer, they carried out the check FOC!!

 

[W140]

Thankyou very much turbopete for the advice.. I wouldn't hold out much hope of my local MB dealership doing anything for free !! ..but I will look into that as well..
Really appreciate the info though , thanks

 

[lulu]

Have a search on the forum, there are several threads with details on how to make your own dipstick. There is of course eBay where there's often one available from the USA, or, if you're really persuasive your local MB dealer might sell you one. The consensus is that most MB dealers wont sell you one because it's deemed a workshop tool (and therefore you'd have to be suitably trained to use it!)

Be careful with the correct specification of the oil if you do top it up (it's not the sort of stuff you can readily get from Halfords, etc.) Fuchs produce ATF that is suitable for MBs, or, it might just be easier just to get it from your local MB dealer.

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

If you go into your local dealership parts department and ask them for 21 03 gearbox oil they will know exactly what you mean. It comes in one litre bottles.

 

[W140]

lulu & Hertfordshire Merx, thank you both for the info. I must admit I am totally non plussed by the attitude that Merc have taken regarding home maintenance on their products. I shall run along to my local dealer and see what I can achieve as regards a dipstick . Once again thanks for the info , it really is appreciated

 

[deejaybee]

Hi W140,
welcome to the forum and congratulations on your purchase. I also have a W140 S320 ('98) and they are excellent cars.

If you look under the DIY section for changing the gearbox oil in a W210 this can also be followed for our cars. There is information here about the dipstick as well. You don't say how many miles your car has done or what the service history is, but unless the ATF has definitely been done in the last few years it is worth doing it. The ATF from Mercedes will be to the latest spec and the best you can put in your 'box, but if the price is a bit steep for you then buy the Fuchs ATF from GSF or similar - it meets the original spec and is about half the price.

Good luck with trying to purhase one, but I don't think you will get much luck at most UK main dealers unfortunately. You may be better asking an Indie to get one for you?

As regards Mercedes designing the car for easy owner maintenance, i'm afraid that is definitely not the case!! Remember, it was a top of the range luxury car and whoever was able to afford to buy these new almost certainly wouldn't do there own maintenance. I'm pretty sure that it has been decades since any mainstream car was designed to be owner maintained. Most modern cars drop of the Main Dealer network by about 5-6 years old, certainly by 10 years. After this point I don't think the manufacturers are really concerned too much with what happens to them. Having said that all that there is a lot of routine maintenance work that you can do yourself with some aptitude and the right tools, and of course help from this forum. It is also worth finding a good Indie in your area to help out with any more difficult jobs, or if you just don't want to get your hands dirty! They will probably be a lot more knowledgable with your car and they will certainly be much cheaper.

Hope you enjoy the car.

regards,

Dave

 

[Miffy]

I bought my 722.6 dipping tool off ebay, but a curtain wire inserted into the filler tube all the way to the bottom, engine running, and after a good drive to ensure a good box temp. the oild should show a depth of between 5.6 and 6.5 cm

 

[Number_Cruncher]

>>i'm afraid that is definitely not the case!

I'm not so sure. I've found that MB actually do tend to make their cars easy to work on, and provide convenients parts kits to do common tasks. Compare most jobs on a MB with the equivalent or similar on nasty French rubbish, particularly Renfaults.

I think the reasoning behind deleting the automatic gearbox dipstick is to keep out those who shouldn't be in there (the Kamasa socket set brigade!). The number of mis-filled automatic gearboxes is massive - people doing it without the engine running, wiping the dipstick with bits of fluffy, dusty, manky, rag, without running the selector through all the ranges, at the wrong temperature, using the wrong oil, etc, etc. Far easier to discourage them by deleting the dipstick. Most will take it to the dealer, and those who know enough to do the job properly will obtain a dipstick and carry on as normal.

It's a bit like making bolts you don't want the average DIYer to undo with a 5 point pattern instead of a hex.

 

[deejaybee]

Number cruncher, I'm sure you are right that there are other cars which are a lot more difficult to do certain jobs on, but my point is that with the extensive use of ECUs and very tight engine bay layouts in most modern cars, I don't think the design brief for "modern" vehicles has any regard for home maintenance. As long as there is some way to carry out maintenance and replace components in a professional workshop with all the right training and facilities I don't think it is too high on the design priority list! Just look at the location of oil filters on some cars or the number of components to remove / access to spark plugs - it wasn't done to make the mechanics life easy thats for sure!!

Dave

 

[mikestrivens]

Taking into account the comments above you can get the ATF dipstick from Inchcape http://www.mercedes-benz-parts.co.uk/ by just ordering the correct part number for your transmission.

 

[Number_Cruncher]

>>I don't think the design brief for "modern" vehicles has any regard for home maintenance.

And nor should it!

I also don't think it's a particularly modern phenomenon - there have aleways been certain jobs on certain cars that have been difficult. One example off the top of my head - Chevette starter motors were rather difficult to replace.