Is a thought and a half a good idea ??

[S.Speed]

Glad my snappy title got you going..
I was driving earlier from Posh Lytham where I had a posh coffee and a idea came into my head.. I had an aha moment..
Not too long ago I had the ATF fluid and filter changed at the MB dealership.
Its well known that on recent auto gearboxes you cannot drain the Torque Converter fully and you usually only end up replacing 4 - 4.5 litres which is approx 50% of the fluid.
Some people say to go on a short drive and re drain the fluid and then top up so that you would have the majority of your ATF as new fluid . . .
Well my idea is simple and I really cannot see why it wouldn't work..
Bear with me..
We have had the filter done and thats good..
But if your anything like me you wont find the thought of grovelling under your transmission to re drain very appealing sooooo
How about using my trusty friend the PELA Pump????
Yes the tube does fit into the ATF filler/level tube and yes it goes all the way to the sump floor, BUT you have to use the narrow version of the 2 tubes supplied!!
I just been out to try my theory and it does go all the way in and the side benefit is if I cover the end of the tube up with my thumb whilst pulling out the tube I get a small sample of the fluid and its easily visible how clean/dirty it is..
Now doubt someone will give me 101 reasons why I am the devil in disguise for suggesting such a travesty..
Well I am confident its a great idea and I certainly intend to put it to use on my car..

 

[television]

OK the answer is that you can join the pump to a cooler pipe and pump it all out, and this was the way that we suggested till the idea of spinning the engine for a few seconds came up

 

[brianbrian]

As most know older cars have a grub screw on the torque converter, I can not see the point in drawing atf out of the filler tube, you have still got to be under the car to take the pan of so you can change the filter, and as television has said you might as well drain the rest from the cooler pipe radiator end ,(lowest point), and turn the engine over slowly. Hope this helps

 

[S.Speed]

mine doesnt have a torque converter drain bolt so your comment doesn't apply..
I also stated that my idea was to re drain the ATF after the officials had done a half job of only draining the 4 litres..Therefore the filter will have been changed already !!

 

[television]

As my first post,, There are 2 ways to drain all the torque converter, either spin the engine for a few seconds, or disconnect one of the fluid cooler pipers and use a pump

 

[S.Speed]

But my way is far easier and I dont have a pump let alone the connectors for attaching the pump hose etc..
Also I seem to recall that there was an opinion that running the engine even briefly without ATF fluid in was a no no..

BUT . . . I DO have a PELA device..
I shall stick to my fine idea I think.

Thanks anyway for inputs

P.S My Radiator does NOT have an integral oil cooler at all... Its purely a Radiator (thank god) and not a combined ATF cooler.

 

[Alex Crow]

P.S My Radiator does NOT have an integral oil cooler at all... Its purely a Radiator (thank god) and not a combined ATF cooler.

why do you say this simon? where do you suppose your gbox oil cooler is?

 

[television]

You do have one Simon

 

[Blobcat]

I'm interested in knowing if Mercedes have put the drain plug back into the torque converter now that they recommend a one off ATF change at 40K miles. I've raised it previously howver I've not seen an answer.

 

[television]

I'm interested in knowing if Mercedes have put the drain plug back into the torque converter now that they recommend a one off ATF change at 40K miles. I've raised it previously howver I've not seen an answer.

I will have a look when I start up machine C later in the day

 

[television]

I have checked and I cannot see one

 

[Blobcat]

I have checked and I cannot see one

Thanks for that, so what is the official process for changing the ATF on a 5G box without a torque converter drain plug?

 

[television]

Thanks for that, so what is the official process for changing the ATF on a 5G box without a torque converter drain plug?

To be exact please PM your complete VIN

 

[Blobcat]

To be exact please PM your complete VIN

I've the 7G box and had the ATF changed, we need someone with a newish (2yr old) 5G box and Vin.

 

[Number_Cruncher]

I use the Pela when doing automatic gearbox oil changes. As I don't have access to a ramp, it's one less messy draining operation while I'm scrabbling about under the car.

I also use the Pela to hoover out the oil that gets trapped in the oil filter housing, to drain the power steering reservoir when replacing the filter, to drain the old SLS oil out of the reservoir before flushing through with new. I also use it to drain most of the coolant out when renewing the anti-freeze.

Oh, and I use it for the engine oil too.

 

[television]

There is nothing in WIS for the changing of the fluid.
Even on the glycol affected cars,,MB can only change ½ of it, or pour another 3 liters in and hope that it puts new fluid in it

 

[S.Speed]

I use the Pela when doing automatic gearbox oil changes. As I don't have access to a ramp, it's one less messy draining operation while I'm scrabbling about under the car.

I also use the Pela to hoover out the oil that gets trapped in the oil filter housing, to drain the power steering reservoir when replacing the filter, to drain the old SLS oil out of the reservoir before flushing through with new. I also use it to drain most of the coolant out when renewing the anti-freeze.

Oh, and I use it for the engine oil too.

Nice one number cruncher..
I say again.. My car 100% does NOT have a radiator with an inbuilt ATF cooler..
I went through all this palava when I first joined this forum..
Ian walker showed me the identical car to mine that he was rebuilding an engine on and that is how I know the radiator is a one piece unit.
The ATF fluid goes to the top right side of the engine into a sort of water cooled heat exchanger but it does NOT go through the radiator !

 

[television]

Nice one number cruncher..
I say again.. My car 100% does NOT have a radiator with an inbuilt ATF cooler..
I went through all this palava when I first joined this forum..
Ian walker showed me the identical car to mine that he was rebuilding an engine on and that is how I know the radiator is a one piece unit.
The ATF fluis goes to the top right side of the engine into a sort of water cooled heat exchanger but it does NOT go through the radiator !

The official paper does state for a 203 with engine 111,112,271,611,612.990,and 646

 

[S.Speed]

Thanks Malcolm..
I remember mine was a bit of an anomally when we looked into it last time..
The problem is I cannot photo it for you because inless the engine is half dismantled you cant see the gizmo I am on about..
The C270 I saw with its engine removed (same year as mine) showed the radiator in full view and I could see this heat exchanger thingy with the ATF pipes going to it..
If I ever get chance I will photo this ..
Do you remember mine had the small auxilliary radiater in front of the main radiator?
I think its this that cooles the water that flows around the heat exchanger..

 

[television]

Thanks Malcolm..
I remember mine was a bit of an anomally when we looked into it last time..
The problem is I cannot photo it for you because inless the engine is half dismantled you cant see the gizmo I am on about..
The C270 I saw with its engine removed (same year as mine) showed the radiator in full view and I could see this heat exchanger thingy with the ATF pipes going to it..
If I ever get chance I will photo this ..
Do you remember mine had the small auxilliary radiater in front of the main radiator?
I think its this that cooles the water that flows around the heat exchanger..

With all cars Simon there can be differences, MB could have been out of stock and used something else,, in actual fact we have not had much in the way of a 203 with the valeo problem