Special ? gearbox oil

[Axcontrols]

If anyone was following my thread about my ML270CDI auto gearbox (flares when changing 3-to-4) I've just been told that the merc shop have filled the gearbox with "special" oil which I can only drive for 1000 miles after which I have to take it back so they can drain and fill it with the proper stuff ?

Anyone heard of this "special" oil ? Maybe it's some kind of detergent which they hope will clean stuff up and stop it slipping/flaring ?

or what ?

 

[television]

I for one have never heard of that,,and it is not in the MB service / repair info

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Maybe it's made from snakes.

 

[LYNALL]

I have used both mb oil and atf3/agf3 in mine and both have been fine.

I have just today picked up my car from having gearbox refurbed and he only uses atf3/aqf3 and he reckons he never has any comeback, but once 12 moths warranty up i shall be going back to mb oil.

I reckon they have changed oil and filter and want to do it again with the proper oil, ie they have atf 3 in the moment and once its flushed they will change with mb oil.



Lynall

 

[oilman]

Seems a very odd practice. Surely you'd just fill it with the correct oil?

I'd query it

Cheers
Guy

 

[Xtractorfan]

No this is now a fairly standard practise with many MB garages, simply because filling a gearbox with expensive oil and then having to change it later because of contamination//glycol or swarf... can be costly, so many garages now use a cheaper ATF oil, and it flushes out all the old oil and contamination and if the gearbox is working correctly with no problem then drain and refill with proper ATF..
I tend to think it is a good idea..

 

[Axcontrols]

Anyway - it appears the magic and/or snake oil didn't fix it.

They've changed the 'Valve Chest' plus other bits n bobs for 1100 quid - lucky I didn't need to foot that bill huh?

What would changing the 'valve chest' entail ?

 

[television]

An indie takes £300

 

[Axcontrols]

Because of the talk about 'special' oil I'm guessing they flushed it, changed oil and filter and then went for a drive to see if that had fixed the problem - when it hadn't they opened it up again and changed the valve chest.

But, as I said, what does changing the valve chest entail ? would the valve chest contain valves that could also be changed ?