tRANSMISSION OIL

[Colin Tigwell]

dOES ANYONE KNOW THE BRAND AND OR SPECS, FOR THE TRANSMISSION OIL USED IN THE LATE MODEL FIVE SPEED AUTOS

THANKS

COL TIGWELL DOWNUNDER

 

[Tony]

I spent a bit of time trying to find specs for transmission oil for my SLK. The oil you need in automatics is ATF. Redline do a fully synthetic ATF which is Mercedes approved and which the American club web-site (mbnz.org) seems to rave about.

Mercedes have a technical help-line which gives this sort of information (0800 665415). Also the dealers have access to the specs on their computer system but mostly they're unwilling to help, in my experience.

(Edited by Tony at 12:05 pm on May 27, 2002)


(Edited by Tony at 12:07 pm on May 27, 2002)


(Edited by Tony at 12:30 pm on May 27, 2002)

 

[Andy]

Hi Colin

We have discussed this at length on this forum. No certain conclusions. One of the members believes Sh*ll
manufacture the oil for MB. But be warned. The wrong oil will have adverse effects on the box. If you arn't sure just sh*ll
out at the "Stealership" for the correct stuff. Better safe than sorry!!!

Regards

Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[Shude]

I was under the impression that the ATF in the 1998+ 5 speed electronic automatics was a lifetime fill, and that it never needed to be changed...

 

[steveperry]

Shude,

From some of the posts that I have seen on this forum, I think MB were under that impression too. There have been problems with '98+ 5 speed boxes.

S.

 

[Tony]

Mercedes say the box is filled for life in order to cut servicing costs. They fill the box with non-synthetic oil because it's cheaper. The fact that a better oil would extend the life of box is of little concern, provided the car gets beyond its 3 year 60k guarantee period with the cheaper oil and the leasing companies get their low servicing costs.

Fully synthetic oil (of the appropriate spec) works better because a) it has a more consistent viscosity (so it works better when very cold and very hot) and b) it is more resistant to degradation. If you're going to leave oil in a box for life I'd buy the best synthetic I could find.

I had the oil in my SLK manual changed (at about 10,000 miles) despite the fact that the manual says it's filled for life. I had Redline MTL synthetic oil put in (which is the correct spec according to the Mercedes technical department). When the mechanic drained the original oil he said there was a significant amount of iron filings around the drain plug. Maybe these don't do any harm - provided the magnetic plug manages to catch them all. Maybe not. I can tell you one thing, though. The gear change is significantly improved - and the manual box needs a bit of help in this area. Mercedes don't do themselves any favours by economising on oil.

The only down side is that if I were to make a guarantee claim on the gear box I'm sure the argument would be that the oil should not have been changed but I doubt if that's an argument that they could sustain. In any case I'll take that chance.    

 

[Shude]

Quote: from steveperry on 6:57 pm on May 27, 2002
From some of the posts that I have seen on this forum, I think MB were under that impression too. There have been problems with '98+ 5 speed boxes.

Well, mines not had a problem and it's done nearly 118000 miles now *touch wood*.

Approximately how much does an auto tranny oil change cost then?

 

[steveperry]

Shude,

If ur on 100k+ miles and nothing is wrong then I'd personally leave it alone. The old addage of 'if it ain't broke then don't fix it' is usually a good one

But reading through this forum a few people have had some hassles with their 5 spd electronic autos.

S.