When to change Auto gear box oil.

[Highlander]

I have a C240 (54K miles ) and a C230K (45K miles).
The main dealer says they are both due an oil/filter change on Auto gear box and wants to charge an eye watering £197 per car!

The service booklet makes no mention of gear box oil change. When should I change it and can a good Indy do the work?

 

[television]

Yes do the box change, and yes an indie can do it

 

[Shipley]

I've just done it.... see here...

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=35707

It has transformed my car.

 

[highlander0711]

trans oil

hey highlander i think you should ask your local mb dealer what the milage interval is for changing trans oil,i think its 72k or it could be whats known as a whole of life fill and in that case you dont change oil unless trans is renewed or a repair is needed. if you look at dip stick and it has a red cap which has a seal which has to be broken, then it will not require oil change

 

[mlc]

My understanding is that for a number of years MB has considered that auto box oil does not need to be changed as a service item.

However that seems totally illogical to me, so for our cars we change the oil and filter every 3 years or 30k miles. My local auto gearbox expert charged about £130 for the S class recently, which seems a resonable bit of insurance to me.

Mark.

 

[jberks]

hey highlander i think you should ask your local mb dealer what the milage interval is for changing trans oil,i think its 72k or it could be whats known as a whole of life fill and in that case you dont change oil unless trans is renewed or a repair is needed. if you look at dip stick and it has a red cap which has a seal which has to be broken, then it will not require oil change

MB keep changing their minds.
The whole life fill is great......provided you don't mind a relaively short life.
My E240 went 70k without it ever being changed, yet my E270 with basically the same box needed a change at 45k. No difference in wear rates, merely a change in MBs policy and hence why they're recommending a change on yours now.
Bottom line, get it done.
To be honest, £197 isn't unreasonable when you consider the oil has to be special MB gearbox oil and it isn't cheap, but you may be able to shave a few quid off via an indie. Certainly worth a phone call anyway.

 

[television]

All boxes now have the fluid changed at roughly 40k miles.

the sealed for life went out the window 1 year back

 

[Micman]

All boxes now have the fluid changed at roughly 40k miles.

the sealed for life went out the window 1 year back

As Television states, you should look to change the auto box oil regularly.

A friend of mine has a BMW auto that BMW claimed was sealed for life (when he pressed them further on this it turned out their idea of 'sealed for life' actually meant 6 years!!). I wouldn't expect Merc to be any different. His independent told him too change the oil approx every 40k miles which he does.

To be honest it's common sense really. You wouldn't leave the same oil in the car engine for life! So why would the auto gearbox be any different? The gearbox is taking alot of wear and tear. I would rather change the oil regularly than suddenly have to replace the whole auto box!

I plan to get mine changed next time it's serviced as I'm approaching 40k.

 

[Andrew Rymer]

Hi all,
I have a manual 230 clk and the gearbox, when cold, is quite notchy going into first and second. Would anything be gained by changing my oil do you think? I have checked for any leaks and it is as dry as a bone.

Regards,

Andrew

 

[Dinnie]

if you look at dip stick and it has a red cap which has a seal which has to be broken, then it will not require oil change

If i remember correctly from my 2 weeks being an apprentice at MB (so I can't guarantee I'm right), they have the red seal to check whether anyone else apart from main dealers have fiddled with the oil for warranty purposes. They were getting claims saying that the geabox has failed but more like that the owner had topped up using the incorrect oil or that an Indy has botched it up. I don't believe the red cap suggests a seal for lifetime oil.

Another thing, BMW has a very similar story. They also suggest lifetime oils in the gearbox but owners have found that by going against this, they benefit from a smoother gear change. However, there is a high risk that the oil change won't be done correctly and therefore decided it was better that owners not change the oil in case they make it worse rather than better. Example of this is contaminating the gearbox with non-OEM oil which you are quite likely to find at an Indy who uses it to reduce the cost and therefore appear to be cheaper than the main dealer.

 

[vijilants]

I paid approx £150 to get it done by a MB gearbox specialist last year on a C230K.

 

[verytalldave]

Hi all,
I have a manual 230 clk and the gearbox, when cold, is quite notchy going into first and second. Would anything be gained by changing my oil do you think? I have checked for any leaks and it is as dry as a bone.

Regards,

Andrew

Not on a manual. Its only required on auto boxes. Just keep it topped up. It will be notchy when cold. All manual gearboxes dont free up until they have warmed up a bit.

I have a C240 (54K miles ) and a C230K (45K miles).
The main dealer says they are both due an oil/filter change on Auto gear box and wants to charge an eye watering £197 per car!

The service booklet makes no mention of gear box oil change. When should I change it and can a good Indy do the work?

The autobox oil is £10 a bottle and needs at least 7 bottles - which is £70 straightaway - PLUS the filter..........

A good indie will probably do it cheaper - which is exactly what I did. Good old Prestige in Hampshire. Ollie gets my vote every time.

The auto oil should be changed between 50 and 100K miles - depending on the way the miles have been added. No later than 100K I was reliably informed. Preferably earlier.

I had mine changed at 50K and it certainly was smoother. Worth the cost.

 

[jpbp200]

My MB dealer charged me £147 (after originally quoting £250) and said that ATF change was a service option. As an option it doesn't affect FMBSH and so most people declined it. However mine is noticeably smoother and as part of the procedure they checked the oil for signs of gearbox wear. They reported nothing untoward so I now have peace of mind that my gearbox is ok.

The oil alone is something like £8 per litre and the box requires at least 6 litres. prob around 2 hours work I reckon so do the maths.... Make sure the filter is changed too.

P.S mine was changed at 95,000 and hadn't been done previously.