Replacing transmission cooling metal lines and any oil loss?

[dinyar]

Hello,

I have a 2009 CLS Grand Edition (C219). It has been a great car with only 93,000 miles on the clock.

With no employment and plenty of isolation time I decided to (successfully) diagnose a bi-xenon that had gone out. Having removed the bumper i noticed a great deal of salt corrosion on the frame which is getting a dose of black hammerite spray paint. More worryngly, the metal cooling lines are heavily corroded (pic attached). This model has lines to the water radiator and an oil cooler clipped to the front of the A/C condenser. At the other end of the metal lines are nuts connecting the metal lines to rubber hoses which are accessible as I have lifted out the water radiator fan.

I have got new merc parts and I'm ready to switch out the lines. My question is; when i undo the nuts at the rubber hoses will a significant amount of transmission oil flow out? How much can the transmission lose without doing damage? Is it ok to lose whatever comes out of the pipes or do i need to somehow pour that back into the pipes?

The car to-date has full merc service history and the last one indy. The oil has been changed (an option) once at a previous service.

(i will be swapping out the A/C condenser out as well since it has a leak)

thanks for all responses, Dinyar

 

[bob6600]

Hi and welcome. You will lose a small amount but I don't think it will gush out (someone can confirm). Can you not top it back up? I would use new fluid and not the old one that has come out. P.S., there are no attachments

 

[Duff3103]

with the mileage on the car its maybe a good idea to do a transmission oil and filter change whilst your splitting the lines, would then mean that should hopefully be the last time the transmission will need to be touched for a while

 

[dinyar]

And with attachment...

Hello,

I have a 2009 CLS Grand Edition (C219). It has been a great car with only 93,000 miles on the clock.

With no employment and plenty of isolation time I decided to (successfully) diagnose a bi-xenon that had gone out. Having removed the bumper i noticed a great deal of salt corrosion on the frame which is getting a dose of black hammerite spray paint. More worryngly, the metal cooling lines are heavily corroded (pic attached). This model has lines to the water radiator and an oil cooler clipped to the front of the A/C condenser. At the other end of the metal lines are nuts connecting the metal lines to rubber hoses which are accessible as I have lifted out the water radiator fan.

I have got new merc parts and I'm ready to switch out the lines. My question is; when i undo the nuts at the rubber hoses will a significant amount of transmission oil flow out? How much can the transmission lose without doing damage? Is it ok to lose whatever comes out of the pipes or do i need to somehow pour that back into the pipes?

The car to-date has full merc service history and the last one indy. The oil has been changed (an option) once at a previous service.

(i will be swapping out the A/C condenser out as well since it has a leak)

thanks for all responses, Dinyar

 

[Duff3103]

And with attachment...

typical mercedes lines, i bet they are pricey as well

 

[dinyar]

Hi and welcome. You will lose a small amount but I don't think it will gush out (someone can confirm). Can you not top it back up? I would use new fluid and not the old one that has come out. P.S., there are no attachments

Hi Bob6600 and thanks for the warm welcome

That's good news about the oil. I may be completely wrong but i thought the cls gearbox needed to be filled from below with a pump., is that right? It's a 7 speed. I'll check to see if there is a procedure to fill from the top of the engine. To be honest once I have sorted the transmission lines, condenser and bixenon ballast i'd be a happy to put it back together again and have my indy check the transmission oil. My missus is already having a laugh about how many weeks it takes to change a light bulb (which is how all this started!)

 

[dinyar]

typical mercedes lines, i bet they are pricey as well

They were...£30 for the short one and £199 for the spaghetti one going to the oil cooler. I have to say she has been very well behaved for the 55k miles i have driven so not too aggrieved...yet.

 

[Duff3103]

They were...£30 for the short one and £199 for the spaghetti one going to the oil cooler. I have to say she has been very well behaved for the 55k miles i have driven so not too aggrieved...yet.

to be fair that's actually not a bad price id have thought they would have been quite a bit more expensive being a cls. £230 is a small price to pay when you factor in a gearbox replacement if it does eventually let go of the trans oil and you'd have to pay for the lines anyway.

 

[dinyar]

with the mileage on the car its maybe a good idea to do a transmission oil and filter change whilst your splitting the lines, would then mean that should hopefully be the last time the transmission will need to be touched for a while

Hi Duff

It was done at around 60k miles. How do i figure out my transmission type and the procedure for transmission service. Do i find a haynes manual or is there a specific thread i should be looking for on the forum? As I mentioned before it will be a major achievement if i can change the lines and get the bumper, shroud and headlines back in one piece

 

[BlackC55]

You will lose a fair amount. Enough to need topping up or as suggested, do a filter change.

The pipes that come out of the rad will be tight and sometimes removing the pipes cause the ATF to leak from the rad joint. Just be careful.

 

[dinyar]

You will lose a fair amount. Enough to need topping up or as suggested, do a filter change.

The pipes that come out of the rad will be tight and sometimes removing the pipes cause the ATF to leak from the rad joint. Just be careful.

Many thanks BlackC55, how do I get my hands on the topup procedure for this particular 7-speed gearbox? Will I be doing damage to drive it to a local indy to get it done? Cheers

 

[BlackC55]

Many thanks BlackC55, how do I get my hands on the topup procedure for this particular 7-speed gearbox? Will I be doing damage to drive it to a local indy to get it done? Cheers

Depends how far that is.
There is a "How to" on here. for filling the atf. Just follow that procedure.

 

[Duff3103]

check the how to section as suggested but i always buy the genuine oil and filter when it comes to gearboxes especially now there are so many different types of gearbox fluid available . also had a bad experience with a 5 series e60, i was supplied the 'correct' fluid for the box and it turned out it wasn't the right fluid at all and it ended up costing about £1500-2000 to repair the box so genuine fluid only from me

 

[219]

Many thanks BlackC55, how do I get my hands on the topup procedure for this particular 7-speed gearbox? Will I be doing damage to drive it to a local indy to get it done? Cheers

If you aren't sure , and since you are in Kent , which isn't a million miles from Olly , you could do a lot worse than take the car down to him for this 'essential repair' . If it has;t let go in 93K , I'm sure you'd make it however far it is to Horndean .

 

[Justintyme]

Hello,

I have a 2009 CLS Grand Edition (C219). It has been a great car with only 93,000 miles on the clock.

With no employment and plenty of isolation time I decided to (successfully) diagnose a bi-xenon that had gone out. Having removed the bumper i noticed a great deal of salt corrosion on the frame which is getting a dose of black hammerite spray paint. More worryngly, the metal cooling lines are heavily corroded (pic attached). This model has lines to the water radiator and an oil cooler clipped to the front of the A/C condenser. At the other end of the metal lines are nuts connecting the metal lines to rubber hoses which are accessible as I have lifted out the water radiator fan.

I have got new merc parts and I'm ready to switch out the lines. My question is; when i undo the nuts at the rubber hoses will a significant amount of transmission oil flow out? How much can the transmission lose without doing damage? Is it ok to lose whatever comes out of the pipes or do i need to somehow pour that back into the pipes?

The car to-date has full merc service history and the last one indy. The oil has been changed (an option) once at a previous service.

(i will be swapping out the A/C condenser out as well since it has a leak)

thanks for all responses, Dinyar

Hi Dinyar, and Welcome , for MB problems, you have certainly come to the right place.!!!
About your corroded transmission cooler pipes...are they leaking? This is relevant, as after hearing whats involved, you may be inclined to take BlackC55's advice, and take to him or other specialist. Have think about it first. Heres what is involved ( A Lift or pit is really usefull for the whole operation, BTW ) Sure it will leak ATF. Gravity being what it is... but thats not the worst of the job...its replacing the lost oil in the 622.9 trans is the problem ( to be truthfull, if you are used to servicing 722.6 or 722.9 its awkward, but not a big deal either) So you remove one pipe first from either the Rad end or the trans end, allow it to drain out until it stops, then replace that pipe with the new one. Repeat the process with pipe Nr 2. Its important that you save as much as possible of the drained oil, so you will know how much you will need to replace. MB Transmissions are very fussy about having the correct fluid level.
Next remove the drain stud on the trans sump, and insert the filling adapter, and connect the oil pump, prefilled with 4 or 5 litres of new fluid ( and it has to be compatible with the existing fluid, which is specific to that particular transmission type.) Pump enough fluid into the trans until some starts to leak back out, then turn off the supply pipe, and start the engine. Run the engine until the temp in the ATF reache's 45c, then open the tap on the feed pipe, and allow any excess ( if any) to flow out. If nothing comes out, then pump some more into the box until it again stars to flow back out. Wait until it finishes flowing out, then cycle the selector through all the gears inc "P" "N", reverse, Comfort and Sport mode Then remove the pumping gear, and replace the sump stud. Run the engine and check for leaks..Job Done. In practical terms, given the amount of work involved , it might be simpler to do a complete change and flush, inc the TC. and Filter , which would involve opening at least one of the cooler pipe's in anycase. Good Luck with it, and let us know how it works out for you, OK??

 

[Justintyme]

check the how to section as suggested but i always buy the genuine oil and filter when it comes to gearboxes especially now there are so many different types of gearbox fluid available . also had a bad experience with a 5 series e60, i was supplied the 'correct' fluid for the box and it turned out it wasn't the right fluid at all and it ended up costing about £1500-2000 to repair the box so genuine fluid only from me

With modern cars, you really need to dot the "I"s and cross the "T"s, when it comes to identifying the parts and fluid's for your vehicles....I'd always do a bit of reserch myself, rather that just giving the reg Nr into the parts depot, except in a MB dealership.

 

[alexanderfoti]

You will lose a fair amount. Enough to need topping up or as suggested, do a filter change.

The pipes that come out of the rad will be tight and sometimes removing the pipes cause the ATF to leak from the rad joint. Just be careful.

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