Sharing quotes for Automatic Transmission Fluid W204 -

[Bobby Dazzler]

Draining out the TC removes friction material,needed to drive the gearbox. Which is why it's not drained at most garages. It can shorten the life of the drive system. There were posts on here recently that brought alot of facts to light for alot of us.

Prices where I live are around the £270 mark. I paid £380 and that was for a 9g which is even dearer ....

I’ve read and heard that there’s an increased risk that a well-worn torque converter at the end of it’s life may begin to slip - or slip even more than it did before - if the fluid is fully drained and replaced.

The relevance being that many “resort” to having the fluid changed in the hope that it will fix an issue, but in practice it might make it worse if the cause is that the torque converter is already at end of life.

In that scenario, replacing the TC is the right and most cost effective fix, not leaving tired fluid heavy with friction particles in the transmission. Replacing the fluid then changing the TC soon after would be a waste.

A healthy transmission will perform better with clean fluid and the least friction material possible.

 

[Skd884]

No idea what mb done to my 7 speed gearbox on my car and there have been no issues.

 

[K80]

I would say Autohaus are the outliers on price in that list of three - that’s very very expensive.

Mercedes main dealers and many garages don’t fully drain the transmission and torque converter. Those who do incur more cost because it takes longer and requires more fluid, that said in my experience the cost to the customer is similar. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Autohaus do and Mercland don’t, you’d need to check.

After I read your comments on Mercland last night I had a look at the most negative Google feedback. As you would expect it was a mixed bag of some genuine issues, angry birds without much rationale, and anonymous feedback which Mercland couldn’t link to a customer or job and so may or may not be legitimate.

Most of the feedback related to car sales, when an issue manifested post purchase. I spotted one which related to service and repairs, and it was someone who complained that their MOT slot had to push back an hour or so, and then Mercland couldn’t repair the things that it failed on at the time of the MOT.

What the person providing the feedback failed to mention is that they requested the MOT on Friday night for 0900 the next day. The fact that Mercland still managed to accommodate them an hour or so late sounded pretty good to me. The fact they could do a repair there and then on a Saturday morning ought not be a surprise to anyone.

For any business and on any platform, I tend to look at the majority of feedback and exclude the extreme positive and extreme negative.

I only mention the above by way of balance. If you feel uneasy then you shouldn’t use that business, not least because you’ll kick yourself if something does goes wrong, however unlikely. Unfortunately mistakes happen and Sod’s Law is real.

I totally understand this but the customer service feedback is abysmal. I want honest communication and what every piece of negative feedback showed me was that they lack transparency. That makes it difficult for me personally.

 

[K80]

To clarify, the transmission in question is the 7G+, yes?

Correct.

Sorry, all this discussion of a "full" fluid transmission change has left me puzzled. What should I be vouching for here? The car is 100k miles and probably never had a gearbox service in its lifetime.

Edit: Decided to go against my instinct and trust that I am just being silly, and have booked into Mercland for ATF and inspection since you are all so sure I will get a good service! I will also get the airbag recall done at MB and take up the complimentary health check so I get a comparison between MB and Mercland on that side of things. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[markjay]

Correct.

Sorry, all this discussion of a "full" fluid transmission change has left me puzzled. What should I be vouching for here? The car is 100k miles and probably never had a gearbox service in its lifetime.

The generic advice has always been that the torque converter needs to be drained. See for example:

How to Change Your Transmission Fluid

Don't overlook checking your transmission fluid. Transmission repairs are often avoidable with some basic maintenance.

www.popularmechanics.com

There are three ways of achieving this:

1. Via the drain plug, if there's one.

2. By running the engine with the transmission oil cooler hose disconnected, allowing the transmission to pump-out the old ATF, while topping-up with fresh ATF at the filler end. This is recommended for cars where the TC has no drain plug.

3. By carrying-out two pan-only ATF changes in succession - this will remove most (though not all) of the old ATF.

The idea that draining the TC isn't a good thing to do, is relatively new to me, this is not what I have been taught over the years (which is not to say that there's no truth in it - I don't know).

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Correct.

Sorry, all this discussion of a "full" fluid transmission change has left me puzzled. What should I be vouching for here? The car is 100k miles and probably never had a gearbox service in its lifetime.

Edit: Decided to go against my instinct and trust that I am just being silly, and have booked into Mercland for ATF and inspection since you are all so sure I will get a good service! I will also get the airbag recall done at MB and take up the complimentary health check so I get a comparison between MB and Mercland on that side of things. Thanks for all the advice.

Like I said before, mistakes happen and Sod’s Law is real so I would go with your instinct and not feedback here. Sod’s Law and all that…

 

[K80]

The generic advice has always been that the torque converter needs to be drained. See for example:

How to Change Your Transmission Fluid

Don't overlook checking your transmission fluid. Transmission repairs are often avoidable with some basic maintenance.

www.popularmechanics.com

There are three ways of achieving this:

1. Via the drain plug, if there's one.

2. By running the engine with the transmission oil cooler hose disconnected, allowing the transmission to pump-out the old ATF, while topping-up with fresh ATF at the filler end. This is recommended for cars where the TC has no drain plug.

3. By carrying-out two pan-only ATF changes in succession - this will remove most (though not all) of the old ATF.

The idea that draining the TC isn't a good thing to do, is relatively new to me, this is not what I have been taught over the years (which is not to say that there's no truth in it - I don't know).

So may be a good idea to ask Mercland if it is a full change?

Like I said before, mistakes happen and Sod’s Law is real so I would go with your instinct and not feedback here. Sod’s Law and all that…

Nah it's okay, I think I just didn't want to deal with shitty reps but as I saw in the forum so many other folks have had their gearbox's done there, it makes sense to give them a chance. I realize they must have done this loads and probably know what they're doing. It is probably the customer service folks on the outside that are putting me off and that is perhaps not fair on the mechanics. Fingers crossed...

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Correct.

Sorry, all this discussion of a "full" fluid transmission change has left me puzzled. What should I be vouching for here? The car is 100k miles and probably never had a gearbox service in its lifetime.

Edit: Decided to go against my instinct and trust that I am just being silly, and have booked into Mercland for ATF and inspection since you are all so sure I will get a good service! I will also get the airbag recall done at MB and take up the complimentary health check so I get a comparison between MB and Mercland on that side of things. Thanks for all the advice.

When I took my e350 for it's airbag to the mb dealer , it was also meant to be for a health check. It was in the garage 30 mins for airbag change ,so mb Sunderland, you are quick at health checks . I didn't even get any paperwork. Absolute crock of shyte they spew out . It's all about ££££££ .

 

[BigJase88]

How much choice do you get with the emissions update.

I need my 7G transmission oil changed this year but i really do not want the emissions update.

 

[JHS]

How much choice do you get with the emissions update.

I need my 7G transmission oil changed this year but i really do not want the emissions update.

Buy the service kit from Edinburgh Mercedes on eBay and do it yourself if you can, or let a local garage do it. Not a difficult thing to do if you can still crawl under cars. I can't, so went down the local garage route.
Plenty of "how to" on YT.

 

[K80]

When I took my e350 for it's airbag to the mb dealer , it was also meant to be for a health check. It was in the garage 30 mins for airbag change ,so mb Sunderland, you are quick at health checks . I didn't even get any paperwork. Absolute crock of shyte they spew out . It's all about ££££££ .

Crikey. I will have to let you know if they do actually do one or not. Stratford-Upon-Avon told me that they email you a report and supposedly videos for anything noticed. I thought the point of them doing it free was so that they could find things to recommend you to do to encourage more servicing to be done so we will see if my theory is correct or not in this case. Did you not ask if the inspection had been done? Or did they just say yes and nothing found?

How much choice do you get with the emissions update.

I need my 7G transmission oil changed this year but i really do not want the emissions update.

When I rang Stratford-Upon-Avon and enquired the same thing, the rep told me that as it is not a safety recall, I am able to decline it and that it will be written down when I book in. I have the airbag booked in March so fingers crossed they do as I ask. I quite clearly requested that I don't give permission for the diesel update and the rep did not argue with me.

 

[DSM10000]

I totally understand this but the customer service feedback is abysmal. I want honest communication and what every piece of negative feedback showed me was that they lack transparency. That makes it difficult for me personally.

If you are prepared to believe
uncorroborated "views" from people who post in capitals and exclamation marks.

The Internet is a very good source of information for many things but you still need to apply some rational judgment to what you are reading.

It is so easy to post inaccurate or misleading information and the default for many is to believe it without question.

 

[BigJase88]

Crikey. I will have to let you know if they do actually do one or not. Stratford-Upon-Avon told me that they email you a report and supposedly videos for anything noticed. I thought the point of them doing it free was so that they could find things to recommend you to do to encourage more servicing to be done so we will see if my theory is correct or not in this case. Did you not ask if the inspection had been done? Or did they just say yes and nothing found?

When I rang Stratford-Upon-Avon and enquired the same thing, the rep told me that as it is not a safety recall, I am able to decline it and that it will be written down when I book in. I have the airbag booked in March so fingers crossed they do as I ask. I quite clearly requested that I don't give permission for the diesel update and the rep did not argue with me.

I'm worried that they will do it anyways.

The car is tuned and i really don't fancy not being able to use the car in 7th until motorway speeds.

I mean it may be beneficial for the planet but I doubt it is beneficial for the car or my wallet

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

How much choice do you get with the emissions update.

I need my 7G transmission oil changed this year but i really do not want the emissions update.

You can ask them not to, however it has been known that it is accidentally applied anyway. I ask them not to wash my car but in the last 20 years they’ve done it three time ms because of human error. To be fair that’s probably 400 visits but 3:400 is a bu66er if you’re the 3c and not the 397.

 

[190]

I drained my last autobox myself including the torque converter which had a drain plug. The torque converter performed much better with new fluid as it raised the stall RPM without any need for any old friction material.

I'm having a hard time believing the need for friction material from the old oil. The filter would in any case filter it out. New ATF fluid is not just a lubricant, it has additives called friction modifiers which create just the right amount of friction for the clutches to work correctly. Likewise Manual transmission fluid is not just oil, it has friction modifiers to allow the synchos to work. The people who design ATF and oil formulations know what they are doing.

 

[K80]

If you are prepared to believe
uncorroborated "views" from people who post in capitals and exclamation marks.

The Internet is a very good source of information for many things but you still need to apply some rational judgment to what you are reading.

It is so easy to post inaccurate or misleading information and the default for many is to believe it without question.

I think you could give me a little bit of benefit of doubt here and given this lecture a pass. I have already decided to give Mercland a go, if you'd read my later posts.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

it was also meant to be for a health check. It was in the garage 30 mins for airbag change ,so mb Sunderland, you are quick at health checks . I didn't even get any paperwork. Absolute crock of shyte they spew out . It's all about ££££££ .

I’ve probably had 200 main dealer health checks over the last 10 years or so - across four different main dealers - and I’ve never once been told that work needed to be done, nevermind been told that work needed to be done that was unnecessary.

That doesn’t t mean that some people in some main dealers don’t abuse it. That said the trade off for them spending time on my car for free is that they’re in with the first chance to quote for any potential work. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

 

[K80]

I'm worried that they will do it anyways.

The car is tuned and i really don't fancy not being able to use the car in 7th until motorway speeds.

I mean it may be beneficial for the planet but I doubt it is beneficial for the car or my wallet

That's surprising to hear, I would have thought it'd be a major reason for offering a free inspection in the first place, so that they can then recommend work. Perhaps your car(s) are in too good condition? But also, perhaps, the leaderships intentions are not fully carried out by tired and hard working staff...? Well, anyways, it was just a guess! I am intrigued to see if they will say anything about mine at 100k miles (already, didn't take long!).

 

[DSM10000]

I think you could give me a little bit of benefit of doubt here and given this lecture a pass. I have already decided to give Mercland a go, if you'd read my later posts.

No lecture just common sense as others agreed and I don't care who you use so I wasn't supporting Mercland

The important thing is being unbiased so hopefully you will have a positive experience

Have a nice day now

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Crikey. I will have to let you know if they do actually do one or not. Stratford-Upon-Avon told me that they email you a report and supposedly videos for anything noticed. I thought the point of them doing it free was so that they could find things to recommend you to do to encourage more servicing to be done so we will see if my theory is correct or not in this case. Did you not ask if the inspection had been done? Or did they just say yes and nothing found?

When I rang Stratford-Upon-Avon and enquired the same thing, the rep told me that as it is not a safety recall, I am able to decline it and that it will be written down when I book in. I have the airbag booked in March so fingers crossed they do as I ask. I quite clearly requested that I don't give permission for the diesel update and the rep did not argue with me.

No one said anything, I was handed my keys and told ,there you go all done . Funny thing was ,the day before ,some salesman rang saying that when I arrive tomorrow the red carpet will be rolled out and I'll be a VIP for a day , and whilst I wait for the airbag I can look at the pretty new and used mercs they were selling, he asked is this something you'd be looking to do , I replied No . When I got there no red carpet ,not even a straw mat with welcome on it .