Dwarfed G55!!
Moving this big girl on Monday, so took the opportunity of a quick snap:
Hi MARTIN,
I know auto box in G55 and G400 is supposed to be sealed for life but did you ever change transmission fluid?
Regards
Con
The oil should be changed. 60k miles is generally accepted as being ok. MB did try the idea of sealed for life but that isn't the advice any more. There is some discussion elsewhere about oil and dipsticks and such.
Marty
For your information I never had the auto box oil changed
Regards
Jonathan
Which means that you have to hurry up before is gives up the ghost (which happened to my ML at 85,000 miles).
Latest advice is to change the fluid and filter and then (this is the surprising part) change it again and the filter after another 5000 miles approx as the new oil has a detergent effect cleans all the crud off the internals and blocks the new filter up. To summarise if you really love your car and want to keep it for a long while... change the auto fluid once at 60,000 miles again at 65,000 miles and then again at 105,000 miles and every 40,000 after......
So Marty
Like, are you putting her on tow ?
Or what :lol:
Cheers
Marcus
Would that be dependant on the age or milage of the car?
So if I have a 7 year old car @ 49K miles, I still have another 11K to go before considering a transmission fluid change?
ta
Spider1V
Rule of thumb is if it hasn't been done do it asap, I have heard of at least 6 or 7 gearboxes needing replacing around 70 - 80,000 miles and Mortinson just mentioned another one aswell!! people moan about this from a car that should go on for ever but in reality Mercedes are not infallable and this is a weak point so for peace of mind change it and then go back to enjoying your G.
Can you please clarify what transmission you are talking about (722.6 or 722.3 or all automatics in both 460 and 463s)?
i.e. is this advice for all the automatic Gs out there?
Advice only for the 5 speed 722.6 autobox as fitted to g55, g500 and 400 and 300 TD's. Older G's have a proper autobox with a massive filter and need just routine maintainance like fluid and filter every 40,000 but not catastrophic if you go a bit longer.
So you only have to do the additional 5k oil change after the first change? then 40k thereafter?
The filter is £10 odd and the oil £10/l mine took 5l, so I guess not prohibitively expensive. I've already got the dipstick!!
Rule of thumb is if it hasn't been done do it asap, I have heard of at least 6 or 7 gearboxes needing replacing around 70 - 80,000 miles and Mortinson just mentioned another one aswell!! people moan about this from a car that should go on for ever but in reality Mercedes are not infallable and this is a weak point so for peace of mind change it and then go back to enjoying your G.
It is not a problem of being infallible, but of being greedy, arrogant or plainly stupid: all previous automatic gearboxes had a scheduled maintenance, but when the 722.6 gearbox was launched Mercedes claimed that it was sealed for life... Only after thousands have given up the ghost has Mercedes relented and admitted that they need to have the fluid and filter changed....
So you only have to do the additional 5k oil change after the first change? then 40k thereafter?
The filter is £10 odd and the oil £10/l mine took 5l, so I guess not prohibitively expensive. I've already got the dipstick!!
Roly, it can be done even cheaper:
These are the fluids approved for the 722.6 gearbox:
Product name Company, town, country
MB 236.10 ATF A 001 989 2303 DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart, Germany
MB 236.10 Automatic transmission fluid (ATF) 001 989 2103 DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart, Germany
Shell ATF 3403 -M 115 Deutsche Shell GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
And these for the 7-tronic and 722.6 gearboxes:
Product name Company, city, country
Fuchs Titan ATF 3353 Fuchs Petrolub AG, Mannheim, Germany
MB 236.12 ATF 3353 A 001 989 4503 DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart, Germany
Shell ATF3353 Shell International Petroleum Co., London, England
Fuchs Titan is some € 30 for the 5 litre container in Germany....
http://cgi.ebay.es/Automatikoel-Fuchs-ATF-3353-MB-236-12-4-ltr_W0QQitemZ...
Jesus
The pn 2103 is the 1l bottles at £10 ea. The 2303 is 5l bottles. When I spoke to the local dealer here he said that their service dep't. didn't use the 2303 only the 2103, so there is more to it than bottle size. The shell type I couldn't find anywhere for sale.
Jesus,
My compliments ,
Once again chapter and verse,
I am flabbergasted by your;
(i) Sources
(ii ) Organisation
and not least
(iii )Your dedication
Roly,
I suspect that is most likely just the bottle size,
the 1l being easier to wrassle with than the 5 litre
for God's sake the Forestry commission over here buys the 2 stroke oil in the wee one shot dose's because "it is handier"
only about 10 times the price of the 5 or 20 l , like what we as a small council buy.
DOH
Marcus
So you only have to do the additional 5k oil change after the first change? then 40k thereafter?
The filter is £10 odd and the oil £10/l mine took 5l, so I guess not prohibitively expensive. I've already got the dipstick!!
Yes I think after everything has bedded in and you are past the 1st round of servicing it will stay cleaner, I was told that the fluid gets graphite from the plates built up in suspension so turns the fluid brown, after a couple of changes the internals will be clean and your fluid will stay red for much longer.
Jesus
The pn 2103 is the 1l bottles at £10 ea. The 2303 is 5l bottles. When I spoke to the local dealer here he said that their service dep't. didn't use the 2303 only the 2103, so there is more to it than bottle size. The shell type I couldn't find anywhere for sale.
Yes Roly, you are right.... but that's for the 236.10 specification which is good for the 722.6 gearbox....
BUT the other three oils are for the 236.12 specification, which is good for the 7-tronic and the 722.6 too. I was unable to find the Shell ATFs in Spain BUT Fuchs has a factory in Spain and their ATF is sold at least in Spain AND in Germany....
So definitely try to source the Fuchs Titan ATF 3353 (Fuchs Petrolub AG, Mannheim, Germany)
http://cgi.ebay.es/Automatikoel-Fuchs-ATF-3353-MB-236-12-4-ltr_W0QQitemZ...
Good luck!
1 litre Fuchs ATF3353 in UK for £10.58 inc VAT ex delivery;
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-969-fuchs-titan-atf-3353-automatic-transmiss...
.. Demon Tweaks don't have it .. guess you have to track it down through Fuch distributors..
Same cost as MB's stuff...
Same cost as MB's stuff...
Another example of Rip-off Britain!
Price in Spain of the Fuchs oil, € 6.20 + 16% VAT = € 7.192 = GBP 5.78 per litre when bought in 20 One-litre bottles and this is withe the current unfavourable exchange rate (should be closer to GBP 4.8 per litre incluing VAT)...
Go to the Mercedes dealer then :cry:
BTW, if you buy from these guys, http://cgi.ebay.es/Automatikoel-Fuchs-ATF-3353-MB-236-12-4-ltr_W0QQitemZ... it will cost you € 6.29 per litre, VAT and delivery to the UK included (some GBP 5.24 per litre :D )
Thanks Mortinson! As usual a great resource, even from "overseas" :p
Fuchs and shell appear to be the OEM suppliers. In the UK, you can get the Fuchs product here:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-395-fuchs-gear-oil-final-drive-oil-atfs-mtf....
and details here:
http://olyslager-lubricants.nl/fuchstest/FUCHS/select.asp?language=1
For 4 and 5 speed autos, one might also consider Fuchs-5000SL, which is fully synthetic, heavy-duty, and has better low temperature shift properties.
Mobil also make a 3353 and Mobil-1 synthetic ATF is also pretty good.
Then, there are also the new hi-spec, Dexron-VI fluids which are downwards compatible to Dexron II or III. But since GM have given the monopoly to only a couple of oil-base-stock producers and are demanding high costs for certification, this has probably prompted other companies such as MB to develop their own versions, such as 3353.
Funny enough we buy Fuchs oil's here at work
They do a wonderful nifty grease gun too, with a screw in grease cartridge, one could refill it wearing a good clean suit, and still be clean afterwards. Even me can :oops:
Progress what!
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Hi Con,
Only had this G55 for a few months. No plans to change transmission fluid at present.