To change X308 XJR Tranny Fluid or not? Pls vote
 

Hi i am debating whether to have my mechanic change my tranny fluid ...pls vote on whether you think we should change our tranny fluid or not...my car has 120000 miles and no issues with the tranny

I need a "maybe" spot to check.

The MB transmission is very robust. They did have a bearing issue in early versions that was fixed around 2000 -- the failure has nothing to do with fluid condition.

I wish it was easier to check the fluid level -- I believe that is more important.

Definitely change it, but just drain it, do not have it flushed.

Agree with replace what you can remove with new, but don't flush. You don't want crud that's been deposited over the 120k miles to come loose and get disrtributed throughout the tranny. UNLESS - you have records of previous flushes within the last 50k miles or so - then it's safe to do it again.

change it buy all the bits of merc, it takes 5l of tranny fluid get the gearbox filter aswell with the gasket

5l of fluid is without the torque convertor

I would like mine opened,checked,cleaned en refilled by a mercedes transmission specialist....

The opening part is easy ;-)

YouTube - MB 722.6

Amazing video!
So that's how they work on transmissions!

75% vote to change the tranny fluid and 25% vote not to change the tranny fluid

M/b 722.6
 

Now if you do change it what do you change to (what oil)? I have looked at about 5 or 6 brands recommended on this siye but dont find on that list jaguar or M/B ..the closest I can come Is Casterol Transmax import multi vehicle ..list the 7 series BMW LT 71141/ This # seems to be common yo Exxon/Mobile But what does It represent??/ Can anyone shed light here..Thanks

I used Shell ATF 134, got it at Ryder Fleet Products on line for about $5 a quart.
(is there an echo in here? lol)
Vector

Here's an interesting thought-my own XJR has 150k on it without any fluid change & still works fine. My friend in Ohio has 220k on his XJR, also without any fluid change & still working fine.

He used to work for MB and the workshop noticed that high mileage cars which had recently had fluid changes were showing gearshifting problems, whereas those cars that still had the original fluid were working normally with no reported problems.

His observation was to leave the fluid alone if the gearbox is working fine, and it was only changed if cars were brought in with gearshifting problems...

I definitley recommend a fluid flush! This year my XJR gets the change with the "Tim Eckard" method, price for it 350,- Euro incl 11L of Fuchs Titan 4134 trans fluid.

I can teel you a lots of W210 E55 get serious gearbox problems in fact of old trans fluid, with this flush you could save a lot of money...

3 weeks ago our E55 lost his gearbox... 237000 km on the clook, color of the oil, black... the car runs first in Swiss ( 130km/h on the Autobahn, infact no highspeed ) and always MB dealer maintained but no trans fluid change. The end of the story i put another tranny in the car...

That's a classic fitter view, I'd go along with that if I was working for the dealer.

The key is preventative insurance against failure. In this case not just a fluid change, but updating the seal, filter and dipstick locking tab to red from black (usually distinguishes if the gearbox has been correctly serviced) a hard reset to retrain the gearbox. following the adaptation procedure for the 722.6. only use the s button after at least 200 miles. Works for most as the old settings will cause issues because of different properties in the new fluid, along with a discernable flow/pressure rate, than say 14 year old fluid full of bits (black).
A rough and ready guide I go by is the colour, if it's red-reddish brown and on the button level wise with no leaks, it would be fine to leave it be. If it's black, it will need changing, and the gearbox would be a revelation, one of the nice things about the R.

BTW, MB USA updated its fluid change recommendation for those transmissions several years ago. The change interval is now at something like 60 thousand miles under normal service. Sooner for severe service.

I am a Rebel, and here I will agree with the Red Coat!

Here in the Colonies, we have a good saying,....."if it ain't broken,...don't fix it". I'll go with that. The thing works fine, why upset the equilibrium? If it worked flawlessly for 120K, chances are 50/50 in both directions that you will have a problem/or not. It may work just fine "for life", or you will wake up Gremlins after the service. Like I said,....50/50 either way. I would leave it alone.

What's the worst that can happen? Tranny dies in the next 50K?( that's 50K free of ANY expenses) Get a rebuilt one, and keep going. Pay for service, and she starts to slip immediately,....you'll be pi$$ed! Actually,....I think if you mess with it at this point, your odds are more toward having issues! You have no issues now, right? Stay with no issues.

Thanks for the tip, However I did look on the Ryder web page and It dose not list Shell 134 In their trans oil listings? Also based on the price of other oils by the time you buy the oil then have It shipped to CA. I might as well go to my M/B
dealer and buy the really correct stuff...I also searched all my local auto parts stores and all carry shell products none carry 134 and dont even list It??/ Again Thanks

I have to say I couldn't agree more. But of course, us colonist's stick together. :icon_that:

It's a judgement call for the car owner so I guess it depends on how lucky you are in life & whether the Gods are smiling on you :)

Using similar 'inverse' logic, you could argue that black transmission fluid is not going to be the cause of the transmission failure, as the fluid is black because the gearbox is worn out & going to fail anyway...

You could also look at how the gearbox has worked in it's life-if it's just sat on the motorway doing a high mileage, then the multi-plate clutches won't have been used much as the car will have remained mainly in top gear. Same goes for the Torque Converter lock-up clutch, as constant motorway driving means it will have sat there fully engaged with no 'slippage' as it engages & disengages.

So the fluid will have not been absorbing much material from the multi-plate clutches as they haven't been used much with constant motorway driving, so the only wear on the fluid is heat & time degradation, plus the shearing forces from the helically-cut metal transmission gears.

Town driving, on the other hand, means the gearbox is constantly changing gear as well, and so the fluid degrades faster as it's also absorbing material from the gearbox multi-late clutches & Torque Converter lockup clutch over time, as well as the other wear sources mentioned above.

Vehicle mileage is a very rough indicator as to vehicle condition-the true indicator is the type of useage the car has been put to during that mileage.

So from a gearbox point of view, the best indicator is the colour of the fluid as Sean B says-another good reason for having a good old-fashioned transmission dipstick :)

I have an old E34 BMW 525tds which I run on old chip-fat & homebrew BioDiesel as a cheap general runabout. It's got 176k on the clock & works fine. I put 60k on it during many long trips & the transmission is still shifting fine. I did have a small pinhole leak from the transmission oil cooler pipe, and I noticed the the fluid dripping out was still reddish-brown in colour & not black-even after 176k miles.

So it's not always mileage that determines wear patterns, but the actual TYPE of driving during that mileage. I sat the old BM on long motorway drives of 500 miles or so, so the gearbox would just sit there in 5th with the lockup clutch engaged & not shed any material into the fluid from the gearbox clutches-unlike town driving which would have been constant upshift/downshift/shed a bit more clutch material into the fluid etc...

My 1998 XJ8L that I recently purchased began to take a longer time to shift from 2nd to 3rd when cold, but only once in the morning. It is also starting to whine more than it did when I first bought it. The dealership recommended a fluid and filter change. It has 99K miles on it and I am concerned about whether or not it will get worse after the fluid change or leave it alone until it fails. Dealer wants $776 to do the drain, filter and refill.

Any thoughts?