06 SL500 - transmission oil leak

I have not done a more recent MB tranny. I did a 01 E320 but that has fill tube. My BMW is much older but doesn't have any fill tube at all and this is what you will be dealing with.

I think it is about 6 quarts or so if you get the torque converter drained. Always buy more than you need.

Tranny fluid... MB tranny fluid or what Amsoil specified for your car. I use Amsoil fluid for MB tranny.

As for filling the tranny, they most likely have two plugs... one to drain and one to fill. The one to fill, you have to 'inject' it into the transmission. Then you need to start up the car and let the fluid flow... stop engine and fill up more until fluid splash back out.

The tricky part of the filling is that the tranny must be level with the car and engine is running. It is much easier to do this at a shop than in your own garage.

Is the car still under warranty? If not the car, tranny? Call up your dealer and see if they will service it under warranty for you. Powertrain warranty is a bit more coverage than the rest of your car I believe.

Tiger - thanks. I didn't realise it might not have a filler tube. There is a tube at the rear rhs of the engine with a red plastic cap, I took it that was for transmission fluid. Maybe it's for sucking out the engine oil? Working on the car with it level and the engine running isn't a problem, I have a very long pit. Warranty is a problem, this car was personally imported to Ireland from England, re- registered etc. MB Dealers hate cars like that here in Ireland because they didn't have the new or used sale of it. If it's fill until it splashes out, fair enough, I can cope with that. I understand about running the engine to re-fill the torque and pumps etc. With older mercedes' the instructions were to also run the shift lever up and down through all the gears to get the oil around fully, I would do it as a matter of practise in any case.

John

Double check that fill tube... engine dipstick tube is always in front.

Some MB doesn't have any tranny fill tube... my friend's 04 CL500 doesn't have one.

If that is the fill tube for the tranny, then there is a different fill procedure... it is same as my folk's E320... There is a dipstick tool you can buy to tell you if you got enough fluid.

You need to go to one of the online Mercedes forums for your specific car series and get an exact and fully informed answer on this. There are differences between models and the instructions can be quite specific or you will mess things up.

This isn't a smart comment, but I thought this was the appropriate on- line forum to do exactly that. I think I'll send the car to a dealer, the cost is offset by the cost of it going wrong.

John