I have yet to do the MB but it is not normally a difficult job to do. I have done this sort of thing on lots of other vehicles. Not a whole lot harder than changing the oil in the engine. Messy in most cases but that is normal when one crawls around under a vehicle. Be prepared to spill some and if you need to keep the drive or floor or whatever you are parked on clean, the take some precautions with cardboard or the like to prevent a major cleanup afterwards. If you have a place to work then get yourself a set of good quality ramps and have at it. It is not brain surgery. One loosens bolts and removes them and then later re-installs them with some new gaskets etc and then re-tightens them. If one is afraid that one does not have the touch, then one uses a torque wrench etc. The worst thing that can go wrong is that one buggers something up and has to buy a new part etc. It is a learning experience and gets easier with time.
For an example, I offer the following. When I first got my 1986 Chevy Suburban (back in 1991) I was intimidated by it. I had not owned anything with a V8 engine since a 1968 Cougar that I traded away in 1973. Most of my vehicles in between were either new and didn't need anything much or were older and very simple like my 1968 Chevy pickup with a 292 inline 6. None of them had as much plumbing as that thing had under the hood. I changed a fuel filter in the carb and was literally afraid I would not get it back together again. Within a few months I was much mor comfortable with it. I changed the valve seals and so I had the valve covers off and all of the junk in the way had to be moved or removed. I later wondered why I had been so intimidated by it at the outset. I'm sort of in the same boat with the MB. I bought it in July 2005 and drove it a bit but really didn't do much apart from change the oil twice. This spring I am going to get into it and check the compression, check for chain stretch etc. I have had it long enough to feel more comfortable with it and have read the posts on this forum and a couple of others long enough to be satisfied that there shouldn't be anything too unusual about it. My car is simple compared to most of the ones that you folks talk about. I don't have to worry about the self levelling suspension or the turbo etc. The worst thing I have to decide is whether to tackle the front seats or hire someone else to do it. Randy B -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of David Brodbeck Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 2:44 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Oil Change - Questions John Berryman wrote: > Have it done at a shop it'll be cheaper than hospital or funeral > bills. There's more fluid in the convertor than in the pan. Its a > simple process, some Jiffy-Lube guys could probably do it without > screwing anything up. > Good luck. Everyone seems to be afraid of these cars. It seems like when I called around to anywhere but a Mercedes specialist asking about a transmission service or even a V-belt change, they said "we don't do that on those cars." _______________________________________ http://www.striplin.net For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net
