Questions and Answers

Mercedes Benz 300CE Blow It's Engine Q. First, I threw a rod right through the oil pan while driving down interstate 280 here in Northern California. The oil pressure gauge dropped to zero and the car began to stall. Then, it started to pick up in revs when kaboom, smoke everywhere. I coasted to the side in DRIVE still. The car had 130,000 miles at that time.

So, being a DIY I pulled the engine and transmission out as one. I noticed that the expansion tank for the coolant contained a lot of transmission fluid. but I paid no mind. I figured that the radiator must be okay and that this was just a byproduct of the blown engine.

I pulled the old engine off and marked the torque converter position to drive plate position. I even marked each drive plate to torque converter bolt so that I would mount it back exactly as it was. I got the new engine and mounted the same drive plate onto it and torqued it to the standard in the manual.

I then pulled a stud off of the old heads and used it as a guide on the torque converter when the old transmission was joined to the new engine. I did not get a new converter. The two came right together and I bolted everything to standard. With assistance, the engine was then dropped back into the coupe.

Everything was reattached, and I drained the transmission fluid which looked like a pink milk shake? I refilled it and let it run. I continued to run it and top off the transmission fluid.

Then, when I shifted, the darn thing wouldn't move forward or backward. I heard a loud tapping sound from the transmission bell housing whenever I try to shift. It sounds like the big spinning wheel on the lottery, the card hitting the metal pins on the edge.

Moreover, there is a deep heavy rotation in the transmission housing that makes me so nervous that I immediately shut the car off and put it back into PARK. I shut the car off and left it for the past three weeks, depressed and tired of getting on the darn concrete and using my dreaded floor jack to lift up and down, trying to do everything right only for it not to work.

Today I opened up the hood only to find that the transmission fluid has mixed back in with the coolant and the expansion tank looks red when its supposed to be clear.

My question: Do you think that my problem is simply the radiator? If I replace the radiator and transmission filter, will my Mercedes be back on Interstate 280? Or is my transmission shot?

• 1989 Mercedes Benz 300CE
• Engine 103.983
• Automatic transmission

A. Automatic transmission fluid in the cooling system was a common problem with those cars. Automatic transmission fluid enters the cooling system via a leak in the transmission fluid cooler. Replacing the radiator, along with the transmission fluid cooler will fix the problem.

After you are done, you will need to flush the cooling system and transmission. Mercedes Benz has a special cooling system flush that you must use. It is part number 001-986 21 71. Since a new radiator assembly, part number 124 500 90 03, from Mercedes Benz is only about $184.00, I would use it.

After the new radiator is put in and the transmission flushed, we will see where we are at as far as the transmission.