At the time of pickup, all looked in order and for 11 months everything seemed OK. Then ....
1. There was a shudder when taking off under load
2. The shift points changed when the engine was cold (coming in OK when warm)
I took it back to them and the was a very strong reluctance to take this on board. They took it for a drive and claimed the shudder was normal and the diesel was too weak to get the gear box to change gear
. What to do ....This is a daily driver that does a power of work and we didn't want it off the road for any length of time.
So I took it back and they "adjusted" something.
A few days later, the shift points permanently were too high and reverse disappeared. I took it to an independent benz specialist, asking "do you do transmissions". He looked bemused and said, we do everything on new and older benzes because their components are unique to them. Looking around his shop, there were many older benzes and he could show me a couple of torn down transmissions.
In the end, the shift points was a worn o-ring on the modulator
Reverse failed due a broken band adjustment pin - they must have cranked it to the hilt
The rear transmission mount was twisted as they had installed it incorrectly
The exhaust bracket was that runs off the rear cross member shared with the trans was missing all its rubber bushings
To be fair to the transmission folk, the shudder whilst not normal, was not their fault - a worn centre bearing on the tailshaft.
I am not 100% sure what my "fully reconditioned" transmission job actually bought me.
So, if you have require a trans repair , would recommend your local benz indie over the transmission specialist any day
