what should a rebuilt tranny for a 69 280sl cost ?

[henryr]

i am in atlanta.  getting price quotes around $2700+labor.  looks like west coast pricing is about a grand cheaper.  any leads / thoughts ?

tks

[garymand]

Manual or auto? and why do you think you need it rebuilt?

[henryr]

sorry.  automatic.

it is toast.  i bought it with a bad tranny.

[garymand]

I have dug into a few, they should be familiar to a well established shop in that they have a lot in common with any auto.  I'm used to having one or two guys around who do a lot of MB tranny's.  Feel good about 2300.  My sun blew up his C55 auto and it cost him $4k.  Hemmings used to have adds for rebuilts at about $1000 but that could have been 20 years ago.  I would be surprised if Atlanta doesn't have a few to choose from.  I did find this for a reference possibility http://www.hemmings.com/parts/search?0=0&view_type=print&category_id=178&sub_category_id[]=191&makeFacet=Mercedes-Benz&q=automatic%2Btransmission&sort=relevance

[scoot]

http://www.mercedesdismantlers.com/

On the west coast this is the place to go IMHO.  They do a lot of shipping...

[Cees Klumper]

Try getting a decent used one. They should be available for a few hundred dollars still? Assuming the sedan autos are the same as the SL.

[mdsalemi]

Try getting a decent used one.

How can you know? This should cause one pause. In did to me, but not enough pause to do anything about it, to my discredit, a long sad and expensive story that's been repeated ad nauseum.
According to the mechanic who did the work, it's about 6 hours of labor to pull and replace a tranny. At today's labor rates that's a good chunk of change. If you are doing it yourself, of course, it doesn't cost that much but probably a lot more time unless you've done it before.

Word to the wise is be very careful about replacing something big and time consuming with a part of unknown provenance. If you are investing professional time into the tranny installation, strongly consider a rebuilt with warranty. Unless of course you don't mind repeating the exercise...

[RonB]

I brought my 71 280 the same way - sent the tranny to to a firm in New Jersey the specialize in euro trannies. [ MB - BMW - VW] 

I found them in the Star. Cost was about $1200.00.

Did excellent job.

[scoot]

Word to the wise is be very careful about replacing something big and time consuming with a part of unknown provenance. If you are investing professional time into the tranny installation, strongly consider a rebuilt with warranty. Unless of course you don't mind repeating the exercise...

This is kind of what I think too.  Given that a reputable transmission rebuild is in the $1500 area not counting labor to take it in and out, it's not worth messing around with it on an expensive car.  My 300TD (1985) trans was rebuilt by Sun Valley and then installed it for not much, but I imagine that the access for installation on a W123 is much better than on a W113.

Someone in another thread was (I think) complaining about a windshield being $350.   I was going to post a response to that but figured that it would fall on deaf ears. 

[mdsalemi]

sent the tranny to to a firm in New Jersey the specialize in euro trannies.
I found them in the Star. Cost was about $1200.00.
Did excellent job.

…and that would be European Exchange http://www.europeanexchange.com
They don't list the W113 in their pull down list but I'm sure these guys will work on it…worth a call.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello Michael,

Nice link on the European Exchange, I e-mailed them and the owner called me back within a couple hours. He informed me that they have done 230, 250 and 280SL. for a 280 Automatic I asked him if they remove it and reassemble the transmission after rebuilding it he said yes. The cost for a removal, rebuild and reassembly would be around $3,000- and it would take 3 business days.

I mentioned to him that my automatic transmission leaks (I don't know many old cars that do not leak LOL), he said it is mostly the torque converter housing it is aluminium and riveted to the transmission housing, the seal after so many years get dry and brittle then leaks. He said there are steal converter housings available also riveted and if they leak they can be welded to stop the leak.

Anyway, passing the info on for what it is worth ... I'm sure there is a transmission shop around Toronto as well one needs to find it. If not I may take mine down to NY and have a NYC 3 to 4 day holiday some day

[Cees Klumper]

Agree that if you can get a rebuild for $1,200 AND/OR are unable to do the install yourself, then have it done for sure and don't gamble on a used one. What I was thinking is that if you CAN do the work yourself (it's not that complicated!) then trying a used one you can pick up for a few hundred dollars is wortwhile, also considering some of the higher quotes mentioned in this thread. Could save a couple thousand. Easily pays for the investment in an engine hoist, which is just about the only really special equipment you'd need, and even that you can rent for a few days probably.

[scoot]

The whole topic of "rebuilt" vs. "used" trannys makes me think that we really need some pictures of exactly what we are getting into.  As you can see there are many options available. 

[Cees Klumper]

Another reason I prefer used over rebuilt

[scoot]

Clearly Tranny #2 is VERY used.  I think Tranny #1 counts as a very good rebuild.

[Cees Klumper]

Sure, there's used and then there's USED. But a rebuild is not always a quality one ...

[scoot]

Sure, there's used and then there's USED. But a rebuild is not always a quality one ...

I think we can speculate that Tranny #3 is of unknown rebuild quality.   Tranny #1 won a big award so she's gotta be a good one.

[garymand]

I think we might have a 2 pager going here.  I'm cheap and I do my own work.  (My car was screwed up too many times at the dealer.)  That said, I would go for a few hundred $ used one IF the wrecker could give support to the tranny being in very good working order with very few miles on it sinced installed.  You can usually get a 1 year guarantee.  But,  on my SL, I would be very hesitant to go through all that effort with the standing risk that in a year or two or three (since we often don't drive them much and when we do we treat them like old ladies) You aren't going to find out you made a mistake until its too late or you'd hafve to pay the guy to do it all over again.  I would much rather tear the original apart and replace all the wearable stuff that leads to break downs or poor shifting: clutches, bearings shims, springs with obvious wear, switches, modulator...hmm what else? 

Or if I'm not doing the work, no brainer find a wrecker who rebuilds, or an exchange rebuilder who has one.  If they have one chances are you aren't their only customer for them. 

Either way, this is a heavy girl with enough RPMs, torque, and HP to 'get scratch in 2nd'.  I don't want a weak tranny under my feet that can't take the fun I'm ready to ask it to deliver.  When I downship to go up a hill or pass a 911T, I don't want any witnesses to think I'm driving a girly car.

JMO  Put in a known good tranny.