Still waiting on a buy-back valuation, but in other news the transmission seems to be fixed. Spontaneously Friday, on two of the four legs that day, the transmission worked perfectly. (Bad, Good, Good, Bad.) Well, that just _screams_ electrical to me, so Saturday I went through all the external electrics, pulling relays, etc. I cleaned the contacts _inside_ the associated relay, and cleaned the external blades. I used De-Ox-It on all contacts, internal and external. (I had already done the engine/transmission computer's connectors.) I then re-pulled the tranny connector and used brake cleaner on it again, making sure to get a bunch puddled into the upward-facing socket. I then used compressed air to blow it out. Not sure whether it was on top, or inside the socket, but I could fee/hear small chunks blow around there. I did that twice, then used De-Ox-It on the connector, and plugged it back in. I think it seated further than before, with a positive 'snick', which I don't remember from before.
Subsequent to that, all trips have been with a perfectly functioning transmission. Engine RPM's are now low on the freeway, about 1,500 RPM at 55-ish. You can feel all four shifts, counting the one where the torque converter lockup engages. Nice. Maybe the next tank will turn in better than the first one, which was 10.8 MPG. Hey, at least it made it into double digits, which I wasn't really expecting. V10's are thirsty beasts. The bearing noise, though, is _not_ a good sign, and is enough to help keep me from feeling too guilty at the prospect of slaughtering this truck for parts to get mine going again. What I really needed was a rollover, one that did not damage the mechanicals, but I doubt that one of those would have been any cheaper than the $1,450 that this one cost me. ($2,140 ready to drive.) -- Jim _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
