Mercedes Benz 722.9 service

[Vil_Riker]

I will be servicing the 722.9 gtronic transmission on my Merc GL550 this weekend. Have all the parts, all OEM, and the fill adapter installed on a pressure filler. Have watched tons of videos but still am unsure of the length of time it will take. I am budgeting about an hour.

This is my first time doing it. Any advice on how long it will take and tips/tricks?

 

[Rand]

double the time of doing it a second time after you know.
(yes not very helpful)

 

[burbguy82]

Do you like your GL550? what year is it?

 

[Egg_Head]

This guy has great information on servicing that tranny. I assume yours has the "updated" deeper pan and MB Smart Media Triple filter?

https://mercedessource.com/

 

[JTK]

Are you replacing the plastic pan or just doing drain/fills?

 

[The Critic]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/mercedes-722-9-transmission-service-tips.280379/

 

[Vil_Riker]

Are you replacing the plastic pan or just doing drain/fills?

Drain/refill only.

 

[Vil_Riker]

Do you like your GL550? what year is it?

It's 2015. I like it, it's a very safe vehicle and built like a tank. Used to drive on a very dangerous portion of I-65 where there was at least one deadly crash every week so this was a natural choice. But Everything about the car is nice. It's powerful, comfortable, sporty, fast and safe. Checks all the boxes.

The only problem is that it eats through rear tires. It's got a massive negative camber so tires don't last very long. I change them every 10,000 miles. This is so that the car doesn't flip when you make fast turns.

If buying, get a couple of years old vehicle. I paid around $90k but it has depreciated to $20k now with 50k miles on it.

 

[The Critic]

Drain/refill only.

You absolutely need to replace the filter.

 

[Vil_Riker]

You absolutely need to replace the filter.

Yes, it's with filter change.

 

[burbguy82]

It's 2015. I like it, it's a very safe vehicle and built like a tank. Used to drive on a very dangerous portion of I-65 where there was at least one deadly crash every week so this was a natural choice. But Everything about the car is nice. It's powerful, comfortable, sporty, fast and safe. Checks all the boxes.

The only problem is that it eats through rear tires. It's got a massive negative camber so tires don't last very long. I change them every 10,000 miles. This is so that the car doesn't flip when you make fast turns.

If buying, get a couple of years old vehicle. I paid around $90k but it has depreciated to $20k now with 50k miles on it.

Found one with 80k, for 15k.

"it" kills rear tires.........is that a thing with those, or is it something that can be remedied?

 

[Vil_Riker]

They are designed to have negative camber for stability. Apparently people change the bushings to adjust the factory camber. Supposedly a DIY but I haven't been inclined to do that.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w204/731118-rear-camber-arms-k-mac-camber-toe-bushings.html

 

[Vil_Riker]

Well, it was a disaster. To begin with, one edge of the pan was behind a cross beam that also held the kardan in place. So removing it would have created a lot more work. So I rigged a tool to remove the two bolts. But that meant forgetting about the recommended torque.

Then came time for the fluid removal. All was going well until I dropped the pan. I thought I had removed the plastic tube thing but apparently it had put itself in place. So the pan had a little less than 2 liters left it it that spilled on me as I was jiggling the pan from behind the cross beam. So there I am, covered in ATF, sliding on the tarp I had placed under the car. Fortunately the old ATF did not smell bad.

Took me 3 hours to finish this up. Never again will I do this. I'm just too old for this. So later I took a shower with dishwashing liquid and was joking that my wife should use an ATF as moisturizer for long life because even dishwashing liquid still left a film.