dr bob

I've used a plastic pan/tub to catch the fluid from a car that doesn't have a drain plug. With the drain pan forward under the sump. carefully start loosening the pan bolts a little. Then loosen the foraward bolts as much as you can without them dropping out. Then the rear ones a little, and remove the middle ones. Then the rears a little more, and slowly, so the front of the pan comes down slowly, and the bulk of the fluid flows forward into your drain pan and away from you.

Plastic trash bags, the big ones, make great temporary floor protection from dribbles. I cut the bag open at the sides or the side and end, depending on what shape I want to end up with. A little masking tape holds the corners down. When I'm done, the floor cleans up nicely by just pulling the tape and dropping the bag in the trash.

The same trash bags also make interesting funnels or liners into a 5-gal pail. Tape or spring-clamp the rim of the bag around the potentially-offending part, so anything that comes out is contained in the bag and sent to the pail as you loosen the last bolts.

TheoJ

it helps to suck out most of the ATF from the reservoir. And undo the reservoir from the reservoir next. When taking the pan off, try to lower the left side as much as possible. The oil will poor over on the right side first.
Have fun
Heat might help undoing the plug.
regards
Theo

Schocki

Yep, try to get all of the fluid out of the reservoir. I would consider to take the reservoir out or to use it as the main drain point. Untighten the big plastic nut that connects the reservoir to the pan and take the two mounting alan bolts out. This should allow you to disconnect the resorvoir from the metal tube.
Drain the ATF this way.

Take the pan of and drill a hole through the drain plug and use an extractor tool to get it out. Buy a new plug and seal at your local MB dealer. The MB part number is: 000000-000884 (BTW MB recommends to replace this plug at every ATF change )

Contact Roger and get a new O-Ring for the plastic nut and a new seal for the reservoir cap...

StratfordShark

OK here's the latest from world's slowest 928 worker.

I found the vent tube from reservoir, but it just disappears into gloom above and I couldn't see where to disconnect it from transmission.

So I loosened the big coupling nut between reservoir and pan.

Then started loosening bolts as DrBob suggested. Very effective - having almost removed front bolts, there was a nice rain of fluid into the catch pan as I loosened centre bolts. With rear bolts out I could move sump up and down and slosh almost all remaining fluid out of pan. I then disconnected the metal tube from reservoir, and sump was home free with the drain plug still in it.

Now the drain plug was at my mercy. Blasted it with a small torch, hammered on bolt extractor and she came out. Threads look perfect so I don't know what was making it such a struggle. I could have just left it in but it was really bugging me, and I like everything correct on the car.

Call local Porsche dealer to get new o-ring for the suction tube, and new sump plug. No problem with gasket but they claim the sump plug 960.307.912.00 is no longer available! They've been good in past at getting me tiny parts overnight from Germany, so the part is nowhere to be seen on their system. So my quest to do things right has resulted in an M10 hole in the sump pan when a "bodged job" leaving it in would have avoided this problem.

So I call my local Merc parts dept with the part number given above. They don't recognise it but say it won't be a problem finding the correct plug. They had 3 4-speed transmissions and the guy wasn't sure which was the right plug, so he's getting one in tomorrow for me to check against mine, and we'll keep going till there's a match! Can't be that unusual a plug? It's an M10 (don't know thread spec). I bet I could find a match in local auto store if necessary. Anyway Mercedes was super-helpful so I'll swing by tomorrow.

By time this tranny oil change is finished it will be at least 3 days since I started. OK hasn't been continuous but I challenge anyone to claim they're slower than me on "simple" jobs. Good thing I enjoy wrenching...

Thanks for all your suggestions. Used all of them in some way and at least I'll have proper plug in place correctly torqued when this is finished. Maybe I'll beat the guy with the stuck torque converter plug to finish line?

Schocki

Strange, because with the part number you can google it with no problem...

StratfordShark

Yes it's odd. As you say it's possible to google part and find it's an M10 x 1mm. At least I know some Merc models which use it to help parts people find it. It's the fine thread which seems to make it less widely available item - can find M10 x 1.25mm plugs easily

NoVector

Dude, you're not alone. I took a week doing mine. Started one weekend and re-zinked stuff during the week and put it back together the next weekend. I wrapped it in foil to keep dust out while it was apart.

StratfordShark

Surgically clean!

MainePorsche

StratfordShark,
Don't forget 14 Nm for plug to pan, and 8 Nm for pan to transmission. Not really very tight, but that is what is specified. I've never had a leak with these torque values.

BIG 928

if you have no luck tomorrow ill send you a bung . im out on the dyno tomorrow, would be thursday for arrival with you friday. im only by merry hill shopping centre

regards mark

StratfordShark

Thanks Mark what a kind offer! Will let you know how I get on.

Have you got a store of these plugs then?

StratfordShark

Thanks - I'll take care not to squeeze that gasket too much. I have a low value torque wrench so can use that to make sure I don't over torque

StratfordShark

Just to close the file on this, I got hold of the new pan plug today at my local Mercedes dealer. The thread specs are the same. Merc plug slightly longer and a wider head but that's not a problem - plenty of room for it in the depression formed into pan.

Photo for comparison. It's actually the torque converter plug on right as my original sump plug looks shamefully chewed up at the head! I have a new sealing washer for the new plug in my tranny service kit.

For reference Mercedes in Europe use a different part numbering system from Mercedes USA. Over here the p/n is MA000 997 65 32

Now on to installing the plugs and new filter, and refilling tranny!

StratfordShark

I was just writing up service records on this tranny fluid change job and noticed something curious in PET.

Porsche told me the sump plug was NLA so I had to get Mercedes part. In PET the Porsche p/n is 960.307.912.00

But earlier in PET I see different p/n for the torque converter plug, which I'm almost certain is identical. That p/n is 900.219.010.02

So if anyone can't get the sump plug if the p/n comes up NLA, worth trying to ask for the converter plug instead. The 2 seal rings have slightly different p/ns too, but they are in single bag and identical size in the transmission service kit I got from Porsche, so again same part but two different p/ns?

John Speake

Are you going to use the "quick fit connector to fill the box ? If so, what pump reservoir are you using ?

A garden srayer ?