Today marked the end of the transmission saga. Leaving all technical details aside, I went by Chuck's place and we got the leak taken care of, aside for one bolt not wanting to go in. We left it out. After leaving his place there were a few missions, the last of which would be getting to wifi to do a zillion different things online (one of which was post my blogs... whoops). The best bet for spotting a leak would be after my stuff online because the car would have been sitting for a few hours. Not a couple drops, but a puddle.

If you're ever in Colorado Springs and need an honest Mercedes Mechanic: Salim's Silver Star Automotive. Explained the issue to Salim himself (semi-retired, it's a family business he's had going for 45 years). He let me drive the car in the garage and we took a look at it. He then told me it would need something that didn't seem logical at all and sounded extremely expensive. Explained my issue once more to him, he pressed for his fix some but said “it's whatever you want to do”. All of the other mechanics were on the same page as me. Then one of the younger guys said “yo, what Salim's sayin' is you put that pan in, the motherf***er's gonna be fixed”. Though this sounds silly, at the time in the context, the dude speaking my language. Salim quoted a price for parts sounded cheap even for buying them online and then said he'd only charge an hour of labor even though the book called for three. Between the urban colluquialisms explaining things and looking at under $200 I pulled the trigger. Pulled the pan off... amazing! He was dead on. How he spotted it is beyond me. Maybe something about nearly a half century of experience. The long and skinny is that they had me in and out in under and hour without an appointment at under $200. In German car world that's basically giving it away.

The lesson: trusted internet forums are a valuable resource. Benzworld.org FTW.  

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