Hi all.

S204, C320CDI, 4Matic, LHD. So it happened to me also... I didn't read enough before I attempted to replace my drivers' side cv axle, tapped it a few times (last time too hard, obviously) and cracked the oil pan :-(.








I wasn't sure what had happened but was very surprised about the intermediate shaft coming out complete with bearing and retaining clip... If I had read about what may be the issue when the axle doesn't want to come out (it's fused hard to the intermediate shaft), I would have just unclipped the ring and pulled the intermediate shaft out with the axle, but hey, this is how we learn. The hard way. So now I need to replace the oil pan upper also. I have read through the WIS article but it's telling me to pull the gearbox (722.9) which I definitely want to avoid. My thinking is this:

1) remove both cv axles (done), steering rack
2) unbolt engine mounts
3) slightly lift engine with jack + block of wood under oil pan (ca. 50mm / 2"?)
4) suspend engine from one of these:

5) remove jack from under oil pan
6) drop subframe completely
7) take off diff on passenger side
8) drain engine oil & remove oil pan lower
9) remove oil pan upper

and then replace all in reverse order.
And now my long list of questions...

- Will this work? Am I forgetting something essential?
- I don't see any seal where the clip broke free - should there have been one on the oild pan where the intermediate shaft comes through on left side (LHD vehicle)?
- Do I drain the diff and trans oil before taking the diff off?
- Where do attach the chain to suspend the engine from the above engine support beam?

I really hope this will work as I just wanted to replace a clicking cv axle...

Many thanks in advance,

Kai.

 

Well, you just joined the club! A few of us here had several threads going on this last fall, August/September time-frame. You have the right idea. No need to drain the transmission though. It doesn't share fluid with front differential. I found the new upper pan brand new on Ebay along with intermediate shaft. Best price I found. I also recommend the specified pan sealant. It doesn't have a formed gasket.

 

Hi GunDriver,

many thanks for your reply - yes I just joined... Am having no luck finding a new/used pan on eBay in Europe let alone UK but will carry on hunting. In the mean time I'll search for the threads you mention and read them though several times...

If anyone else has more info - it would be much appreciated!

Cheers,


Kai.

 

Hi again,

so I found one of those threads I think... here

The one thing that has me stumped is disconnecting the front drive shaft. Is this the one coming from the gearbox? How do I do this?

Many thanks in advance,

Kai.

 

On my C300 and going by memory...

Removed exhaust from header back to flange by transmission.

Leave passenger wheel and CV axle on!

Jack up vehiup vehicle and lower the passenger wheel onto a ramp. This way the wheel is holding the transfer case gearing and front driveshaft stationary while proving enough room to slide under car and loosen bolts. You will have to raise vehicle once or twice and rotate wheel to get all 4 bolts off. I left the other end of driveshaft nstalled in transmission and just moved it up and out of the way.

Then remove wheel/cv axle.

I waited until I removed subframe to take the differential out

 

Ah cr*p. passenger cv axle already off, as is rotor/caliper to give more room. Popped right off with a jolt or two. Should i put the cv axle back on or can the drive shaft disconnect be done with it off also?

As before *many* thanks for your help!!!

 

Perhaps an impact driver will work if you can get it on the bolts

 

Anyone have used these cheaper aftermarket axles for a significant amount of time? I opted to go low mileage oem units since the original ones made it to over 250k but they were still almost 4 time the cost on new Chinese rebuilds

 

I got a cheap cv axle for drivers side, but went Febest for the intermediate shaft - I guess we'll find out which (if any) fails first...

@GunDriver; I'll try to get at it with my impact wrench without putting the PS shaft in again. Also I've seen people on YT disconnect these on GLKs without dropping the exhaust so I'm gonna try that also. I'll report back if I manage. However, it just started to snow and I'm doing this on my driveway so might take a while :-(.


Thanks to all,

Kai.

 

So unfortunately after a couple of days of intensive searching, noone in Europe can supply the oil pan. So I saw in the other thread that somebody tried to repair it using a square washer - bolted in... This seems a little adventurous, but if it's my only choice then I may attempt something similar.

Any opinions? Anyone have an A6420100127? If not this might make the car a write-off :-(

Thanks inadvance,

Kai.

 

I am not sure how Ebay in Europe works.. can you not order from Ebay USA?

I would try to have the pieces TIG welded back on before I would try the washer setup he had. That was my plan for the old one I still have. I just need to learn how to use my TIG welder before I attempt it.

 

From reading and looking at the damage so far looks like you need to only do this job once not twice, I suggest don't experiment with repairs just to big a job if it fails later on either used or new sump is the way to go.
You could use a purchasing agent like http://www.mypurchasingagent.com I can recommend Corey and used many times to buy parts in USA and ship overseas with no concerns. Find a new or used sump in the USA and then have it purchased and sent to you.

 

Hi guys, and thanks for chiming in. I've had no luck finding a sump anywhere, new or used, including US. It turns out the listing that has one on eBay US is actually the same company that listed one in Lithuania, which now turns out don't actually have them either. So looking for used now... but am losing hope slowly.

Thanks again,


Kai.

 

Found one for M272 (doesn't fit I guess) on ebay, but has similar problems... only not as badly damaged as mine. Is this a common problem when removing the cv axle???

 

I read in the E class forums that someone snapped theirs shortly after installing it. So I think you made the right choice.

 

Hi All,

due to the cold I havn't been able to get as much done as I'd have liked to but but today finally I could go under the car again. So dropped the sway bar and steering rack (mangled the little aluminium washer on the little wheel end boot of tie rods - should I get new tie-rods?). I then got very confused as most YT vids show exhaust left+right but now realize I've been d*mm*ss as those are most likely petrol and hence no turbo, which would explain only 1 and not 2 sets of pipes left and right. So went into WIS and saw it's (possibly) quite straightforward for me to drop the cat;



This is from the top - there's a ring clamp behind there somewhere, so the airfilter box will have to come off. However, when it does, motor mount comes into clear view on passenger side (this is LHD), and I think also on driver's side:




As you can see ^ driver's side motor mount already very accessible from underneath. So I might be doing those "while I'm in there" (was getting very slight oscillating vibrations recently, hoping it's these rather than the trans mount). Pan has become very accessible now, but it's clear the subframe still has to go;


And a quick pic of the cat from underneath looking up:






So now the big question: when the cat is out, the mounts unbolted, and driveshaft disconnected I'll be ready to lift the engine an inch or two. I'll do this by jacking up from underneath (block of wood under oil pan?) and then supporting with an engine support beam with chains over the top as indicated before. I found these strong looking brackets (nothing resembling a tow-hook compatible thread like in some YT videos that I can see):


Are these where I can suspend the engine from? Because of the nature of my engine support beam I can't use both - would it be better to use the one nearer the front of the engine or the one nearer the firewall?

Once that's done, drop subframe, diff, oil pan, get pan welded, and put back together again. Hope it gets a little warmer here now. It's no fun with snow lying in the garden right next to me...

More later,

Kai.

 

Kai,

Those are the engine lifting brackets you indicated. Ideally you would use both to lift/hold engine evenly. Suspending engine by one I suspect would cause engine to tilt, especially when subframe is removed and no longer has motor mounts to rest on.
Try looking around on the engine for a few more of those brackets. On the V6 petrol there are 4 of them, two in front, two in the rear. Not sure if CDI is the same....

 

Ok I found a third one (it's clearly visible bottom right just in front of the turbo in the engine bay pic...) but nothing front/right. With those three I'll have to use some kind of beam (have no load leveller) to hold the chains. Probably will screw together two 2x4s and screw the chains to that. Will post pics before doing the lift to get some opinions...

 

Anyway, first things first. Took out the airfilter boxes to get better access from top and wow, so much space suddenly...





Then I tried to drop the cat, the rear connection was a piece of cake...

the front one not so much...




The bolt was ok (though really not easy to get to!), but the clamp itself and the two pipes that are clamped are just rocksolid stuck together. This is a view from below to that clamp ring mentioned in the first image. Any ideas of how to unstick them?

I'll try again tomorrow after letting it soak in WD40 over night, but if it's not moving I'll have to leave the cat be. Alternative plan would be to leave rear of cat disconnected to give exhaust play when lifting engine, remove propshaft heatshield, disconnect propshaft (though also not easy with the subframe limiting access), then lift engine, drop subframe, oilpan, etc etc.


As you can see I can get at two bolts at a time. One question: how do I best turn the propshaft to get at all 4 bolts? Gearbox in N, then put cv shaft part of the way into diff, and turn somehow? Will this take a lot of effort or should it "just spin"?

Thanks in advance for any hints!


Cheers,


Kai.

 

Little update on my (slow) progress... I managed to get the cat and heatshield out and boy is there lots of room now.

The impact wrench made short work of three of the bolts on the driveshaft but I can't reach #4 around the other side.

How do I safely turn the driveshaft? I can't currently lift the rear wheels off the ground so I'm hoping this will work by putting the car in N. Didn't want to try for fear of damaging any gears.

Any hints greatly appreciated!!

Cheers,

Kai.

 

Hi all,
just a small status update. I wound up taking off the left rear wheel (now jacked up using axle stand) after which spinning the drive shaft was piece of cake. So drive shaft now disconnected, subframe dropped & cleaned (was covered in gunk from long-running power steering hose leak - also fixed now).






Today hopefully the AC compressor and diff come off, with a little luck also finally the pan...

 

I don't want to hijack Stanley's thread so I'll just continue here...

Diff's out... and I'm cleaning while it's out.



Question; while I'm here - I might replace the oil in there. What should I use and how much?

TIA

Kai.

 

So all bolts are out of the oil pan, including the 4 big ones that come from the AT bellhousing, so 26 in total around the perimeter off the pan.




(image with bolts still in place). So now I'm trying to crack the pan off - using an improvised sliding hammer that goes into a bolt hole that normally holds the ATF line to cooler;


It's not budging, not one bit. It feels like it's still connected somewhere - the only possibility I can see is inside the pan, there's the oil level sensor (right?);



Does this go through the pan into the crank case? Do those 3 eTorx have to come off also? Am getting worried that I won't get the pan off... (the black axle stand is lightly jammed under the bell housing btw, and is not touching the oit pan)

Any help greatly appreciated!


Kai.

 

.. so I found another bolt;



It was hidden inside the intermediate shaft "channel"... However, even after taking this (hopefully last) bolt out it's still not moving. Please anyone with any info on how to get the pan - I'd be more than grateful!


Cheers,


Kai.

 

Hi, I give you 10 out of 10 for persistence and excellent work.

Assuming all the bolts are out the ways I have removed sealed on sumps are, find something sharp like a putty knife and hammer in between the two casings toyota had a factory tool just for the job, or 4x2 wood against the sump to spread the load and hammer the sump sideways with large hammer.