GLKattitude

that crack about your username is what’s called a joke, you might look into those.

We get it if you go to the dealership you’re gonna spend thousands. Two grand for a brake job 7000 for a transmission 12,000 for an engine blah blah blah. Yep like it’s absolutely necessary to spend that kind of money to fix these vehicles, but it just ain’t.

lighten up man..

MBKLUE

and you could try coming off a little less divisive and all-knowing. you clearly have some automotive knowledge, as do quite a few here, but the approach...

GLKattitude

Yea you not wrong. It just gets frustrating when the DIY fixes are put out there, but all some can do is post how expensive the dealership is just over and over and over as if no alternatives have been presented..

John CC

Snowflakes...

Signature of a member of a motorcycle forum:
"The day I get offended by some offhand comment made by some anonymous person on the Internet is the day I hang up my leathers and quit riding."

MBKLUE

Really deep and thought-provoking. The day I care about some post of a random quote from some unknown person on an unknown motorcycle forum will be never. Wait, let me check my calendar... no, that's right, never.

John CC

You and he think alike.

MBKLUE

Understood. Just try not to be too easily offended by this development.

GLKattitude

HEY!! Me an Mmr1 were fighting here First!! Ya'll quit butting in!

Let me get this back on track; Hey M, your mama is a goat herder!... Take THAT!!😁

MBKLUE

:-)

habbyguy

This IS my kind of group! ;-)

Well, I did the deed.. it's sitting in my driveway now, and I did the inaugural cleaning. The car's as clean and straight as any its age and mileage could ever hope to be. Not one "real" door ding - nearly perfect paint. The wheels all have very light scuffing from curbs, but no deep gouges (I'll fix it with a dremel, not an angle grinder, and paint). It really was what it was reported to be, and looks almost like a new car now that it's cleaned up... (forgive the dappled lighting - it's the best I could do without moving it). ;-)


Now I'm gonna grab my trusty Sawzall and hack the end of that front driveshaft off. ;-) That should allow me to move it around without smashing anything important.

I've got some parts ordering to do, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to post a road test report in 2-3 weeks.

Silver Shadow

That looks amazing. Good luck with the rebuild.

calder-cay

Nice score!!

But I'm slightly confused. I see six photos ... one of a silver model , one of an all white, and remaining of a white with black upper. There was a Beemer photo, but it's gone now

habbyguy

LOL. It does look kinda white in the last photo. But so do the (also light silver) wheels. The truck in the background IS white (as a reference).

I'm using my phone now, and it took a while for all of the photos to load (unlike the ads).

habbyguy

Well, the car can now move (short distances...) under its own power, without risk of it tearing more things up...

That's shredded cardboard packing that came around the front driveshaft (the one I just put in my Jeep). It keeps the remaining rear half of the driveshaft from flailing around, which seems to be more than adequate for moving the car around. I did drive a couple hundred feet, and it's clear that the "missing differential" is confusing the transfer case. Which is to say this doesn't look like a good 2WD conversion technique. ;-)

And now I know why the car shows a bunch of misfire codes and O2 sensor codes...

Don't think that's how those sensors are supposed to look... ;-)

calder-cay

Congrats !! Great progress!

habbyguy

Ordering the (many) parts and supplies to do this fix now. I have the output shaft / gear assembly coming from Maktrans in Poland (thanks for the references). FCP Euro will be supplying most or the rest, including a new OEM driveshaft and new bolts, fluids and tranny fill adaptor. The Moog bearings and seals for the transfer case are on the way from an eBay vendor. I've got some other generic bits (O2 sensors and maintenance items) coming from Rockauto.

A couple questions:
1) Is 5 liters enough for a typical drain/fill?
2) Do I need to drain the fluid at the transmission pan, or will I remove as much as is needed from the drain plug in the transfer case housing?
3) If there's no sign of significant damage / wear to the internals of the transfer case, and no obvious debris in the old fluid - and knowing now that the last tranny fluid / filter swap was done less than 10,000 miles ago, I'm thinking of postponing the full fluid change. Anyone disagree?
4) I believe the long bolt that goes into the rear output shaft assembly is a one-use item, but can't find one anywhere. I suppose I'll just re-use it (possibly adjusting the required tightening procedure just a bit to prevent over-tightening). Ideas?

It looks like the job can be done without dropping the exhaust (hooray!) or too much other disassembly. This is a far cry from the official line which is that the entire transmission / transfer case is the only replaceable part.

GLKattitude

FCP Euro has that one time use bolt. You also need to send back those bearings from Ebay and get the Timkin kit from FCP Euro as well. Lifetime warranty on all that FCP stuff.

habbyguy

Thanks - didn't see the bolt on FCP Euro, but I'll go back and look. EDIT: Still can't find it, at least not under the transmission section (and there's no transfer case section).

The eBay purchase was for exactly the same bearings and seals (Timken), but they were quite a bit less money. I figure the chance of having to re-rebuild that transfer case is pretty small (the originals were apparently fine at 150,000 miles, so these should carry me through 300,000 miles).

GLKattitude

Dang it you’re exactly right, that bolt and the driveshaft boot were the only items I had to buy from a Mercedes-Benz dealership. I remember now.

yes, as long as those are Timken bearings that arrive you’re a good

habbyguy

You don't happen to have a part number do you? I've really beat the bushes, including searching on "official MB parts suppliers" websites, without any luck at all. I did try all the (several) part numbers listed in the eBay vendor reference (hey, it was worth a shot). ;-)

Silver Shadow

I used less than 5 liters when I drained and removed the pan and r&r the filter. I'm not sure how much will drain out of just the transfer case. I would measure what you drain out to have an idea how much to put back in. Do you have a fluid pump with the correct MB fitting?

GLKattitude

I didn’t save any paperwork on it, but here’s how I got it. Called my nearest Mercedes-Benz parts department, was unable to make him understand what I needed so he sent me a parts diagram blowup of the transfer case. This showed the bolt and I was able to point it out to him and tell him this is what I need.

habbyguy

I have five liters on order, so that should be more than enough. I can only imagine that less will drain out through the transfer case than the tranny pan's drain plug (especially if you knock out the standpipe).

I agree that matching the amount that comes out is a very valid way to go about this. I'll probably just warm it up, shift through the gears and fill it until I get some overflow. I do have the fill adapter (well, it's on order). ;-)

EDIT: And that way, I don't have to trust that the previous mechanic got the right amount of fluid in the tranny, either. ;-)

John CC

If you don't knock out the stand pipe you won't get much out of the "drain" (actually, fill) plug.

habbyguy

Thanks, John... Yep, I understand, but have decided that since the last transmission fluid change was only about 10,000 miles ago, I'll hold off doing a "real fluid change" and just replace whatever drains out during the job. Then in another 20-30,000 miles, I'll do the full job (including filter).