Quote:
Originally Posted by spock505
I have just re-read your informative thread again and wanted to ask a third (but probably daft) question.
Assuming it's just the axle bearings causing miss-alignment of the crown gears due to wear. Would it not be possible to order new MB bearing using original shims (circ clips) to bring the unit back to factory settings?
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Yes it could be as simple as that.
It might, however, not be as simple as that!
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The big long winded process in the FSM is designed to get the pinion and crown wheel gear in (about) the right position. A decent differential rebuilder would then check the wear pattern with engineer's blue. Apparently the trick to getting a representative wear pattern is to check this under load - this is hard to do for the DIY mechanic.
maboyce over on Benz World made a rig to try and do this for his W123 differential =>
1983 300TD - Mercedes-Benz Forum
(That's a massive thread - it will take ages to find the post - when I do I'll update the link)
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I think the problem with the small case W201 / W124 differentials is that the case is not rigid enough: In service life it relaxes and so this compression across the axial bearings dies. This increases the backlash and so you end up with miserable output to input shaft play and a noisy differential...