Well after 20 years they most certainly didn't want to come apart!

Tonight's the night! On my way home from work I am going to autozone to rent a bearing puller....then I will head home and get the car prepped for surgery. And I will be going at it all night, till its done. I have 15 cans of Mt. Dew available and I got a good amount of sleep last night....so this is it!

I get out of here at 7, then I can go begin my quest. :D All the parts showed up at my doorstep while I was outside today around 3pm. :D I can't wait to open the box! :)

Keep us posted.

I did not accomplish much at all.....I built some super sturdy ramps....took forever....then I finally got under the car around 11......took off the tunnel cover....center carrier is in BAD shape....rubber is completely torn apart....can move it all over. Both flex discs are deformed looking and tearing apart...:o The front flex disc is the allen bolt type rather than hex....and the rear is the hex type. Both of the ones I received in my shipment are of the allen type....so we'll see how that goes. I called it quits and put the car away after I couldn't budge the sleeve nut on the shaft. which way does it loosen? I couldn't get it to move counter clockwise with my channel locks....no luck at all.

While under there I saw a great quantity of rust I will need to deal with soon, as well as a very scary looking crack going around the little pan that the rear spring sits in on top, on the passenger side. The undercoat is cracked all the way around.... :eek: I'll post a pic soon to get some opinions on that.

Anyways, until I can get that sleeve nut loose, I won't be accomplishing much of anything. Any help? :o This is going to be an expensive fall....I can see it coming. :o:rolleyes:

Today was the day, I revised my ramp setup, I had purchased: MASSIVE 46mm wrench...its a beauty! :D, snap ring plier set, bottle jack, channel locks, rubber mallet, 5 ton bearing puller...its huge! And all the parts I could think of.

It took me 11 hours(including a couple breaks, a trip to autozone, and dinner)...and went pretty much smoothly the whole way. I tightened the $$$$ out of the bolts on the flex discs, so I am pretty sure they're not going to ever come off unless I choose to remove them. :D Also, side note, I used the Jurid OEM MB flex discs which come with the allen key style hardware. I had no problems with the allen bolts, and actually think they are easier to work with than the hex bolts...especially when you have an 8mm allen socket. ;) Having all the right tools laying around (literally) :rolleyes: comes in quite handy too. I am not sure how much I spent overall....it was probably close to what the dealer would have wanted....but I didn't want to just hand over my money. I got lots of cool tools instead! :D ;)

Driving feel: Silky smooth. Shifts are firmer, ride is vibration free, I mean 100% vibration free! :dizzy2: Its amazing! And, the horrible shudder I have had when slowing down to a stop for the past 3 years, IS GONE!!! Yeah! The old flex discs were quite deformed and cracking apart....and the rubber in the center carrier was completely shot. Everything was replaced, cleaned, re-greased and re-assembled. My next driveline project will be the differential mount....though I may just wait till I do the CV axles since I'll have to take it off anyways.

Tomorrow I am putting on a new set of MB horns.....and I might replace my door handle....and I need to bleed my brakes soon. And I have a ton of rust to deal with. Aside from those few things my car is up and running again! :D

Well, I took the car for a good 220 miles of driving today, all at 75-85mph....feels nice and smooth when cruising along, I think any of the minor vibrations I'm feeling sometimes are from my very sad looking differential mount, its quite shot...and is next on the list of driveline replacements...and is the only rubber part of the system that hasn't been changed out yet.

Haven't done anything else yet....this coming weekend I am going to do a ton of the smaller stuff....horns, door handle, vacuum system tuning (transmission), lightbulbs....etc. And I think sometime this week I am going to pull my injectors and get them rebuilt. :D I have the nozzles laying here, so I should get it done. I'll also begin my rust-fighting effort, and will clean the interior and trunk super super well.

I tabulated all my costs, and I spent less than $150 on all my tools and stuff I got for the project, and only about $100 on parts. WAY less than the dealer would have wanted. Plus, they'd have not even been able to look at the car till Wednesday. ;) This driveline stuff isn't so bad....and I am looking forward to replacing the differential mount and CV axles. Then maybe an engine or transmission in the future! :D :D :D :dizzy2:

If you do an engine or tranny, superturbo it!!! :D

You might want to visit that site that ForcedInduction, TheDon, and I frequent for more info! :D

Its always nice when a repair yeilds some results!:D

The diff mount isn't hard to do, I did mine a year ago. Its one of the simpler things to replace under there.

How is the trans mount?

Trans mount was replaced a year ago, its still in excellent condition. At idle now, the car is so quiet and smooth. Its awesome! Later this week or sometime next week I am going to have my injectors rebuilt with the bosio nozzles....and we'll see how smooth it runs with those. :D

"Moly-Graph" Grease would be best.


I think I've even seen it a murrays before. Just about any tool & Die supply shop should have it on hand.



I've prob. gone through 30 or so tubes of it. It works.

I'd watch them Bosio nozzles...... I've heard some bad things about their longevity.........

Most agree that a heavier gear oil in the rear diff will aid in quieting down a worn pinion gear that whines, Mobil 1 makes a light diff and a heavy diff synthetic oil. I use a mix of the two and I get a lot less whine from my rear diff.

? My diff used to whine a little, switched to the Mobil 1 Syn gear oil...whine gone. My dad's had a lot of whine....switched to Mobil 1 Syn....no whine after a couple hundred miles. In our 300D it didn't have any whine to begin with, so no difference with the Mobil 1. :D

I have a flex disc 4 sale
 

I have a front flex disc for sale. Took my car to a shop for a vibration. The guy told me my front flex disc was about to fall apart, that it was all dryrotted.

Same deal, $350, I said no dice.

I bought the part ($90 I think) and after figuring out I couldn't do it, had someone else install it, not the place that originally diagnosed it. Really stupid mistake for me to tell the new guy to put that part in. Not only did the repair guy's helper dent my car and put a nice paint chip in it in another place which he denies, the car still has the same vibration noise! The mechanic did just as I was dumb enough to ask of him, to put this front flex disc in. But turns out, that wasn't the problem. I still have the same vibration, and the flex disc that came out looks just like the new one he put in.

So, if you want to buy it, I have one. E-mail me directly.

Jeff 1991 300d, 111k

Drive-line vibration is often caused by a failed center bearing carrier assembly. This allows the center of the shaft to move in an elliptical pattern, causing a significant vibration. There's also another flex disc in the back by the way. ;)