The other posters have covered most of the bases. The only other thing that might cause the grinding would be a mis-alignment of the engine and transmission shaft. If miss aligned, the shaft will still turn even with the clutch engaged, and not allow the gears in the tranny to fully stop when making your shifts. Good luck with your problem...

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96 E300d

What is that you show being drained out? Did it have a strong smell like the gear oil used in your differential? If so that is bad news for your transmission. I understand gear oil should never be used in a MB manual transmission. Do you think it was 10w30 motor oil?

I think you put the right fluid back in the transmission, but if it had gear oil in there before, your synchro's are corroded away.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

What would I need to do to verify this??
And, can you believe the idiot thing didn't grind a single time today, and I drove her quite a bit......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

If you have the correct lube in it and you can drive it without grinding by adjusting your shifting patterns, I would personally leave it be.

When I started driving the cars had no synchomesh and you had to adapt to it. It really isn't that hard....and a lot cheaper than a tear down.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Something I think I determined today.
The tranny only seems to grind going into 3rd when the rpm's are up.
It first started by grinding on the first shift into 3rd of the morning. Well, it was cold and I would have the idle knob turned up all the way until I hit the first stop sign. Also I noticed that it seems to grind when I am shifting into 3rd after winding it out in 2nd. If I don't let the rpms drop for a half second I sometimes get a grind. If I shift at lower rpms, or wind it out but delay the shift for about a half second after I push in the clutch {allowing rpms to drop} then I never get a grind.
So, if only on a higher rpm shift, does this point clutch-ward?

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

It sounds like the synchros are kind of worn out rather than a clutch problem if you have to wait a couple seconds before each shift.

Old cars with stick shifts tend to be very touchy about the way they're shifted.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Jimmy, come pick up my 240D.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I would agree. Only at higher rpms points to a synchro..

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

That's almost surely the syncro. When you're at high rpm's, the syncro must "work harder" to bring the gear train down to the speed necessary to engage third............and it grinds if you attempt it quickly. If you wait for gear train to slow down on it's own (a second or so)..........the syncro doesn't need to do the work to slow the gears and it doesn't grind.

If the clutch was the issue, that one second delay wouldn't help......it would still grind going into third.

Not necessarily.

Properly timed shifts can be made clutchless without grinding.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I am thinking it is likely to be worn synchros, too , from the latest description. If it were me, before I did anything drastic, I would bleed the clutch anyway. It only costs your time and might be that a bit of air removed from the system might provide a bit more clutch travel. You are using MTL, right?

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Yes it has Redline MTL. I am still going to bleed the clutch, just waiting to get the other 240D going before I try it. Just in case something happens.
I won't be doing anything drastic either way for quite a while, if ever........

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

If you can shift into reverse and first while stopped and idling you can probably rule out a clutch problem. Still, false economy to use an old release bearing.

I have heard good things about mtl but never tried it myself. The issue with various lubes as I understood when I read nearly every thread on this board back in 2004 or so when I had similar issues was that the synchros need friction to work. Many lubes are too slippery for our trannies. I bought cheapo type A ATF and had good results. But, like was already mentioned, I can drive an unsynchronized tranny so any synchro is a luxury to me. Learn to time your shifts.

A kind member from your neck of the woods once posted an online version of the repair manual for your tranny. If you decide to dig into it you can probably find a copy somewhere.

It's not very cold or windy today, am I in the right place?

I think it is best to use what it was designed for too.

tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Mine was grinding too...
Check this thread:
240D manual transmission synchros (pics)

Good luck!
HDen

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W126 1985 300SD TurboDiesel
W164 2009 ML320 BlueTEC (Sold)
W123 1983 240D Stick (Sold)
W210 1998 E300D TurboDiesel (sold)
W124 1993 300D 2.5 Turbo (sold)
2012 GMC 2500 Duramax PickUp
2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel PickUp