I have an 85 300d turbo motor with low miles and it came to me without a flywheel on it. I see no witness marks etc. Have no idea where they are or if needed. I am planning a manual 4speed trans conversion.
So I am planning to use a 240d flywheel and have a Chevy flywheel mated to it.
as pictured below.

My 1st question is.. Do I need to zero balance the new 240/Chevy flywheel and if so - Why? I don't mind doing it , I just want to know why. I found many balance it or don't worry about it post's. I am confused.
2nd. Since my flywheel will weigh more does that effect the front balancer?

I am going the bell housing adapter route instead of the trans adapter.

fwiw.. in the second to last pic you can see the chevy holes are larger but close to the benz configuration. I may just try to redrill
a balance Chevy flywheel to benz but can't find one heavy enough. 40 lbs iirc.
These are not pics of my setup but from another conversion done elsewhere. I just want to avoid a big virbrating problem.

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

What trans are you going to use? MB 4 speed? Why not a 5 speed?

4 speed H42 1976 land cruiser ( very similar to Chevy SM465)

I already have it converted to Chevy in my land cruiser. So I just need to adapt the bell housing to the benz.

I am trying to do similar to this.
http://www.4x4labs.com/products/diesel-conversions/ this setup is for a auto IIRC. and the cost $1k for the adapter. It's well done but I have the time and inclination to fab my own adapter .

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

Ask yourself this...Why bother to balance a wheel and tire?

If the Flywheel set up is neutrally balanced, then it should be fine.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

I thought the OM617 was an internal balanced motor.. so yes I figured if I balance the flywheel/clutch set It would be fine. I have read so many post;s that the 617 is internal vs external balance. Just not sure.

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

It is very confusing. No clear cut answer. That is why my car still has a slush box in it.

If it was me, I would balance it all just to be safe.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Do you mean you're replacing the plate on the back of th engine that the tranny & starter bolt up to? Or are you trying to make an adapter to make the bellhousing fit the stock plate on the back of the engine?

EDIT: Nevermind - I followed your 4x4 labs link and see what you're trying to duplicate. BTW, others who have done the same with the Jeep AX-15 (including adapting the AX-15 flywheel) have reported no vibration issues. A flywheel suitable for a 6 or 8 cylinder is plenty heavy enough. IIRC the 240D flywheel is only 24 lbs and the 300D manual tranny flywheel is 34 lbs. One theory about why virtually all 240D 4-speed swaps into the 300D turbos have vibration issues is that the flywheel isn't heavy enough. The fact that neither the 40 lb flywheel from a 6 or 8 cylinder or the 38 lb flywheel from a 300D have vibration issues, but the lighter flywheel from the 240D almost always does, seems to support this theory.

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

[QUOTE=rcounts;2394056]Do you mean you're replacing the plate on the back of th engine that the tranny & starter bolt up to? Or are you trying to make an adapter to make the bellhousing fit the stock plate on the back of the engine?

here is my set up... ( if I can find a heavier Chevy flywheel)just balancing the flywheel-clutch setup . I may need to add an intertia ring.
this plate will be bolted to the back of the trans... I may need a
spacer depending on where the input bearing ends up.

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

I have found 3 different MB flywheels to be out of balance about 20 grams. but that being said, these motors generally never go above 3500 RPM so I wouldnt worry about it too much.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

I had my OM617 flywheel and crankshaft balanced together. The guy peforming the work has done this on numerous cars since 1974 and so far none that he knows of has come apart as a result of vibration or weird harmonics at 2200rpm that some have experienced.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

does that require taking the crank out ? or can I haul the engine to a balancing shop and have it done together?

looking at all possibilities..

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

Nope, the crank would need to be out. It's stated in the FSM that from the factory the engine is balanced as an assembly... which typically is done by balancing the harmonic damper, crank, and flywheel together (externally). Race motors are built and balanced the same way with the addition of the pressure plate.

However, since diesels don't see significant RPM's, balancing isn't as critical (not saying unnecessary). I was going to match balance my flywheel as well when I swapped my auto out... but after speaking with my father (MB mechanic) and other trusted sources we decided against it. After swapping both the flywheel and a shortened driveshaft, non-indexed, (we reinstalled the original weight on it though) all was fine.