I used a bushing instead of the original bearing. It was not worn when the first disc broke. This time it is trashed, but I think it is a result of the disc failure causing some serious vibration. I was in on a road trip when this happened and I had to match gears for 1000 miles ID to CO. Lots of mountains. I got good at matching gears.

Pics to follow.

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.

Your first picture showes the two large springs with a broken coil, that is the same as mine was. that is the only 2 that were broken.

Winmutt, if you were asking about my 85 engine if I made the pilot hole larger etc... no I didn`t have to do anything to it. I have the engine I bought from Metric Motors, I lucked out, they used a Crank from an older engine so the pilot bearing went right in.

I was sweating bullets when i was doing the swap thinking and hoping the pilot bearing would fit w/o having to go to plan "B".

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I have driven enough various types of trucks and transmissions through the years to know not to bang through the gears. there could be a little more slipping with a 2:88 compared to a 3:69 from a stop, but nothing that seemed out of line.

We will see how the 617 38lb FW works when we get her back on the road.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I don't think the 288 diff would significantly impact the clutch either.

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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.

Uh. Why would you use a bushing? Put a bearing in there and see if it happens again...

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Did some searching and the late 84 and the 85 617 engine has a 34mm hole in the crank end. early 84 617 engines and all 616 engines have a 35mm hole. so the standard pilot bearing will not fit into the crank with the 34mm hole. MB does not stock a bearing that size.

TOMJ, back in 2003 was doing a 4-spd trans swap and ran into this problem and machined a brass cup for a bearing to fit
Need Help - Tranny Swap to Manual

Later on he posted that the brass cup started to spin in the crank.
Entertaining Pics...

A brass bushing will work, as that is what my Datsun Diesel engine uses, and has worked ok for the past 471K miles. it has been changed when swapping in a new clutch.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

You really don't have to do either. The pilot is a little big to go into the the hole on the 85's. Kind of like Mercedes knew we would be putting in four speeds down the road. Anyway, a couple of hours in a deep freeze and they go in pretty easy.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Yea, Junquey advised me to freeze the bearing to get it in my 85 crank and it did work just fine.

I can't help but wonder about the brass pilot bearing, if it were a bit tight or loose or had any run out, maybe it could cause additional heat in the shaft/clutch asm? Is it possible it was too long and contacted stepped part of shaft with alot of pressure? was there any brass dust in the there?
I realize some vehicles have a brass bushing, in fact my Samurai w/ vw diesel has a brass bushing but i would have prefered a bearing. No problems with it so far but I don't put alot of miles on it either.

Maybe worn trans input bearing could contribute to this?

Were your bellhousing bolts tight?

Dry input shaft splines or pilot shaft? I like to lube these, I know some advise against it. On my tractor for example, dry splines caused the disk to vibrate and make a slight sqreach sound on release, and it wore the splines in the disc pretty good over time.

Just throwing idea's out there, not sure what else could cause it other then the light FW not adequtely dampening pulses from the 5cyl, and that is disconcerting for us with the swap!

All that said i have only driven mine a couple thou miles so far but it seems happy and smooth, sure does not feel like some harmonic is killing the clutch hub.

I am always suprised to see how wimpy clutch hubs look, they seem very weak for the task at hand.

Good luck

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82 MB 300TD, 87 Audi 4000TQ, 05 Audi A4 avant 1.8T 6spd (Wifes), 63 356C, Samurai VW 1.6TD, 71 NSU 1200C, 71 Toyota Hilux, tractors and junk

The Brass bushing was okay last time I had a similar problem. This time it is totally trashed. I am planning to replace it with a bearing that I can make fit. I found one that is just a tiny bit tight in the crank. (I don't think I will try the freezer trick) I think I am going to grind it down just a little and it should work. (wish me luck)

The trans input feels pretty tight to spite the disc carnage. I don't think that is a factor.

Bell housing bolts were and have been tight.

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.

I got it all back together. I found a pilot bearing that I made work by lightly grinding the outside. The 300 tdt is back on the road. Maybe this clutch will last better with the better pilot bearing. I will post again if there are problems. Thanks everyone who helped me through this.
Cheers

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.

Our pleasure.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Well, here we go again. Since the last post to this thread I have replaced the disk again with a new Sachs disk. About a year ago the spring problem happened yet again.

I figured I would try something new...
I welded the disk so it was solid. The springs could no longer be a problem. The clutch worked great for a while, but now my gear box is trashed!

So. Perhaps I should have consulted y'all on the need for the springs, but I am chalking this one up to science. I think the springs dampen the vibration coming from the engine and prevent wear in the transmission. Having a light 240 flywheel made the wear even worse. Parts of the gears actually started to chip off. A little loose metal in the gear box is WAY too much! Ha. So, I am going to replace the trans now in addition to the clutch. The LuK disk looks like the springs are all the same size. perhaps they will distribute the load better?

I also spoke to a dealer and found out that the 300D pressure plate has a different part number then the 240D pressure plate. They did not know about the disk. I have not found a 300D specific disk any where else. Does anyone know if there is such an animal? What about a performance clutch? Has anyone investigated that?

Thanks for your help.

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.

I had to put a clutch in my 85, 5 spd, Euro, TD several years ago and the clutch parts were the same as I use in my 240Ds.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Well, I am getting good at replacing clutches. New clutch parts, same failure yet again (10 months). The springs in the hub broke and came loose from the disk hub jamming the works. I was not able to find the heaver 300d flywheel, so I am still running the light 240 flywheel.

Does anyone know about SPEC clutches? (SPEC Clutch Stage 1 - Mercedes 240D 1968-1983 2.4L, SPEC Clutch SE251) Perhaps it is worth the extra $$$ for something that might last a little better. Any thoughts or advise?

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1980 300TD with 1985 300TD Turbo motor and 240D 4 speed.