OK, I know this is silly... but how hard should it be to put the grease cap on the front wheel hub? I just put in new bearings, and the final step is, of course, installing the grease cap. I've beat on it (gently) with a rubber hammer, to no avail. Same problem on both sides, by the way. I don't think that I've overfilled it; I put grease in the cap up to the level of the crease that runs around the circumference. I suppose it could hydro-lock if it was overfilled, and maybe I should just remove some grease and see if it goes on better then.

I guess worst case I will clean up the old grease caps and see if they will go on.

Thanks for your advice.

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

Is there a reason you're not using the old ones to begin with?

Hey Kurt, Coming up for air from all that rain up there?

Sounds like too much grease in the cup. Kind of like air being compressed.


Charlie

__________________
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

No special reason, other than the wheel bearing kit came with new ones

Charlie, I think that you're right... I've probably got too much grease in the system. I was pretty generous with the amount I put in the hub, so there isn't much compressible air anywhere.

By the way, I used the magnetic mount and the dial indicator from Harbor Freight to set the axial play. What a joy compared to the old tighten it up/back it off and pray method I used 20 years ago.

Kurt

PS Charlie: actually it's been a weird and mostly dry fall season here. We had a week of heavy rain in September, and I thought uh-oh, early winter... but then we got weeks of sunshine, far beyond the usual October 15th start of rain. I can't complain; the extra days of sun allowed me to put new siding on another wall of my shop, in addition to little projects like the wheel bearing / brake job on the 240D. The 240D has always had poor braking since I bought it, and I'm really looking forward to GOOD brakes! I found that one of the caliper pistons wasn't even really moving on the right side; the car wasn't really pulling to the right that I noticed, which probably means that there was a compensating frozen piston on the left :0

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

There was too much grease in the cup! I cut it down by half, and was then able to get the cap on. D'oh!

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

There is a spec for the amount of grease. Too much or too little can cause issues. Sounds like the cups were trying to tell you something.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

Grease packing wheel bearings the right way

.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

yup... nowhere on any instruction manual I've ever read are there instructions that say to pack the cap with more than a light coat of grease...
how much grease did you put in the bearings themselves? how much did you put in the hub? on the spindle?

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I know I should really get a factory service manual... But for now I have the Haynes manual (and a couple good friends on speed dial - jt20 and charmalu, are you there?). The Haynes manual says to fill with grease up to the crease in the cap - and now I know that's nonsense!

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

Iam here.

I have used too much grease too in the past, this isn`t one of those times when a little is good, a little more is better.

Kurt, you using the Digital gauge or the analog Dial indicator?


Charlie

__________________
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

The analog one.

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

I bought the Analog one, then a few months later HF had a killer sale on the digital one, along with the magnetic gizmo to hold it.
Still haven`t used it yet, I do have a brake job and bearing packing coming up.

Charlie

__________________
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

IIRC the spec is for about 65g per wheel. I think it was 15g in the bearing and 60g in the cap. The 150g tube from Mercedes makes it pretty easy to get it close.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

isn't it odd that the radio static suppression clip would be jammed into all that grease?

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

That grounding clip is not just for RF noise suppression on the radio, it's for bearing preservation.

Passage of electric current - SKF.com/Products

The electrostatic discharge will eat the bearings if it is not dissipated by the grounding clip.

To the OP - the factory manuals are available online at startekinfo.com. Click workshop resources on the left side, and then page through until you find the manuals for the 123 chassis.

__________________
The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech