Ugh! This bushing is turning into a frikkin' nightmare.

Of course, it was only now that I read this topic:
Driveshaft centering bushings ... any magic to removing them?

And there it is mentioned to not replace these things...

I tried Funola's advice:

Drilled a hole, looped some wire, tried to pull it out that way.
I broke the screw driver.

So, did some quick Googling and found this tool called a blind hole bearing puller.

I was able to rent one. It's basically this tapered tool that you insert into the bushing and has a bolt on top you screw in. As you screw the bolt in the fingers on the tool spread out. You then attach a slide hammer and are supposed to be able to hammer it out like that.



I pounded on it with all my strength. The bushing didn't move at all.


So, I have backed myself in a corner here. The bushing was probably re-usable as it didn't look too bad (the rubber was cracked). Now that I have drilled holes through it, whacked it with a hammer and used the blind hole puller on it it's completely mutilated.

So now it has to come out, but I've run out of ideas. I really thought with the puller it'd be easy, but heck no.

Last thing I can think of is call some mechanics tomorrow and see if they have a magic tool to be able to do this.

If not, then what?...

Uuughh! This always seems to happen with me. I get stuck on little things that are super frustrating... I always say I like to work on cars, but sometimes I feel like I'm just lying to myself.

All I can think of now is to apply insane amounts of heat...Just torch it for 15 minutes, but I don't know if that could possibly damage the drive shaft? I applied heat for a few minutes, but maybe that wasn't enough?

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__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I'd take it to an honest to goodness machine shop -- it might be time to tap out and let someone who has been dealing with stuck parts for many many years take over.

Otherwise, I'd put it in my 12 ton press, heat it with the acetylene torch and press it inward with the press to try to break the bond, and then attempt to pull it.

I hate stuck things, broken fasteners, etc

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RenaissanceMan Labs: where the future is being made today.

Garage:

2017 Chevy Colorado Diesel (nanny state emissions)
2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD, 77k
1987 Mercedes-Benz 300D turbodiesel, 4 sp auto, 156k - 28.7 mpg
1996 Tracker 4x4, 2 door, 16v, 3 sp auto. 113k - 28.6 mpg

WARNING: this post may contain dangerous free thinking.

IIRC you wouldn't be able to press it inward since there's a "ledge" in there to stop it. Though I may be remembering wrong.
Machine shop is a good idea though. I may do that next time I pull my driveshaft, and replace it with one without a hole in it.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I feel your pain, as the above thread was mine. And 44,000 miles later my front driveshaft centering bushing still has a hole drilled through it. For whatever it's worth, it doesn't cause any noticeable problems. I had actually forgotten about it. Now that I'm thinking about it again I'll probably notice a vibration.
I battled mine for ages, and heated it a lot. Of course it hit the point where if I heated it any more, i would most definitely destroy the bushing and then I'd be REALLY in trouble if I didn't get it out. I think it was a matter of not going past the point of salvagability.
For yours, I would try putting it in a vice, put the screwdriver or allen wrench through it, and then put a pry bar under the screwdriver/allen on each side of the bushing ... so you've got force pushing up on both sides of the bushing, using two pry bars. Heat it first for a bit. That's how I got one of mine out.
If that fails, you might just put it back on and see how it goes, unless the rubber is really damaged. I can't say it will work in every case, but in my case, the drilled hole did not render it noticeably dysfunctional. I put chassi grease in the holes though, to help keep moisture/gunk out. I should probably clean/regrease it and check the condition now that i think about it. Like I said, I'd managed to forget this traumatic episode.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking the same thing. I'll have to do some Googling, see if I can find any good places around here. I'll make some calls tomorrow and see if I can drop the drive shaft off during my lunch break or something.

Unfortunately I don't have a press, and I don't know anyone who has one either.

Stuck things suck!

On a slightly related note: for some reason the front half of the drive shaft didn't even have the centering bushing at all. I'm wondering if I should take it off and put one in there, since it does seem it's supposed to have one?...

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Did you put in the missing front drive shaft bushing? If the FSM indicates there should be one, I'd recommend making sure there is one!

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Yeah, well...After I drilled the holes things would have still been fine, but then I got that puller, and that puller thing ripped the whole inside of the bushing to shreds. There is no rubber in it anymore to speak of. There's also a tiny spring that surrounds the rubber. I didn't know that either, but it popped out, so yeah...I really f*cked it up.

Wish I could go back in time to Saturday, and just put the prop shaft back with the old bushing. Car would be drivable by now. Ugh.

So, I'm gonna call some machine shops tomorrow (I Googled a few and have some phone numbers to call) to see what they can do.

If that all fails I will try your idea with the two pry bars, but I really hope this will all just end with me giving a machine shop 50 bucks and being done with it...

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Believe me, I had that exact feeling when I went through it. I was so mad at myself for trying to replace it when it wasn't even really damaged, just infuriated. Even though mine could go back on after the saga, it still bothered me that I had this imperfect thing left at the end of the job when I just wanted to do it all right and not wonder if the imperfection was going to be a problem.
But going into it, it just doesn't seem like it's going to be as hard as it ends up. I did actually do them on my w123 successfully (I had to, front one was significantly damaged when flex disc blew), so it seemed wise to do them on principle when I did the job on my 124. And boy did I wish I hadn't thought that.
Of the three I did get out (both on 123 and one on 124), they ALL were a battle and eventually came out. So, don't give up hope on yours yet ... I'll bet a machine shop can get it out. And if you can't find a shop, a vice and two pry bars will give you a lot of extra force. Put the pry bars right up against the bushing sides, so you won't bend, break whatever rod you've got through the hole.
Good luck ... hope you find an answer soon.

Edit: Tomorrow I will try to see if i can find pictures from when i did the job, if that's any help. I don't think I have any of the actual prying setup though, but maybe I can work up a masterpiece in Paint.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Wow it's turning out to be a PITA huh? Before taking it to the machine shop, try beating on it with a two foot long two by four (don't use a hamme and damage it further) on the end and also all around the circumference in an attempt to break the bind, use penetrating oil also. Then try pulling with the wired screw driver or Bodhi's method.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Thanks for all the replies, guys! At this point I'm gonna make some calls this morning and see if I can have someone remove it for me. I hate to go that route, but I've wasted enough time on this already and I'm done.

If nobody can or wants to remove it for me, I"ll try to use Bodhi's method. Or inserting a rod through the hole I drilled and then driving wedges between them (one on either side) to see if that will get it out.

Also, I'll just apply as much heat to it as I can at this point...

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

@SD_Blue
Thanks for posting the reference! Good to know I still have some options to get that damn thing removed. Also good to know that it is in fact removable. I was seriously starting to doubt myself....

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

@BodhiBenz1987
Thanks for the advice!


All right, I just called a few places here in town. Some were outright rude and said: "no, no, no, heck no, I don't want to deal with that".

Fifth shop I called specializes in drive lines and said: "Sure! Drop it off, I'll give it a go".

So, I'll drop it off during lunch, and hopefully be able to get my drive shaft back in the car tonight.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

All right, got the bushing out finally. I dropped the drive shaft off at the drive line place during my lunch break, and they pulled it out while I waited.

It took them 5 minutes. It came out easy. They put a bolt through the hole I drilled and yanked it out.

Seriously!? I've been pounding on it for hours.

Well, instead of thinking I'm apparently very weak, I just like to think I loosened it up for them...

Oh, total cost? 0 dollars. Awesome!

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Glad you got it out! It's probably not a matter of strength but simply having the right leverage and force, which isn't easy without the right shop setup and tools.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself...

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)