I'm fourth owner of my 82 240D. From the paperwork I got with the car, it looks like a previous owner replaced the clutch at 70k. I'm at 150k now and it's still working although sometimes it does shimmy a bit starting from a dead stop. Also I can feel first gear grabbing a tiny bit when I'm shifting to 2nd. I'm putting it on a boat to New Zealand next week. Just wondering if I should take parts to swap out the clutch since parts may not be readily available there. Wondering if shimmy and 1st gear grabbing are early symptoms of failing clutch. Also wondering how many times that flywheel can be resurfaced.

Thanks for your help.

Jim

A middling clutch can be milked for eternity depending on how careful you are with it.

Buy the parts, put them in the trunk, and do the swap when your ability to compensate for the problem creates a drivability problem in 5 or 500 thousand miles

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I've seen them go 300K and more with careful use.

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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 had over 300k on what I believe was my first clutch. The P.O. said it was never changed.

It all depends on how you treat your clutch. I drive like a mechanic who doesn’t like to change clutches. I did a lot of coasting instead of downshifting towards stops.

So before I replaced mine, my car got stuck because it wouldn’t go into gear. I’d drop the clutch and the car wouldn’t move. I changed the master and slave cylinder which seemed likely since the clutch wouldn’t disengage. It grabbed well...well enough to stall the car with no signs of slipping.

I wanted to drop the trans but my wife stopped me since I’d recently had surgery to my heart. She said I’d saved enough driving that thing to take it in. The mechanic said I needed a new clutch. I quizzed him and told him I doubted it based on the bite it had before it went in. He reluctantly admitted that the clutch was worn but not dead but I might as well change it since he was in there.

I asked him what was wrong and why it wouldn’t disengage. He squirmishly said I’d worn out my throwout bearing. It had totally collapsed and fallen apart. The mechanic also found the coil clutch springs broken and dancing all around in there. I’d always wondered what the grinding sounds were at intersections.

So if that is any indication, if you know how to shift it, you may just toast the throwout bearing before you wear out the clutch. The engine is so weak it really doesn’t abuse the drivetrain that much. I really wish I’d have dropped my trans myself because it is a very light unit...but at that point I wasnt In shape to do it.

Another example of a professional mechanic overrepairing my car. I don’t blame him, he played it by the book, but I don’t think it needed a clutch, pressure plate machining, etc.

Hope that is any indication of the potential. I regret dumping the car shortly afterwards because the 722.3 tranny in my SD failed a year later and it would have been a great source of parts for a manual conversion. But again wife protested that one too.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

I had a pressure plate failure on a 300TD at about 138k with good material on the lining. Could not figure out why it wouldn't disengage and drove it that way after going through the hydraulics for a while till I got a winter car and took it off the road. I finally noticed the crack in the diaphragm after I had it apart and gave it a careful look. Replaced both and put the lining on a shelf.

I had a 240D with a throwout bearing that screeched horrible and chewed up the clutch diaphragm at 170k or so. Lining was within limits, but I didn't want to come back later and replaced it all.

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CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Be careful, there are early (cast iron gearbox) and late (aluminum gearbox) transmissions. You need the right release bearing and reciever/slave cylinder to go with both. If it's an 82 it's probably the aluminum box. The depth of the release bearing should match the replacement.

The pilot bearing doesn't see much wear, and is NLA, I think. I'd replace all the rest when the bell housing is off unless I was poor at the time.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Clutch chatter from a stop can be caused by a few things. Oil on the clutch is a common cause. That can either be from the transmission input shaft or the engine rear main seal. Bad springs in the clutch disc can be the cause, bad engine or transmission mounts can make a slight bit of chatter way worse.
Or someone just sucked at driving a manual, overheated the clutch all the time and warped the flywheel or pressure plate.

The 240d has so much torque and is geared so low it really doesn't slip the clutch much to get moving, they should last a long, long time.

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

I am driving the car more now but for years I only drove it once or twice a month. Someone told me that maybe some surface rust was developing on the flywheel between drives and maybe that was causing the chatter, since it did seem to go away after driving it a while. But I guess that could also be a symptom of oil as well. Sometimes it seems random though. It will chatter occasionally.

Ya, I guess it's possible. My 51 Plymouth does that after not being driven for a while. I think that has its original asbestos clutch, though...

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

Nothing written in stone. Driving habits and quality of parts. Have a major effect on how long they last. This 240D perhaps has the least stressed clutch still in service today on a car. If not it must be pretty close.

If I had to change one I would try for the original makers parts. Hoping they had not reduced the quality of them in some way. Plus the price was not too high.

I have a feeling that the majority of the 240ds at around 200K with manual transmissions. Still may have the original clutches. No way to verify that though. So I also could be wrong.

How you drive and where determines clutch life on a straight shift. If you live in a hilly city with lots of stop and go driving your clutch will be shorter lived. If you ride the clutch on hills instead of holding the brake, your clutch will be shorter lived. If you ride with your foot resting on the clutch pedal, your clutch (and throwout bearing) will be shorter lived. If you very slowly slip the clutch on starts and stops, your clutch will be shorter lived. If your rear main is leaking oil on the clutch disc, your clutch will be shorter lived. Avoid all these things and a clutch could go for hundreds of thousands of miles.

A shimmy coming out of the hole could also be the trans mount starting to go

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97 e300d, 78 300Dt, 95 E300d, 94 E320 estate

If you can get to the clutch disc through the bell housing, holding the peddle down then spraying the disc with brake cleaner may help.

A worn disc generally won't chatter, it will just slip at high load.

Clutch life is variable. I've seen people rev then engine up and down as they are pulling out, this increases wear for no good reason.

As engine power decreases due to wear, clutch life will be reduced as one must slip the clutch for a longer period of time when starting out.

I have a brand new clutch and PP barely used waiting for you in NZ if you want it Also a lightened 616 FW....

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1978 300D, 373,000km 617.912, 711.113 5 speed, 7.5mm superpump, HX30W turbo...many, many years in the making....
1977 280> 300D - 500,000km+ (to be sold...)
1984 240TD>300TD 121,000 miles, *gone*
1977 250 parts car
1988 Toyota Corona 2.0D *gone*
1975 FJ45>HJ45
1981 200>240D (to be sold...)
1999 Hyundai Lantra 1.6 *gone*
1980s Lansing Bagnall FOER 5.2 Forklift (the Mk2 engine hoist)
2001 Holden Rodeo 4JB1T 2WD

some clutch and or brake linings will draw moisture if left sitting a while and chatter. Use will dry them out.

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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.