Dear Gang,

Driving home today, i hear this thump thump sound at certain speeds. i thought it was a bushing in the suspension gone bad.

Nope.

It was the driveshaft. I got disconnected from the transmission. There's a round rubber ring between the driveshaft and the transmission that busted. I think the BMW guys call it a guibo or something.

It's bad. Somehow the tranny case got punctured and all the fluid is gone. Of course I pulled over and stopped the engine.

So guys...let me have it.... what the worst case scenario here? i assume the engine is fine, the tranny is shot. what else?

Someone is letting me borrow an old volvo to drive around. I want to know if there is hope for Pete or is he destined for the big junkyard in the sky. Help! Please, no crackpot advice, i'm likely to believe you.

__________________
Jennifer
90 350sdl

Sounds like your flex disc went south. There should be two of them. One at the front and one at the rear. They are about $40 a piece. $40 that is good insurance.
Your tranny is shot, that is almost guaranteed. Your motor should be fine.
So now you ask yourself if your car is worth another tranny.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

Depending upon where the tranny case got punctured; you may be able to repair it.

__________________
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.
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Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

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

https://www.boldegoist.com/

thanks for the quick reply.

i found a 'donor' 240d with a manual transmission.

i guess the obvious question is...how difficult is a tranny swap?

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

The original tranny's a manual, right? If so, swapping trannies shouldn't be hard, if you've ever done a clutch job. Replacing the cluthc requires pullint he tranny; in this case, yuo'd just be putting the other tranny in instead.

You'll need some form of jack to hold the tranny up (and will want to lift the car up; getting it high enough on jackstands to clear the tranny will probably be sufficient), and you may as well replace the clutch while you're at it, but otherwise it should be just a matter of unbolting things and bolting them back up.

If your original tranny's an auto, though, it'll bea bit more involved...

Hope this helps a little bit...good luck!

Reading these kind of posts make me worry big time about my flex discs are I'm sure they're original in my car with almost 225K.
Jen, what did you feel before all of this happened? I'm sure there were some warning signs that all of us should be aware of.

__________________
DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

You're not the first one to report major damage as a result of the flex discs letting go. I to want to know the warning signs.

If you have a donor tranny, I'd probably switch them out rather than trying to fix the damaged one, even if it can be fixed.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

warning signs...now i know

it started yesterday. it was a thump thump sound like driving with a flat rear tire. it came and went.

then today it got worse. along with the thump thump sound, there was a side to side motion like someone pushing the side of the car while it was moving.

it broke when i accelerated (floored it). the gear stick got disconnected from the tranny. the car was shaking so much that the manual sunroof closed halfway. very scary. at least no one was hurt.

so are you saying that if i can change a clutch i can do this job?

__________________
Jennifer
90 350sdl

The first warning is Visible cracking of flex disc.
Junk it then or pay the price later.

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__________________
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/

If you can change a clutch; you can replace the manual transmission.

L'il Pete is not dead. He can be made better.

But... my dog died this morning. Kaleb, my oldest German Shepherd died this morning. He was 14.

He can't be brought back, but please bring back L'il Pete.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

im not sure if its the same as the 300sd but the first thump sounds along with the side to side motin feel sounds like a center support gone bad. this went bad on my sd and it had those symptoms. i wasnt driving it at the time because i was working on restoring it. driving around the neighbor hood caused those symptoms. replaced and all better

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

There was a thread not long ago about what can happen if a flex disc lets go , it's not a hard job to change them............

William Rogers........

i've always had this sort of image seeing a disastrous accident when the flex disc goes and the driveshaft falls on the road while travelling.. seeing that the driveshaft can wedge itself on the road much like a pole that athletes use in a high jump(pole vault), and that it brings the rear way up high and probably dislogding the whole rear from your car...(dunno if this can be a reality.. i hope not)..

but i'd say you were lucky... lil pete is not dead.. he will live!.. after swapping teh tranny and getting the flex discs....

__________________
Mike

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1975 200 - Sold (no pix);
1978 200 - Sold - http://www.pbase.com/hboy/redbaron
1979 300TD - Sold
http://www.pbase.com/hboy/greenwagon
http://www.geocities.com/hboy726/300TD.html
1985 230E - now my daily driver...

Cinderella sends Best Wishes and Get Well Soon to Lil'Pete.



Ken300D

P.S. She has not signed her organ donor card just yet. She has a comeback of her own to make this summer.

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles