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  #1  
Old 06-20-2006, 02:11 PM
Jeremy5848's Avatar
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W123 axle R&R job--some questions?

I am preparing to R&R the axles of my 1985 300D Turbo (both inner boots are split) and have a question for those who have gone before.

In describing the R&R procedure for the rear axle of the W123 series of cars, the FSM notes specifically that some bolts and washers removed must always be replaced with new ones. These are

(1) the four bolts that attach the differential's rear rubber bearing to the floor of the car [reference: page 35.1--010/20, picture 22];
(2) the two bolts holding the brake caliper to the wheel carrier [reference: page 42.4--120/3, Note under line 4];
(3) the "clamping disk" under the bolt that attaches the axle shaft to the wheel carrier [reference: page 35.1--620/9, picture 15].

All references are to the factory service manual, "Chassis and Body, Volume 1" [paperbound book (c)1982, not CD-ROM].

What is the practice of those who have done this job? Do you replace the parts or just put Loctite on them and hope for the best?

I may just replace the boots, especially if I can find someone with a Flexx gun, but probably (the axles have 211,000 miles on them) will buy a set of rebuilt axles from CVJ in Denver.

Jeremy in Santa Rosa, California

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #2  
Old 06-20-2006, 02:18 PM
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How much would it cost to follow the FSM exactly ?
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  #3  
Old 06-20-2006, 02:59 PM
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For my work, I reused all those parts.

Of course I did use blue threadlock where appropriate. Part of the reason new parts are specified for these operations is the fresh threadlocking compound.

Also, if you have both axles out, you may want to consider swapping them. This changes the wear surfaces and its almost the same as starting over with new axles, since the primary wear mode is forward propulsion (not engine braking).

Ken300D
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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles
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  #4  
Old 06-20-2006, 04:23 PM
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Point taken

Quote:
Originally Posted by leathermang
How much would it cost to follow the FSM exactly ?
I haven't been able to price all of the parts yet, but probably no more than twenty bucks. So yes, there's not much reason to not replace everything, if I can come up with the parts. Fastlane doesn't list all of them so I'll have to give Phil a call.

Does anyone have a parts catalog? I'd like to have the M-B numbers if possible.
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #5  
Old 06-20-2006, 06:32 PM
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threadlock

just be sure to use locktite or something
It wont be fun riding the car if some nut's come loose
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  #6  
Old 06-21-2006, 09:52 AM
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That's all there is to it - THREADLOCK. MB fears that stupid people won't notice that these bolts had threadlock on them when taken out, and won't use threadlock when the go back in. CYA just to specify new bolts that have the OEM threadlock already on them.

Ken300D
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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles
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  #7  
Old 06-21-2006, 10:30 AM
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That's all it is?

The FSM says "Attention! Self-locking hex bolts with plastic coating (micro-encapsulated) may be used only once."

All this means is they put threadlock on the threads? I can do that!
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #8  
Old 06-24-2006, 12:57 AM
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Substitute for 14mm Allen wrench

Thirty-five years ago, as a poverty-stricken student in Tucson, Arizona, I owned a 1963 Alfa-Romeo Guilia Spyder. It was a fun car and taught me a lot about wrenching. For example, I learned to keep my tools in the shade under the car, because otherwise they would get too hot to touch.

One of the tools that I could not afford was a 14mm Allen wrench for the screws that attached the aluminum dual-overhead valve cover. Out of desperation, I made my own tool, shown in the attached picture, out of a metric bolt that had a 14mm head and two 14mm nuts. That little item and a 14mm wrench made a nice substitute.

The home-made tool has lived since then in my tool box. Today, I dug it out and realized that it was perfect for removing the drain and fill plugs from the Mercedes differential.

The only puzzle is how I, child that I am, could be old enough to have been around making tools so long ago.

Jeremy
Attached Thumbnails
W123 axle R&R job--some questions?-kif_4498.jpg  
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #9  
Old 06-24-2006, 01:54 AM
RAYMOND485
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: CALIF
Posts: 508
Rear Axles

1984 300d Turbo 139k
Replace With New Axles $387.00 ***********************, Its The Labor To R&R
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  #10  
Old 06-27-2006, 12:25 AM
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What size axle bolts do I have?

The manuals say that the bolt in the outer end of the half-shaft is either 8mm or 12mm. My 1985 model is almost certainly 8mm since that is the later kind. I pulled off a rear wheel and looked at the head of the bolt. Since I'd rather not pull the bolt until I begin disassembly, all I know is that the head of the bolt takes a 13mm socket. Since I can't imagine a 12mm bolt with a 13mm head, I conclude that this is the head of an 8mm bolt. Right?
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Last edited by Jeremy5848; 06-27-2006 at 12:52 PM.
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  #11  
Old 06-27-2006, 11:25 AM
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Safe bet.

They were 8 mil on my '84 TD.

Jay.
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On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
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  #12  
Old 06-29-2006, 09:15 PM
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Slow progress

I am into the axle job and going along slow as usual. My precious home-made tool for the 14mm plugs in the diff didn't succeed as the plugs are too tough , so I have a 14mm Allen wrench on order from the local NAPA store, should arrive tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am looking at draining the diff the hard way, by lowering it and popping the back off. Should make a nice mess! I did notice, however, that the left (driver's side) half-shaft and the exhaust pipe won't allow the diff to lower more than two or three inches (see photo). Will this be enough? I haven't seen anything about disconnecting the exhaust so I must assume it will be enough. Comments?

Jeremy
Attached Thumbnails
W123 axle R&R job--some questions?-leftaxle_4513.jpg  
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #13  
Old 06-29-2006, 10:14 PM
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Nice use of duct tape!

red green would be proud!
John
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  #14  
Old 06-29-2006, 10:59 PM
Jeremy5848's Avatar
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Location: Sonoma Wine Country
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Progress....and duct tape

Thank you, John, I did that two Sundays ago, lying in the back parking lot of Kragen Auto Parts in Winnemucca, Nevada (so how did you spend Father's Day?).

I have attached a picture, taken from just behind where the right rear wheel would be if I hadn't taken it off. Starring in this picture are the differential and the right half-shaft, an oil drain pan, a red bottle jack, a block of wood, and a supporting cast of duct tape.

As I write this, the last of the differential oil is draining into the pan. The differential was warm when I got home and started work on the car, but with all of my fooling around trying to get the plugs out, it's now rather cool. I'll let it drip while I have a late dinner. Here's what I did:

1. Jack up car, put on jack stands, chock front wheels, remove rear wheels -- all the usual stuff for this job.

2. Since I couldn't get the drain and fill plugs out of the differential, I decided to slowly remove the cover and let the oil drain that way. (Tomorrow I'll have the correct tool so I can get fresh oil in.)

3. With a bottle jack under the differential, I unbolted and removed the "rubber bearing" at the rear of the differential.

4. I then lowered the differential a couple of inches so I could get the top two bolts out of the differential cover. Once those were out, I raised the differential back up and put the large block of wood under the diff, as a backup.

5. Then I removed all but two bolts from the diff cover, put the drain pan underneath, and loosened the last two bolts. Tapping the cover with a plastic screwdriver handle broke the seal and the oil started to drain. The shiny diagonal line in the picture is a long square-shank screwdriver that I jammed into the crack between cover and diff, so the oil would drain better.

Later this evening, when the oil is all out, I'll go back and take the last two bolts out. Then I'll drop the cover into the dirty oil, curse roundly, and go to bed.

"Tomorrow is another day."

Jeremy
Attached Thumbnails
W123 axle R&R job--some questions?-drain_4515.jpg  
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #15  
Old 06-30-2006, 01:16 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Sonoma Wine Country
Posts: 8,402
Smile Seal question....

Progress:

Not only did I NOT drop the diff cover in the oil pan, but I was so encouraged that I continued and now have both axles out and am ready to clean up and install the new ones tomorrow.

One question: how difficult is it to replace the seals in the sides of the diff case? (These are the seals the axles go through.) I have new seals ready to go in but I read a post some time ago from a member who said they were a PITA to remove. He ended up using a crowbar, I think -- FSM shows using a screwdriver to lever them out. My existing seals look good and aren't leaking but I like to replace such things as long as I'm "inside." Anyone have experience to share, either way?

Jeremy
Attached Thumbnails
W123 axle R&R job--some questions?-axles_4517.jpg  

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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