In reading about Changing the B2 piston on my 84 300td, I have neglected to comprehend how little the transmission drops down after removing the rear support bracket... thus it looks like (to me) that the transmission may have to come out, which will be really difficult in my driveway.

So now I have drained the tranny fluid, with the car on jack stands.... and woundering if I should continue digging into this issue, or drop back and punt.

Does any one have experience replacing the B2 piston with the transmission in the car on a 300td?

Or am I better of in the long run, accepting that this is not a "one day" Job for me and make plans for pulling the transmisson out?

all Opinions welcome,
Jason

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

I've done it both ways, and if it were me, I'd go ahead and pull the transmission out. This makes it much easier to make sure everything is really, really clean around the B2 access cover before you introduce all that dirt into what used to be a good transmission. It also makes it much easier to properly replace the teflon sleeve and bushing that goes in before that brand new B2 piston. Not replacing the bushing can limit the life of the new piston.

If you do want to try it without removing the transmission, at least remove the drive shaft (mark orientation of both halves first), and check to make sure there isn't something up near the firewall in the engine compartment keeping the rear of the engine (and thus the transmission) from falling down more. Some people have commented that the age of your engine mounts could have a lot to do with how much the transmission tail will come down. Makes sense to me as softer engine mounts will have more give.

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Gary Thompson
Georgetown, TX
1995 E320
1984 300D

Ah, drats, the old motor mounts were Rotten until about a year ago, then it would have been an easier Job...

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver