Help with replacing Flex Discs 95 E 320 - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

blueriomedina · #16 10-09-2009, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by latief

question: why do you/we need to support the transmission while doing this? do you loosed the mount?

good job

Yes you do have to remove the transmission support or at least that is what I did just to give more room to maneuver with the wrenches, perhaps some others members in this forum may have other suggestions. The wet stuff you see in the pictures was the Walmart generic version of WD40, that I spray on everything to help loosen the nuts/bolts.

blueriomedina · #17 10-09-2009, 08:39 PM

I am back from work and I really feel I need to finish so I can make a contribution to this great site/forum.

So as not to bore everyone to death and since writing is not my forte I am going to post the pictures that I took for this job and I will add some writing comments. I saw this quote on one of the emails a friend from work send me he was helping me to trouble shoot a glitch I had on my e mails and kept on asking me to take snap shoots of my computer screen and I thought that was good since I am a visual person that tend to go more to the pictures to solve a problem

"One .JPG is worth a thousand .TXTs."

blueriomedina · #18 10-09-2009, 09:27 PM

The job is not difficult but it takes time. I found out that in the E-320 you do not have to remove the exhaust, what I did was to unhook the front muffler right by the front disk which allow me to move it a bit to provide more room to work (previous post). I did the same thing with the rear muffler unhook one of the corner to allow me more room since this is the area where the fuel filters shield is and which it needs to be taking out

From left to right 1.the shaft towards the front discs 2. Section of the front muffler unhook for easy moving 3. Front disk exposed noting the transmission mount which I was about to take off (I did not replace the transmission mount) 4. at the middle center support area and bearing exposing the exposing shaft knuckle 5. another view of center support for shaft as it can be seeing the shaft runs above the exhaust system, once the heat shield that protect the center support is removed the is room to unscrew the center support

blueriomedina · #19 10-09-2009, 10:01 PM

I decide to change the shaft center support and replace the bearing. Again, is a do able thing but be warn that the bearing is compress by a machine from the factory and in order to take it out to replace it a tool of some kind is needed. I end up going to AutoZone and borrowing a bearing extractor, which I finally made to work and was able to take out. However, in order to put the new bearing a similar compression strategy is needed. I use a hollow tube that more or less fit around the metal part of the bearing to gently tap and persuaded to move to the center of original position on shaft. Bottom line is that this part was the most difficult and delicate procedure. The changing of the Flex discs is a very straight forward procedure once you have them out, replacing the old with the new ones and making sure the lips on the disk align as original, take pictures and mark them, I used brilliant nail polish to mark on the shaft where things needed to go back to.

From left to right, 1. rear flex disc coming out it appear to be Ok but after 125K is time, 2. another view of rear disc, 3. markings on the rear differential portion and end of shaft notice the markings, 4. closer up, 5. the point on this one is that is next to the fuel filter stuff so one has to be careful with the wrenches

blueriomedina · #20 10-09-2009, 10:53 PM

The following pictures to ilustrate the marking for alignment purpose on the front of shaft/flex disk

From left to right, 1. jack up, 2. front flex disc and transmission mount, 3. flex disc out, 4. Halloween material, 5. Yes, the shaft has to come out if to change center support and bearing

blueriomedina · #21 10-09-2009, 11:37 PM

Finally last pictures of shaft

From left to right, 1. shaft, 2. up closer with markings, 3. Actually, on the shaft itself and knuckle joint there are markings nudges made at the factory,
4. being a bit paranoid/anal I plaster nail polish just to be sure I could put it back the same way as before. This part of changing the bearing is a delicate procedure. The actual taking of the whole drive shaft was easy. First, you have to undo the center support screws, which allow the drive shaft to drop a bit. Once the two sides (front, rear) of the discs are out just pull back out each end, start by pulling out from front (transmission side) do the same with rear (differential side) drop down rear as far as you can and slide the entire shaft out in one piece.

For this job I was fortunate to have the help of my brother, we team up for the taking and tighten of the bolts, one held the head of the screw on one side while the other either tighten or unscrew the bolts.

If all that needs to be change are the flex disc then the job can be easily be done on one day, just get all your ducks in order before starting the job. If you are, going to change the middle shaft support and bearing then prepare (get tools) to pull bearing out, remember the bearing is set in place at the factory by compression. Working under the car is difficult because of constrain of movement and space I did this job outside my garage.

Oscar

tlynch · #22 10-12-2009, 12:12 PM

Thanks for the step by step instructions. The pictures are a huge help!

Tom

emerydc8 · #23 05-27-2010, 03:15 AM

Great write-up!

If I just wanted to replace the front and rear flex discs (not the center support bearing), can I slide the old ones out and the new ones in without dropping the exhaust and taking the drive shaft out? It looks like the transmission mount removal would facilitate access to the front flex disc.

I read somewhere that the nuts on the flex discs were weighted or balanced at the factory with the nuts having several different weights. If this is true, how do you deal with using the new nuts and bolts that come with the kit? Maybe I'm confusing this with some other balanced component of the drive train.

blueriomedina · #24 05-27-2010, 02:51 PM

You do not have to take the exhaust down, you may want to unhook it front one of the points next to the transmission, so you can move it and have room to maneuver.

Only thing I took off was the heat shield around the center bearing, unscrew bracket that hold center bearing, transmission bracket, and mount, and of course unbolt the flex disc at rear and front, you may also have to undo protective shield around fuel filters, other than that I just pull the drive shaft as a whole unit see pictures I posted about this job. The job is not that difficult but it is cumbersome and time consuming if you don’t have a lift, I supported my car on 4 jack stands, plus a hydraulics jack to support transmission.
As far as I know the bolts and nuts are not balance. If you change your center bearing you need to get bearing extraction tool or something that pulls the bearing out, and to put new bearing a way to press it back into place, be careful bearing has to exactly at same place. Mark things down with paint, or as I did with my wife nail polish red, so you can align things the same way, this important when taking flex disc out (see my posting)

emerydc8 · #25 05-27-2010, 06:22 PM

Thanks. I think I may just limit myself to the flex discs. As I understand it, I can do those one at a time, so I don't have to remove the entire drive shaft.

Southern · #26 05-27-2010, 09:26 PM

Thanks for sharing your flex disk & center bearing replacement. Was the center bearing worn?

Looking at your first picture in #18 your rear shift linkage bushing is gone.

emerydc8 · #27 05-28-2010, 12:07 AM

The 124 shop manual has a section on balancing the rear drive shaft (41-080) and it shows 1.5 g, 3.0 g and 5.0 g nuts on the rear flex disc. Maybe it's only done if there is a severe vibration problem.

My manual does not have a separate section for replacement of flex discs alone. It only shows the removal of the drive shaft. Can I get the flex discs off just by removing the bolts to the discs or is more involved?