Help with replacing Flex Discs 95 E 320
 

Hi I need to change both of the flex disc on my car 95 E 320
Never done this job need some advise, pointers.

Unfortunately the drive shaft on my car runs above the exhaust system from the transmission to the rear differential.

Does the exhaust need to be taken off or is there a way to do this without removing it?

There is a bracket right under the front disk (photo) it appears to support the transmission, can this be taking off so as to gain access to front disk?

My plan is to replace both front and rear disks, main center support, and bearing, I hope I am not getting above my head on this.

More pictures of the flex disc job to be
 

A few more pictures

Yikes, that flex disc is about to fail!! :eek: You may need to remove the exhaust to have enough room to work....

You can remove the support bracket for the transmission but put a jack/piece of wood/something to support the transmission when you do remove it.

The whole job is not too bad, the drive shaft front and rear sections MUST be put back together in the exact same spot or you might get vibration. If it is not already marked you will need to mark it with something to facilitate this.

As long as you can get a box end wrench and socket on the bolts, you may not need to remove the exhaust. If it's the same as an early 300E it slides back into the center bearing once all the bolts are off. Jack up the differential to turn the wheel / rotate the driveshaft to get to all the bolts. Check if the discs have an installation orientation. It's a good time to replace the trans mount. Have extra jacks or strong objects to prevent the car from dropping...

Flex plates
 

Did my wife's last week,I didn't remove anything but the
bolts that hold the flex plates together, remove the trans
mission support bracket,put a jack under the trans to raise
it to its highest level later, Pry the flex plate (in rear) apart
it just falls out,slap it back together.Front takes a little wiggle
around and you have to jack the trans up to its highest
point (after you have taken the flex bolts out,then the wiggling
starts and prying.)Might want to remove the shift lever to get
more room but it will come out.4 hr job.

I'd like to know what kind of driving you do. A 1995 E320 is not yet an old enough car to have a front disc that is completely mutilated. How many miles are on the car?

He lives in Texas, ... it's old enough.

Wow, talk about the nick of time. Time to give that plastic Jesus a little pat on the head.

I just replaced the front flex on my 95 E300D. No exhaust to worry about but the rest looks the same. I had motor mounts loose (I replaced them as well) and the trans mount was off. I used a pry bar to move the engine a little forward to get the disk out. Quite easy. The tech said make sure you put the disk in facing teh right way. There is writing on one side but I cannot remember which way it goes in. Sorry.

I don't remember if it is the automatic or the manual transmission flex disks that can be put in wrong. One or the other of them has a German phrase that tells which way it goes in. It's been too long for me to remember.

It seems like it says "Diese Siet ......" This means "This Side...." As I recall the rest of the German indicates to the rear. Look for German words on the disk and then go to Babblefish.com and translate those words German to English.

It's been a long time since I did one but I can't remember the exhaust system being in the way. Collapsing the driveshaft will make it easier if you don't decide to pull the driveshaft all the way down. If you do pull it down, it can come apart easily. There are some knots that mark the pieces, but it's safest to spray some paint on it as soon as you get it in the air, so the paint has some time to dry before you get to that point.

If you take the driveshaft out, take advantage of the opportunity to check the u-joint for "notches." If you feel sort of a notch instead of smooth rotation as you rotate each axis of the u-joint, you will likely have a vibration. If there is a "notch" put a washer on one side of the right side of the carrier bearing mount between the mount and the body, then put the bolt through. This will move the carrier bearing ever so slightly from its original location which will allow the u-joint to rotate outside the area of the worn notch. This will often eliminate that vibration. If there is no "notch" worn into the u-joint, don't put in the washer.

I think all you have to do is to look at the pictures I posted you can see that the flex disk were about to disintegrate, is not a matter of age, just miles.

Oscar

Thanks to all that have replied, I appreciated your comments and opinions.

I am sorry I have not reported on the rest of the completion of the job I have been busy with work but I will post the rest of my comments along with some more pictures in the next coming days.

Quick question to Larry Bible, would the vibration be when the car is at idle, or when driving?
I did take the drive shaft out since I also replaced the center supporting bearing; unfortunately, I do not remember purposely checking for a notch during the rotation of the u-joint.

Just to continue with the replacing of the flex disc, a picture to show how bad the front disk was compared to the rear.

The front flex disk (with red stain) was in bad shape. Second picture is the rear flex disc it did not seem to be in that bad of shape. I end up replacing both of the discs along with the center supporting bearing. Third picture to show the new parts including center bearing and support. Fourth picture to show the front disk after pulling it out.

I started the job by supporting the car on very sturdy stands. I borrow a jack from my neighbor, which I used along with a piece of wood to support the transmission (picture)

Will continue later today

That is funny :P

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

good job ;)