190e 2.6 Transmission Removal from Pick n Pull Advice Needed
 

Has anybody done this? What is the best way? No jacks are allowed but they will provide a A-Frame engine puller.

Does the cross brace that holds the engine/mounts come off? I looked at mine and did not see any bolts... Assuming it is welded.

you will need to lift out the engine with transmission attached from the car if they are providing the engine lifting crane. Once out you can then undo the transmission from the engine.

lifting it out will also require that the vehicle be raised considerably so that the transmission tail can clear the ground. The cross brace where the round engine mounts are bolted is welded to the car, the radiator support is engine specific, I think the larger engine cars had a removable top on the radiator support, the smaller engine cars had it one piece

As far as height, they have all the cars propped up on wheel stands. Basically one wheel flat on the ground and another on its side welded to the bottom wheel. The car frame sits on that.

The top radiator support is removable.

I did find the FSM manual for the 2.6 w124 showing to pull it up as a unit. It does mention to use a jack to support the transmission before taking of the cross member though. This will be interesting....

liquiddog, presuming you have a helper with you ... use a pry bar atop a wood block to unweight the cross member during removal.

OK, so it is just to relieve weight to get the bolts off then. I do have a helper coming.

you dont need a jack entirely - find some bricks and carry a piece of 2x4 with you to the yard and build the brick/parts pile with the piece of wood on top - support the tail or bell of the trans and not the pan.

assemble engine with tilter installed and staggered chains like our member stretch did on his W201 in holland. undo connections from engine pile on top of engine and pull out.

Thanks for the idea. I may end up going that route if my helper bails. I assume you mean his 300D engine removal thread. I'm going to get a load leveler as shown in his thread.

I was thinking about undoing the torque converter bolts before pulling it. It seems like it would be easier that way. Do I need to worry about turning the engine backwards when undoing these bolts? I know it's a parts yard engine that I don't intend to buy, but I don't want to intentionally damage it.

yes - undo the bolts beforehand, turn it forwards not backwards and remove the spark plugs to ease the movement - no compression = easy to turn

otherwise you will have to do it hanging or wrestling it on a scrap tire with the assembly laying sideways

I was actually worried about undoing those bolts forcing the engine to rotate backwards. But, I picked up a cordless craftsman impact wrench so it should make quick work of it. I tested it on lug nuts last night and and unbolted them easily.

You can do all that if you want the engine. If you are not going for the engine, let the greasy thing stay in there. I pulled the engine out of my 86 300E and replaced it with an engine that had been running an automatic. So we changed the flywheel, stuck the engine in and reassembled or attached the clutch and transmission. From my experience with that, I think that would be the way to go. Take good wrenches, (breaker bar) and the 1/2 drive hex set. Undo the flex joint, undo the trans to block studs and the clutch line and pull it out. The transmission is not very heavy, I doubt if it is 50 pounds. Then pull the transmission back to clear the clutch. If you want the clutch and flywheel, then go after them. It is not difficult, it is just work. Get a couple of trunk floor mats to lay on. Be comfortable - bring coffee to. Transmission only, if you have the few tools needed right by you, should come out in 60 minutes.

Sorry liquiddog - I thought you were going for a 5 speed. The automatic is a bit more difficult, it is heavier and the convertor bolts are a battle. So now I would say pull the engine and transmission if they will lift it out. You are only going for the transmission and that is pretty hard to mess up when pulling the whole thing. Still, it is not real difficult to pull from the bottom.

Took about four hours. Came out easily. That was really the easy part. The site won't let me upload pics. :(

I should also mention there's an m103 that looks decent at the Austin Wrench a part if anyone is looking. We put it back in and closed the hood so it wouldn't get rained on. Wouldn't take 15 minutes to lift it out and get it on a cart.

Question... Because I couldn't get the transmission out of park (no keys) I was not able to rotate the driveshaft. It made the top bolt on the front flex disc inaccessible. What we figured out to do was pull off anything preventing the drive shaft from coming down, drop the transmission down, and pull apart the driveshaft. Once it was in two pieces, the top of the flex disc was easy to access.

So my question is... What is the point of the giant nut on the center driveshaft? I thought it was to keep the two pieces from coming apart?