717.400 Getrag take it apart help! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

lgreeley83 · #1 04-22-2013, 08:16 AM

Backstory: I am in the US Army and stationed in Egypt while here I bought two of these transmissions for my w123. Army shipping is maximum 70lbs.

Well... I am still waiting for this contractor on base to let me know about fedex shipping. I am starting to get worried that I cant get the transmissions home in one piece.

I've read a little about taking it apart and it seems i need a special tool to get the bearing and some crap out of the tail end. I am wondering if I can pull it apart without removing any crap like that. I need to learn how drop weight to ship in two separate packages. I saw a write up somewhere but cant find it again. Can I pull the gears out of the main housing and leave them attached to the rear portion not doing anything to the seals. I am a newb with transmissions.

lgreeley83 · #2 04-22-2013, 08:19 AM

I know this is an odd post, here is my picture sitting next to my getrag and manual steering gearbox. I'm legit and crapping myself. I have less than a week to make it happen.

greazzer · #3 04-22-2013, 10:45 AM

Logan,

Chill. Each is exactly 70 pounds on the nose if you drain it completely, and remove the 3 arms, and remove the yoke.

lgreeley83 · #4 04-22-2013, 10:50 AM

I. Gotta pack it in somthing though :-)

whunter · #5 04-22-2013, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgreeley83

I. Gotta pack it in somthing though :-)

Here is all the data I have at the moment.
Manual transmission repair links

.

JB3 · #6 04-22-2013, 01:11 PM

what other shipping options are there in the area? can you strap them to a pallet, wrap them in plastic, and ship them outside the army? (that might cost 4-500 bucks, at least starting here and shipping to a destination in that region) are you limited to only shipping through the army? People ship cars back ive heard, can you throw them in a trunk?

I just weighed my 717.400 and it was about 82.70 with all the extra stuff and in a plastic box weighing about 5 lbs, so with any real packing, you will be about 10-15lbs over per transmission unless you turn the things into separate parts first.

lgreeley83 · #7 04-22-2013, 01:30 PM

Im pretty much limited to army stuff at this point. I could trust it to somebody after i leave to take it to israel themselves and attempt fedex. I am really trying to avoid that. It would probably never happen. I'm really at the mercy of this friggen logistics warehouse guy who doesn't seem to pursue the matter with Israel much. All our special shipments go through israel fedex. He told them the weight and dimensions a week ago and is "waiting for an estimate". blahhhhhhh. He could come through but im at the mercy of the military contractor gods at this point.... a horrible place to be.

JB3 · #8 04-22-2013, 01:30 PM

so this is the 717.400 I have. I received it partially disassembled like this. I just weighed the bellhousing/gearset piece on my shipping scale, so if you remove the arms, linkage, rear yoke like Greazzer was saying, and remove the rear cover, you can get the weight down to 66.2lbs, leaving 3-4lbs for wrapping it for shipping.
I can tell you that beyond this point, you definitely need a gear puller of some kind, I never went further than this.

It looks like the rear cover should come off though without huge difficulty, reducing the weight a bit there.

JB3 · #9 04-22-2013, 01:48 PM

so a few other pics, I weighed just the rear cover and its 6.4 lbs alone, so removing that definitely would help.

(I don't know how to put the pics in the thread, but here are two attached pics that might help)

In the first one, of the outside of the rear cover, the red line points to the bolt that bolts into the Reverse Idler shaft. Removing this side bolt "should" allow you to pull the cover when all the other bolts are removed

in the second one, here is the key-

The MPSL stands for Missing Pin, Shift Linkage. This should be the Reverse, 5th shift arm from the inside im assuming if its similar to the 717.411, maybe. There is a small metal piece that looks like a 1inch wide top hat that is missing in this pic, the little pin that slots into a steel cylinder that moves further forward in the gearbox.

The SB stands for Standard Bearing, you should be able to pull the cover off and the bearing will just separate, and there is a washer and outer race for this main bearing that are encapsulated by this inner cover

The RB stands for Roller Bearing, the countershaft is supported by a regular roller bearing and it looks like it should just slide out here as well

The RI stands for Reverse Idler. This is the inner side of that bolt hole for that pic of the outer cover, and removing this bolt should free up everything apart from the shift arm and what might be involved getting that apart, which im not sure, might take some jimmying.

Id also remove the input shaft cover plate in addition to the other easily removed plates, every little cast aluminum plate removed will help

JB3 · #10 04-22-2013, 02:02 PM

on removing the rear lock nut to remove the flange. You shouldn't need any special tools, Just a socket that will fit, a breaker bar, and a pipe to put over the breaker bar. Ive used a 5 foot iron pipe before with excellent success.

Bolt the transmission nose down to a heavy table, and its usually possible to wedge one of the output flange ears against the case itself, maybe the mounting location. Ive used a socket for this which works pretty well.

The trick is not to get violent and bang anything, just steady pressure, that way you don't crack the aluminum if you are wedged against it

greazzer · #11 04-22-2013, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgreeley83

Im pretty much limited to army stuff at this point. I could trust it to somebody after i leave to take it to israel themselves and attempt fedex. I am really trying to avoid that. It would probably never happen. I'm really at the mercy of this friggen logistics warehouse guy who doesn't seem to pursue the matter with Israel much. All our special shipments go through israel fedex. He told them the weight and dimensions a week ago and is "waiting for an estimate". blahhhhhhh. He could come through but im at the mercy of the military contractor gods at this point.... a horrible place to be.

Are you near a major airport ? You could ship it to a major airport hub from your location. If nothing works for your neck of the woods, I know that Atlanta works. I had shipped to me from Europe an entire transmission system, and I know it weighed a lot more than 70 pounds. I can have it picked up from Atlanta no problems. Someone I work with commutes from ATL each week to Columbia, S.C., and he picked up my last two shippments from Europe. There is a $50 customs fee and you are looking at about 1-2 week wait. I then could ship it to you. Just an idea of last resorts.

I shipped a Getrag 717.400 from S.C. to California and it was under 80 pounds and that included A LOT of packing material. I would try to pull the yoke and flex disk, the slave cylinder, the arms, the inner bracket thing, et cet., and just see what that weighs. I am thinking that will be in 70 pounds on the nose.

BTW -- can you just stick that in your duffle back and scrap your clothes ?

JB3 · #12 04-22-2013, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greazzer

Are you near a major airport ? You could ship it to a major airport hub from your location. If nothing works for your neck of the woods, I know that Atlanta works. I had shipped to me from Europe an entire transmission system, and I know it weighed a lot more than 70 pounds. I can have it picked up from Atlanta no problems. Someone I work with commutes from ATL each week to Columbia, S.C., and he picked up my last two shippments from Europe. There is a $50 customs fee and you are looking at about 1-2 week wait. I then could ship it to you. Just an idea of last resorts.

I shipped a Getrag 717.400 from S.C. to California and it was under 80 pounds and that included A LOT of packing material. I would try to pull the yoke and flex disk, the slave cylinder, the arms, the inner bracket thing, et cet., and just see what that weighs. I am thinking that will be in 70 pounds on the nose.

BTW -- can you just stick that in your duffle back and scrap your clothes ?

lol, I was thinking that too. Ship the clothes, bring two duffel bags with transmissions.

greazzer · #13 04-22-2013, 03:17 PM

Logan,

I am being completly serious ... as I laugh to myself too ... can you pack that stuff in your duffle bag ?

lgreeley83 · #14 04-22-2013, 03:34 PM

Thanks for all the help guys. I think. Im probably just stressing too much. Leaving this country in 8 or 9 days and anxiety setting in. 15 hour day today.

Lol if i could carry two transmissions on my back I would. Even MPs are checking weight to ensure 70 lbs or lower.

Anybody ever shipped a trans through FedEx? I'm trying to imagine why they would deny it.

JB3 · #15 04-22-2013, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgreeley83

Thanks for all the help guys. I think. Im probably just stressing too much. Leaving this country in 8 or 9 days and anxiety setting in. 15 hour day today.

Lol if i could carry two transmissions on my back I would. Even MPs are checking weight to ensure 70 lbs or lower.

Anybody ever shipped a trans through FedEx? I'm trying to imagine why they would deny it.

leaking would be a problem. Make sure you drain the heck out of it, and since a transmission will typically drip for days on end, wrap it in like 5 plastic bags before you box it.

Never shipped something that weight through fedex, but ive shipped heavier packages through DHL. are they around? Looks like they have Egypt locations