I am the proud second owner of a 1983 240D, 4 speed. Problem is as follows: Depress clutch pedal and engine stalls. Secondly, with engine running, the transmission does not feel like it is turning, i.e. move shift lever and no gear meshing, or lack of. The local MB dealer shop has never come across this problem. Any ideas from anyone?

It's a hydraulic clutch. First thing, check the reservoir (combined with the brake fluid reservoir) to make sure you have fluid going to it. Clutch may need to be bled if it's got air in the system.

If that's good, it may be something mechanical in the clutch, requiring repair.

Sometimes the LEVER that operates the trans fork comes "loose". There is a allen bolt on each lever that bolts to its fork inside the trans. Check to see that these bolts are tight.

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Oldman_df,

I am unable to figure out what your problem is and I think it is because of the description. I am supposing the stalling and the transmission and clutch behaviour are not related, but can't tell yet.

Can you drive this car at all? Does the transmission shift gears when you move the lever and it just feels wierd? Or are you unable to get the car into gear at all? And, forgive me if this is obvious, but when you step on the clutch and push it to the floor, did you say the car stalls? Is the transmission in neutral when this happens? I guess so, or you would be moving when the clutch pedal was pressed to the floor. Is this the case (that you are moving and then step on the clutch and the car dies)?

If the car dies when running as you step on the clutch, you may need an idle adjustment to raise the idle slightly so it does not stall.

IF the transmission shifts, but feels like it is not connected to anything, there are some bushings and parts that contribute to the precision feel of the shift lever's motion that may be gone or too worn to help, as M.B. Doc noted. Sometimes the little levers (more like reach rods that go from the gear selector area to the transmission, which is well forward of the shift lever) fall off when the connections are shot, and then you typically cannot move the shift knob at all as the mechanism gets jammed when the first lever drops on the others. The quick temporary fix is to find the loose lever(s) and connect them again, knowing they will fall off again, shortly. The real fix is to replace the missing or worn parts. If only one lever is off the problem is much easier to do without getting all the way under the car. If you manage to get more than one off, it takes a little longer to figure out what is what.

Hope this helps, Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

To Jim Smith,

The clutch itself feels hard to push and just a slight movement will stall the engine. The engine runs fine, has a good idle and throttle response. The transmission has no sensation of going into gear so, as mentioned by M.B. Doc, there maybe something disconnected internally.

I have yet to get this up in the air and do any troubleshooting. I find this to be an odd problem just as the local MB shop has.

This vehicle has 237,000 miles and is in good shape minus some external trim. I cannot complain abour the price - it was donated from a relative! I want to get it driveable as it will be a good second vehicle.

Don

if you are saying that you engage the clutch and put into gear and a few moments later it stalls, i've had this problem.once the clutch was engaged the slave cylinder was slowly bleeding down disengaging the clutch thus stalling. i'm not sure if these are your symptons.
paul

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Paul Roberts
Mercedes Centrum Inc.
Bellevue,WA.

Oldman_df,

I am still a little confused. Does the clutch stall the engine with the car in neutral and with only slight motion toward the floor? Meaning when you put your foot on top of the pedal and just begin to push down on it? Or is the car in gear, and slight motion away from the floor with the clutch kills the engine?

I am at a loss to understand why pressing the clutch in would be able to shut the engine down. The engine normally shuts off with a vacuum actuator controlled by the key. If you lift the hood and have someone observe the manual shut off lever (red sheetmetal lever on the injection pump) you will see it move when you turn the car off with the key. Once your observer sees the movement, you can start the car and then press on the clutch pedal to shut the engine off. If the clutch action causes the lever to move, it is somehow imitating the key action and causing the vacuum system to shut the car off. Sounds like a possible screwy vacuum issue, mis-connected lines or a leak in a really wierd spot.

When you find it out, it would be great if you shared it with us.

As for the transmission being difficult to move, does it move at all? Or does it just sit there bound up? If the reach rods I described fall off the connections to the transmission, they get bound because the way the system works, you cannot engage a gear if one of the other forks is already engaged. So, if one of your gears is in say fourth gear, and the reach rod fell off, you cannot get it out of fourth gear to put it in another gear. And if it is in fourth, it will not be able to start very well, and will likely stall. So, back to the original question, is the car stalling when the clutch is on the way off the floor to engage the transmission, or is it when the clutch is on the way down to the floor to disengage the transmission? Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Jim,

Maybe the actions I describe are still not quite specific. The clutch travel feels very short and with more pressure than usual. Believe me, I am familiar with clutch feel and this pedal does not travel far enough to disengage the clutch. The shift lever moves freely yet does not try to engage any gear.

Now if the clutch pedal is in the "engaged" position you would figure that some transmission noise, such as rotation, would be heard. And if trying to engage a gear in this situation, then that bad sound of gringing metal would ring in my ears - nada!

I agree this is a strange one. I will check the vacuum shutdown but I believe the clutch linkage is not a factor.

I am going to try and contact the prior driver to see what the symptoms were when it quit being a "normal" MB.