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Dave, take your bows now for an excellent write-up
OK, the job is done. I started with a nicely cleaned gearbox, about 3/4 hour at the wash tank, at noon today, and I was inside around 4:30 following the last step of his procedure ("You are done. Great job. You have saved about $400. Go have a beer or two.").
I'd like to add a few observations and comments to the procedure.
- Before I undid the adjusting locknut and screw, I marked the screw, locknut and casing with a scratch awl and metal marker for later reference. I was/am paranoid about not getting this setting right. I also counted the exposed threads (5), and measured the exposed screw tip distance from the casing shoulder (18.04mm).
The 2 pictures below were taken after the operation. As you can see, the mark on the screw is slightly left of the other marks, and the final tip-of-screw is 18.03mm. The mark reflects that I tightened the screw up a bit more. The mm distance is +/- due to manual error, but it was close enough to ensure that the adjustment is very close to the setting before I changed it.
The business of following the Mercedes procedure to set this clearance (Petryk step 57, and my post above) was not possible for me, since I don't have either the special ruler-tool/weights, or a torque wrench that can read Ncm's. I also could not 'feel' any measurable change in the torque at the center of the pinion's travel vs. the beginning/end of travel. So, I'll have to wait until everything is back in the car to find out if it's correct.
Bear in mind that I only had from mid Sept. to the end of Oct. to drive this car, not much time, but it didn't feel loose, so hopefully it will be as it was then, only not leaking a liter of PS fluid every 50 miles..
- I too had to use a chain wrench for the big steering cap nut in the vice to get it started, Petryk step 14, with a piece of box tubing for extra leverage, but I finally found a use for my old plumbing 'spud wrench'. It was perfect for reinstalling the big nut!
- Unfortunately, the inside of the casing bore has lots of wear marks, and a couple of deep scores. I'm thinking that these might tear the teflon seal up and put me right back to square 1. I couldn't see any scoring on the old seal though, so here's hoping...
continued next post....
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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus
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