Worn Out Clutch? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Jim Anderson · #16 05-10-2006, 06:25 PM

Somebody here fixed a shuddering cold clutch by changing the motor mounts.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=119663&highlight=clutch+shudder

stcbenz83 · #17 05-10-2006, 06:26 PM

i took a look under the car,

first off there is no fluids under the car, minus the bad secondary fuel filter thats in there (thank you autozone) it appears to be a bad seal. But thats besides the point.

I crawled under there, there apears to be some oil from the engine leaking just a tad on the upper oil pan, nothing big, not worried.

under the trans, there apears to be some fluid on the bottom of the case, dont know how it got there, it dosent apear to becomeing from any seals though, so that also dosent worrie me

I think your right though barry abot that seal being bad, since it is a comman problem like you said. I think the guy that i bought it from said he just thought oil was getting in there because it felt like it. i think he might have even talked to a mercedes mechanic about it. if i let it warm up, or drive it hard in 2nd gear for a lil while, then it all goes back to normal

My second question is, do you know if the bad seal will damd anything? Have you had this problem before?

THANK YOU FOR THE HELP

barry123400 · #18 05-11-2006, 01:21 AM

Again nothing is really known for sure yet so tread carefully and do not get excited. If the rear main seal was leaking for example that requires you to lift the engine out to change. That job is basically all labour so it would be an excellent time to get your hands dirty with a friend helping. But again you have to know first. The beauty of these cars is that they are a oportunity to learn while cars are available that will respond to your efforts. I read in the archives that oil leaking was reduced by using synthetic oil I believe. You should spend some time in the archives. As one gentleman mentioned the shuddering was corrrected in one car by replacing shot motor mounts for example. It is not really a big job to pull the manual transmission and again the complete proceedure is on record or available in a cheap repair manual. The beauty of this site is it is endless in the help and guidance you can recieve. Much different than working on something unfamiliar all by yourself the first time. When some of us were younger we had nothing simular but in some cases machinery was of simpler design. In others it has not changed all that much up until your vintage of car. If four months ago the previous owner had the same symptom it would indicate that the oil leak if there is not getting progressively worse. I would study the archives extensively to determine if a change of oil types might be benificial for now. Since it is a 240d I think access to the top belhousing bolts is reasonable to access the clutch after you remove the transmission. Always watch for the simple things as well. For one just grab a wrench and make sure the bellhousing bolts to the motor are not loose. Let the clutch out quite a bit with somebody watching the motor for example. It should move but not tilt over very far for example. Or try rocking the motor by hand. You could have a separated motor mount for instance. . It is always important to not get excited or emotional when examining or repairing a car. When in that state you have stopped thinking. Leave it and come back later if you find it happening.Kind of the first rule of approaching car repairs.

Stevo · #19 05-11-2006, 10:51 AM

Would oil from a leaking rear seal find its way into the clutch? Mine has leaked since I installed the engine that i rebuild a few years ago and it has'nt affected the clutch. It doesnt leak much, maybe a qt in 2K, maybe a bigger leak would get in there. I have found that flywheel inspection plate missing on a couple 240Ds, could oil get in there from a leaking rear seal?? or any place else? How about brake fluid from a bad clutch slave?

300SDog · #20 05-11-2006, 11:50 AM

From the symptoms I'd still be checking the mounts and flex disc first. Oily clutch shouldnt cause rough engage on take-off. The throwout bearing on the other hand.......

Meanwhile if this car had a fresh engine installed did anybody replace the pilot bearing, throwout bearing, disc or pressure plate? I wonder if the tranny mount was properly lined up or if the old mount was used. Caution of having the tranny mount not set-up right is orbiting of the driveshaft and the flex disc soon goes to hell. Clutch and driveshaft bearings, engine/tranny mounts and flex disc fit the intermittent symptom scenario.

And if it was me I'd try to learn more about the engine swap operation. Specifically ask if new mounts were used and toss the pilot bearing question at them as probe to see if they knew what they were doing. It's a cheap $20 part that savvy mechanics would replace as matter of course.

Otherwise dropping the tranny for clutch job is less than 2 hr operation, 4 hrs round trip. Scrounge your own parts and the whole deal shouldnt cost much more than $600..... Do NOT let them plane the flywheel - or make sure they shim it to compensate for removed metal if they do. MB dealership carries cheap shimming washers if the flywheel is scorched and needs to be machined. Most mechanics are unaware of this and you will end up with a floorboard clutch if the flywheel aint shimmed correctly.