It seems like a joke. I was winding down the rebuild of my 1983 240D transmission, Manual. I had replaced all the main bearings, synchros, shims and large outside snap rings succesfully.

On literally the last gear I had to put back on, on the outer countershaft, i noticed the gear was upside down. When I removed the snap ring,(172) I dropped it into the transmission through a very small hole on the bottom of the housing.
The snap ring is relatively small, about a 1/2' in diameter and I think made of soft steel.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but would it be SMARTER to leave the snap ring in there and reorder it and install a new one on the end of the countershaft? I noticed on my rebuild that the 3rd Gear synchro spring had been eaten alive and digested by the transmission and that thing is 5 or 6 times bigger!
If I take the chance to reopen the transmission to get the ring out, I will have to remove and reinstall the main bearing snap rings and main bearing shaft and shims. I think I was just lucky to put the thing back together correctly the first time~~~~~~

I dropped a small snap ring in my transmission --can I leave it? 83 240D

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Attach a small magnet (from a telescoping "retriever") or use the retriever itself through the drain plug or fill plug and fish it out.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to fish something up.

Don't leave it in there, it will break the gears if it gets in the teeth at speed. Big nasty.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

psfred hit the nail on the head. You need to be clever with the magnets... you may be able to use one magnet to "drag" it to where you need it (depending on what the case is made out of) and then fish it out.

Take some pics if you can.

Pete

i once dropped the plastic casing of a bic pen into a borg-warner marine transmission. couldnt get it out. i almost freaked, especially sense i was selling the boat. told the buyer what had
happened. he said not to worry , that it would be eaten up.
tranny gears are very tough metal.

don

I would think a steel piece could make problems- fish it out.

Thinking hardened gears is fine, but what happens if a piece gets in a syncro or damages a bearing.



Michael

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Michael McGuire
83 300d
01 vw A4 TDI
66 Chevy Corsa
68 GMC V6 w/oD
86 300E

Maybe you could fill the transmission with fluid and try to "flush" it out??

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

If you don't have a magnet but do have a Shop-VAc, you can try sucking the snap ring out.

Phil

Do what you can to get it out. Way back on my very first car, I had to put new bearings in the manual transmission in a '72 Courier. Well to make a long story short one of the snap rings broke (that's what I thought since one was missing) and got into the works. It made some strange popping noises and lots of chipped teeth was the result.
Had to find a whole new transmission.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Other than this issue how did the job go? Difficulty?
What source did you use for instruction, and how much did the parts costs?

I am working on an auto to manual trans swap in my 240, and not knowing the history of the tranny (it is high miles) I am interested in your rebuild.

Thanks,

John

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My 240D Gallery http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=290