Yeah, sorry to post again but I'm having insane amounts of trouble trying to get the tranny out of my 400e.

Problem areas:

the top dipstick/filler tube bolt.
the bolt on the drivers side of the transmission that is on the top of the transmission housing.

Any advice??

Assuming that you are pulling the trans with the engine remaining in the car, drop the rearof the trans (with a piece of thin wood between both the engine/firewall and fan/radiator) down. Now you can snake a few long extensions up from below and from the rear to get the trans/engine mounting bolt. With luck, the dipstick bolt will also be easier to get to.

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Hanno
'79 6.9 Sold (after 27 years)
'83 280SL, 5 spd.
'94 E320 Sdn. 5 spd conversion
'02 E320 Sdn.(on loan to mom!)
'87 300E (5 spd. conversion) Sold
'05 E500 Wagon

Got it out! It was a nasty one... the key was jacking up the transmission from the trans oil pan so that I could access the filler tube bolt (after removing the throttle linkage), and then jacking up the engine from the engine oil pan so the transmission dropped down just enough so I could wedge my hands up there and get the 2 top bolts off. So basically I was teetering the engine/trans on the motor mounts.

Any pictures? I always wondered how difficult this would be to do myself without a lift.

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

Here's a few pics from the transmission rebuild. The reverse gear wasn't engaging. The things that needed repair/replacement are:

The reverse clutches. You can see them on the last picture. They are the biggest set of clutches. I could barely get them out they were so warped and there was no clutch material left. Sitting just to the right are the other clutch sets which appeared to be in almost new condition even with 200,000 miles.

The reverse piston (2nd pic, far left) had some damage to it. There is a locator pin that pushes into the pump which was sheered off. Instead of buying a new one I drilled it, tapped it, and jb welded a screw in there that I cut to the right length.

Also on the reverse piston there is a spring retainer that pushes down on about 20 small springs. It is held compressed with a ring. When I pulled the transmission apart I found the spring retainer was not compressed as it should be, in fact it was warped a little and had evidence of rubbing against the K1 clutch set.

So I did an overhaul, replaced the spring retainer, and cleaned the valvebody.

Attached Thumbnails

     

Nice Pictures. How long did it take to get the transmission out? Did you need a transmission jack?

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

I'm told you can get the upper bolts out from the top. DaveM says to remove the upper panel @ the firewall and the bolts are then accessible. You know, putting it back is harder than removal.
I've always heard it was the reverse pack that takes all the wear in these models. Are you going to rebuild the valve body with it's 44 balls? They are many different sizes...

I'm unaware of an upper panel at the firewall. Is this from inside the vehicle? Putting it back won't be too bad. Also, the valve body doesn't need new balls, the only reason you would need new balls is if you lost the old ones. They don't wear out. I only counted 20 or so balls when I had it apart, and they were identical in size. What transmission are you talking about. This is a 722.354 from a 400E.

Awesome! Congrats on making it sucessfully this far.

Couple questions:

1) How high did you jack up the car? Do you have it on jackstands, and where did you put the jackstands - on the subframe, on the body jacking pads, or ?

2) Did you use one of the rebuild manuals to do the rebuild, like the ATRA manual, or?

Thanks! Pete

Good job.
If you are married be thankful for having a wife that will let you do that in the garage.

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Jim

I had it up the full jackstand length plus I had a 2x6 under the front ones, so I'd say a foot or slightly more. I put the jackstands on the rubber bumper right there by where the stock jack goes in. I did find a couple 722.3 rebuild manuals but they weren't specifically for my trans, but still close enough. Are you planning on doing this soon? To what car?

Right on, thanks for the answers. I am planning this job for sometime in the next six months. My car is a 1993 300E with the 2.8 M104 motor. My car has started the dreaded reverse-delay problem which means 'trans rebuild time' since I have 142 k miles on it. There is another thread on here where the guy used the ATRA manual to do his 722.3 trans rebuild, so that is why I asked about that one. The factory manual is supposedly only available on microfiche, I say supposedly - that is what I have heard. I have not checked into that in detail. Also supposedly the factory manual is the only place you can get the info on what the upgrades have been to the trans, but I have a hard time believing that as well.

I have never done a trans but I am not afraid to attack it. Given enough time and a good manual I can do it. I might biff it the first time but I'll damn sure get it the second time. Thanks!