Wanted to drain and refill the differential on the W220 (S430) so I figured I would do it after I got home, since the differential would be nice a toasty from the drive. On a whim I picked up a transmission (rear engine) mount while at the dealer today, since I keep reading about how these cars can be hard on mounts. My engine mounts look good and there’s no twisting or torquing of the engine from what I can see, so I don’t see a need to mess with the front ones for now.
Got the differential done without incident. I wish there was a better way of filing it, as I rigged a piece of clear plastic tubing on the nozzle cap of a bottle a few years ago and keep that handy. I get the bottle inverted up in the wheel well or somewhere it can be at or above the differential and just squeeze the crap out of it to force the oil out. I know there are hand pumps you can do it with, but that seems really messy and a hassle. I would be interested to hear if anyone has a better method. Moved to the front of the car and got it in the air. Used the pneumatic suspension to raise it a few more inches, which is nice as I barely had enough room to get under the car on the ramps. Bottom mount bolt were easy, but the side bolts that go into the transmission case were a bit of a PITA. They’re angled down, so to be able to get a socket on them you have to loosen the bottom mount bolts and raise the transmission up with your jack. Once this is done you can get on them pretty easy. What I found weird was that the bolt heads for the two big bolts that go into the transmission case are 5/8”, not 17mm like on every other MB I’ve ever done this on. Strange. Anyway, got new mount in and everything started with a nice coat of thread locking compound on all the fasteners. After settling the mount, I had to use a 3/8” universal to get on the big side bolts, the bottom ones were easy. Close inspection showed that the old mount was beginning to shear off between the rubber and the center support part. Didn’t look like it was close to failure or anything, but it was coming apart. So, since I had planned on doing this tomorrow, I now have nothing to do tomorrow except to continue laying paint on the replacement bumper I got for the S420. Hopefully the weather will cooperate…. Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
