I need to replace the differential cover O-ring and one of the axle flange seals. Looking at the room I have it seems that the differential best is removed to do those jobs. I know I have to take the rear exhaust portion off but have some questions.
1. When I remove the rear flex disc, will I be able to collapse the drive shaft towards the front enough to clear the centering pin?
2. What socket size are the CV flange bolts, they look like they are 10 or twelve point, not Torx?
Before posting this I looked in the 35 and 41 section of the manual but those points were not addressed, in fact the only thing I found was a complete rear axle removal.
1.) yes
2.) 12 point, if you have a carquest nearby, they have a handy little set. I found out 400 miles from my tool box
They are often referred to as metric triple square.
You will have to loosen the clamping bolt on the drive shaft where the two halves come together (at the center bearing) in order to collapse the drive shaft.
Vehicle: 1986 560SL with M120 V12 Engine, 1988 560SL Stock
Location: CT
Posts: 5,368
Quote:
Originally Posted by 71_340
I need to replace the differential cover O-ring and one of the axle flange seals. Looking at the room I have it seems that the differential best is removed to do those jobs. I know I have to take the rear exhaust portion off but have some questions.
1. When I remove the rear flex disc, will I be able to collapse the drive shaft towards the front enough to clear the centering pin?
2. What socket size are the CV flange bolts, they look like they are 10 or twelve point, not Torx?
Before posting this I looked in the 35 and 41 section of the manual but those points were not addressed, in fact the only thing I found was a complete rear axle removal.
Thank again!
When you remove the differential mount on the frame there will be plenty of room to slide the diff back out of the drive shaft pilot bearing. Make sure all flex disk pilot holes are broken free of the diff flange prior to diff mount removal.
The bolts you describe on the CV joint are called triple square (German Cars only) not to be confused with Asian 12 point which look the same sort of fit but will strip if you use them. I wasn't aware they were using these on the 560SL, but they are all over the place on 129's. New replacement bolts from MB will be male Torx requiring a female Torx socket.
Came home from National Guard drill early today so I decided it is time to do some work.
I got the differential out without removing the exhaust; that was a nightmare and took me about two hours. I found the triple square sockets at O'Reilly Autoparts. I don't know if you guys ever took one out, the front mounts are a real dandy. The upper rubber mounts have a built in 22 MM nut that is less than 2 MM tall....try to hold on to that.
Anyway, how are the drive axle flanges held in? Do I just pry them off or is there a circlip or something else on the inside? The only documentation I fond in the manual is section B-35 which is just a description of the function.
Vehicle: 1986 560SL with M120 V12 Engine, 1988 560SL Stock
Location: CT
Posts: 5,368
Quote:
Originally Posted by 71_340
Came home from National Guard drill early today so I decided it is time to do some work.
I got the differential out without removing the exhaust; that was a nightmare and took me about two hours. I found the triple square sockets at O'Reilly Autoparts. I don't know if you guys ever took one out, the front mounts are a real dandy. The upper rubber mounts have a built in 22 MM nut that is less than 2 MM tall....try to hold on to that.
Anyway, how are the drive axle flanges held in? Do I just pry them off or is there a circlip or something else on the inside? The only documentation I fond in the manual is section B-35 which is just a description of the function.
Thanks again for the help!
Circlip inside. Circlip is also ground to the correct thicknes. That means keep the left axle and, spider gear and circlip on the left side. No need to take out the spider gears but if they happen to fall out try to figure out which side fell out of where. You will need to pull the cover and spider gear shaft. Then the axels will move in enough to pull the circlips.Use loctite on the spider gear shaft retainer bolt. This job is alot easier than it all sounds.
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Differntial is out! 
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