damn i wish i had a lift in my garage!!! can i come over and hang out ??? LOL

 

Well, I got tired of crawling around like a rodent, so I redid the whole enchillada.
The lift is a godsend.
The epoxy floor is even better. You can spill ANYTHING on it and it just wipes up.
You're always welcome to swing by.

 

question

Do we just replace the drain plug itself or a crush washer on the drain plug??

Thanks for the DIY pictures, this is on my list of things to do over the next two months.

 

Well, I got tired of crawling around like a rodent, so I redid the whole enchillada.
The lift is a godsend.
The epoxy floor is even better. You can spill ANYTHING on it and it just wipes up.
You're always welcome to swing by.

can you post some pics of the lift and the general garage set up?? looks beautiful. what was the damage??

 

To firstbenzo.... no crush washer present. The WIS specifies cleaning the bolt with a special Locktight Cleanser, then coating the first 3 threads with Optiseal. Speaking with the Benz dealer here, they don't have the material. I've called all around, and I can't track it down.

With the G's, I change the drivetrain oil at much more frequent intervals than specified, as I do with the sedans. I don't get the whole sealing the plug thing.

To ProV1x, I have some more photos at home. I'll post later.

 

Promised Pics

Here are a few pics, just like I promised.

 

Here are a few pics, just like I promised.

Damn nice garage. My father recently installed lifts in his garage. I think he's going through a mid-life crisis lol. He's so far equipped it with TVs, Bose speakers mounted to the ceiling and appropriate lighting... Along with electrical and air compressor lines. Hopefully one day I have this lol.

 

WOW thanks for the GREAT pictures. absolutely spectacular, your garage is bigger than my entire house!! thanks for the PM update too

 

Hey G-AMG, Where you from?

Saw in your location "S. Texas". Went to HS in Victoria @ St. Joe Class '85. Anyway thanks for the tips and also sharing the photos, nice setup youv'e got there, hope it give you many years of use! Happy Holidays.
Regards,
W. Cox

 

FSS does not specify when to replace rear differential fluid. Should we do it every 30k miles? 60k miles? or 100k miles?

 

Diff Oil Change Interval

Well, I did search the WIS, and there is NO specified interval.

On the G's, there IS a recommended interval of 60,000 Mi. Granted, it's under much more strain than the E, but it's the interval that I feel is "reasonable."

To me oil is cheap, and it's easy to change, so why not?

Also, the spec sheet now allows sythetics for diff's.

 

One of your picture/photo indicated to torque the drain plug to 80 NM. Shouldn't it be 50 NM?

 

Torque Values

According to my WIS, the DRAIN plug is to 80 Nm, and the FILL plug is to 50 Nm.

It is similar on the G as well.

 

For some strange reasons, I can't find drain plug torque value in WIS. I saw references of 50 NM (36.8 pound foot) for filler plug.

When I changed the differential fluid on my 2001 E320 two days ago, I used 50 NM for the drain plug and it matched the original position that I marked before I removed the plug. I did not go any further in fear of stripping the thread. I sure don't want to pay the dealership to replace the differential for a stipped thread. I'll watch out for leaks though.

80 NM equals to 59.0 pound foot. That's a lot of torque. I wouldn't torque it that much.

50 NM (36.8 pound foot) is a reasonable torque for that size of plug. The filler and drain plugs look identical to me. I wonder why WIS specifies different torques for the same size plugs.

BTW, the original differential fluid (35K miles) are so dirty, it looked like mud. I'm so glad that I changed it.

 

Oil Change

Cerritos,

The sludge that does come out makes one wonder why we don't change it more often, Eh??????

Did you notice a quieter rear end after changing the oil?

What brand did you end up going with?

Were you able to track down that "Optiseal"??

I guess the higher torque value on the drain screw is due to the fact it is the dependent position, and needs to have a tighter seal.

On the G, I believe the split was 60 Nm on the fill side, 70 on the drain.

 

Hi, G-AMG,

Personally, I will change it every 30k miles. I don't understand why MB does not specify the frequency of changing this oil.

I have low miles (35k miles), so, I did not notice any change of noise. I changed the oil because I want to keep it in a good shape, not because there was a problem.

I ended up with Mobile 1 synthetic. I was very disappointed with Mobile 1 though. I used a clear vinyl tube extended outside of the car. So I was able to pour the oil into this tube and was able to see the oil while it's being fed into it. Occasionally I saw "air bubbles" in the fluid and did not mind with it. However, when it approaches the end of the bottle, there were tons of "air bubbles". That made me aware that they were not air bubbles after all. They are contaminants. In other words, mobile 1 synthetic has debris at the bottom of the bottle. However, I tried to use my finger to feel the "hardness" of these debris in what were left in the bottle and can't feel anything (They were visible though). I guess they're harmless. But I'm very disappointed with Mobile 1. I will try Red Line next time. Maybe I'll use MB's oil even though it's much more expensive.

I used Permatex High Temperature Thread Sealant (Part number 59214). It's available at Autozone. MB's Omnifit Sealing Compound 100H (A 003 989 18 71 10) is available at the dealership via special order (House of Imports, CA).

I was not able to find any reference of the torque value for the drain plug. Could you provide a pdf/word or just a screen capture of the document? This way, I can understand whether I under torqued it or not. I hope it's not too much trouble. Thanks.

 

W210 Differential Oil Interval

FSS does not specify when to replace rear differential fluid. Should we do it every 30k miles? 60k miles? or 100k miles?

I just spoke to my dealer's service department, and their policy is that this is part of their approximately 80,000 mile service.

 

Did you service the breather valve on the top of the differential? This is a job I need to do, just wondering how easy it is to reach.

 

Great write up, I plan to do mine soon. Does the S430 also use 75W90? My guess is yes..

One point I would like to add. Always loosen the fill bolt first. If for some reason you are unable to loosen the fill bolt and all the diff fluid has been drained out then you have a real problem on your hands with an empty diff. Same applies to 4WD transfer cases.

If the bolts were torqued to spec and not cross threaded then there should be no problems (Murphy's Law). I did my MDX and had to use a rubber mallet on the ratchett to loosen all for drain bolts. I almost had to resort to my air impact wrench. They were way beyond the 33ft/lb specs.

 

OOPS, Egg on My Face

Folks, Especially Cerritos!

I feel terrible. Reading the WIS off my small laptop, and, perhaps a need for glasses!!,

I DID incorrectly read the torque value for the DRAIN plug. It SHOULD ALSO be

50 Nm. A thousand pardons.

To answer the one point, though, these type of bolts are not so delicate. The G's front differential drain and fill screws are to 100 Nm!!

 

Hi, G-AMG,

Thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

80-100 NM (59 - 73.7 pound foot) is a lot of torque for a filler plug (model 460, 461, 463).

This picture also only shows the torque for the filler plug. That was what I was talking about. There's no specification in WIS for the drain plug. It doesn't say it's the same as the filler plug and it doesn't say what the value for the drain plug is. At least, I did not see it.

For W210 E model, I will use 50 NM for both, as you indicated.

Again, thanks for the clarification.

 

WIS Photo

Cerrittos,

Here ya go.

The WIS excerpt for the W210 Rear Differential DRAIN plug torque values.

Cheers.

 

Hi G-AMG,

Thanks for your post. Congrats for the Hazet wrench. Your fleet not too bad either ... drooling a little bit.

I have converted your tutorial pictures into a PDF for convenience.

Happy New Year to all!

 

Cerrittos,

Here ya go.

The WIS excerpt for the W210 Rear Differential DRAIN plug torque values.

Cheers.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

(I need to dig into WIS and try to find this doc. Apparently, I'm missing something.)

 

Cerritos,

The sludge that does come out makes one wonder why we don't change it more often, Eh??????

Did you notice a quieter rear end after changing the oil?

What brand did you end up going with?

Were you able to track down that "Optiseal"??

I guess the higher torque value on the drain screw is due to the fact it is the dependent position, and needs to have a tighter seal.

On the G, I believe the split was 60 Nm on the fill side, 70 on the drain.

Is this the Optiseal that people are trying to track down? It's made by Holdtite, the British performance adhesives maker. If that's even the right one.

http://www.holdtite.com/english/download/tech/opti503.pdf

 

Thanks for tracking that down!

Do they have a website for purchase?