Good job Bansai!

What did the original flex disc look like? Any cracks or indication of wear?

Cheers

 

Thanks Franasia!
Sorry. This is little bit big picture. I just would like to show the cracks around mounted holes clearly. Unfortunately, you can see those cracks only if you''ll remove the disk.

 

Is there no more loosening of the big driveshaft nut (41mm or so) so the shaft can slide back like on earlier models?

 

No. I was also surprised that WIS didn't mention about this big nut. I expected to see it there, and even removed the heat shield and... I didn't find the nut there...

 

Sure looks like removing the mount makes the job much easier.
I did it the hard way, but still finished under 1 hr in my mud pit.
What was the mileage? The disk doesn't look too bad, but sure it is good precaution against getting stranded on a desert.

 

Another inspiring DIY. Great job.

 

bansai, what symptoms did you have prior to changing the front flex disc? mine looks ok from visual inspection, but i'm past 160k miles. should i change it sometime in the near future?
what about the rear one?

 

bansai, what symptoms did you have prior to changing the front flex disc? mine looks ok from visual inspection, but i'm past 160k miles. should i change it sometime in the near future?

Very first symptom was lower gears switching. Transmission started switching lower gears little bit harder then usually. I filled small impact in the switching moment. Another issue came a couple of weeks ago. Center console area had small vibration after 60mph. I bought new tires three weeks ago. You know what I thought first... I brought car in the shop and rebalanced rear wheels. But It didn't fix vibration issue.

 

It was original disk and mount. The car has 158.000+ miles on odometer.

 

is the vibration finally fixed? it seems a lot of members are experiencing vibration issues even after the most common causes are eliminated. maybe it's the old flex discs causing it, even though they seem ok from visual inspection.

 

Yes. Vibration is gone. I guess it was complex solution, because transmission mount and disk were replaced together. I inspected old transmission mount. It didn't have major cracks, but instead of new part the rubber was pretty hard and dry.

 

Thanks Banzai

I would like to know how one would go about inspecting the flex discs and what specifically to look for to know that the disc needs replacement. You said that there were cracks in the disc.Were you able to see the cracks with the flex disc in place or only after the disc was removed. Thanks, Paul

 

I would like to know how one would go about inspecting the flex discs and what specifically to look for to know that the disc needs replacement. You said that there were cracks in the disc.Were you able to see the cracks with the flex disc in place or only after the disc was removed. Thanks, Paul

Paul, I couldn't see any small cracks when disk was in place. In my case all cracks were covered by bolts heads and I found them when disk was in my hands.

 

Thanks, Bansai, for job well done. I will stick this.

 

I would not say that you caught that one "just in time." You had lots of miles to go on that disk. Not that I wouldn't have changed it. I don't like cracking rubber parts.

If you see distortion of the rubber, unequal distance between bolt heads, or visible fibers poking out, get that disk changed yesterday.

 

It's a very common wear part

on Diesels I have learned from European forums. It's obviously due to vibration and perhaps from higher Diesel engine torque even though they may use a different (reinforced) part number.

 

I just did mine this weekend and of course, this sticky thread helped out a lot. I wonder if anyone's done the rear flex disk also?

BTW, the car does shift noticeably better, especially in the morning. And this was with the original tranny mount (I bought a new one but it was defective. Still plan to replace it this week).

 

I just did mine this weekend and of course, this sticky thread helped out a lot. I wonder if anyone's done the rear flex disk also?

I did. The rear is easier than the front. You can get to the nuts much easier. You will have to unbolt the carrier bearing mount from the car in order to move the rear half of the shaft forward.

 

I can't come with possible technical explanation how the flex Disk can affect transmission shifting, but the same applies to vacuuming the carpets. >>> the engine always pulls much better after.

 

When I say improvement, I was referring to what sounds and feels like a "thud" when the shifts from a cold start. I can't really explain it either, but I don't think the disc was meant to have play where it couples to the transmission (I'm not saying that the flex disc has play, but it does look broken down).

Yesterday and today, that rough shifting was absent. I will let you guys know if it ever comes back (I am also convinced I have a flaky conductor plate based on past experience). FWIW, degraded rubber support parts are never good... I had a W124 with worn out differential mount bushings (a pain in the gluteus to remove, I might add) that made the car sound and feel sick during shifting (the replacement fixed it completely).

 

Great writeup! I need to get this done on mine and have been contemplating whether to take it shop or DIY. This looks like something I can do. Three questions.
1. Where/how did you support the transmission?
2. Do you have to have the rear wheels off the ground so you can rotate the driveshaft?
3. To what torque settings did you tighten the fasteners?
Thanks,
Fred

 

Will the carrier bearing be a problem on my case with a clunking prop?
I went under but there is no way I can find out where it clunk...
It fell like it come from all parts:
gearbox attachement to the prop
uni joint
differencial...
I have no clue...

 

Bansai, when you say your tranny "shifted too soon", etc.....how would replacing the tranny mount affect this? My 01 E430 has a vibration too and does seem to shift a bit too soon upon acceleration from a stoplight. I have discussed it here in other posts at great length. Plus I had a bent wheel which has been straightened and I put on new tires, but it still has a "drivetrain vibration". (01 E430, 118K) I also notice that while driving down the freeway when I lift off the gas then push the pedal again there seems to be a slight bit of slack that is in the drivetrain. Like the tranny mount is moving up or down, whichever is the case. But nothing noticable in the shifter knob. (??)

I know I need to check all that stuff out down there but just havent had the time, or money the past 2 months. (Ive had health, boat, and wife issues. My health is much better, the boat I will keep, but the wife I am selling......)

Thanks for your help!

Jeff

 

Transmission Mount

When replacing the transmission mounts, did the transmission require additional support in order to remove old mount and replace them?

 

you need to jack it up to hold it in place. be carefull with the sump though.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=253729

 

Is this front flex disk vital to replace NOW or can wait a few days?

I noticed this a couple days ago when checking my work on the conductor plate (1000 miles later, no leaks ) and saw the front flex disk has some cracks - full size picture here - actually, much easier to see the cracks

Question: is this safe to drive around on for a next 4 days? Meaning a few 20 minute drives, the rest around town. After the 4 days we'll be out of town for 2 weeks.. Thinking to order parts now and can fix when I get back - just need to get through the next few days..

 

Front flex disk and front wheel bearings ordered from autohasaz last night, and dial gage + stand from HF. Will be nice to do wheel bearings by the book for once. Any opinions on this disk?

 

Is there a front/back side on the flex disc? Is there a number on those six holes?

In other words, when installing the flex disc, do we need to watch out for the front/back direction? and which hole to which shaft or the tranny?

or simply installing it without caring about which side goes to the front and which hole connect to the tranny, which hole connect to the shaft?

It appears that there two different sets of screws (bolts) though.

 

Cerritos,
IIRC the side of the disk WITH the label/numbers faces the driveshaft. The same goes for the rear disk. Bolt holes not critical, but conventional experience suggests keeping the orientation of the draftshaft/trans output as it is now. Theoretically, the driveshaft is balanced, but it is worth not changing things unnecessarily.
Use the same size bolts as what you remove from the kit.
Skippy


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

 

I believe there are different designs of disks. Some of them have thicker rubber between the pairs of the holes. Those thicker parts better be pulled, than pushed, so figure out which way the shaft turn and bolt it that way.
Don't think it is critical but worth checking.

 

Probably worth checking the WIS when someone has time. I remember seeing pictures of one that had arrows pointing both directions, if that's not confusing, I don't know what is.