[Zeitgeist]

Driving the seal in has never been an issue for me, at least with similar VW engines. I think you may need to research how best to R&R the crank pulley hub, but if you remove the radiator it might not be so bad*. Is the AC charged? If not, you could remove the condenser as well, which would allow lots more room to fit a conventional puller in there.

One trick we learned with VWs, is to drive the seal in just past flush if the crank/hub has a groove worn in it from the old seal lip. This allows the seal a completely new surface on which to ride, and thus less chance of leakage.




* I've never actually done this job on an MB before, so I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Still need some direction here...I hear that I have to have a 27mm socket and a cheater bar on the ratchet to get enough torque. I am doing this on the ground, do I need to get it raised up on jacks a bit? What do I hold the hub with? (is "hub" what it is called?)

To do this job correctly, you'll need a crank hub puller , a crank seal install tool (you can probably get away with not using this), and a flywheel lock . Of the three, the flywheel lock might be the most important, since I don't know of a better way to lock the engine in place without screwing up the ring gear.