I was getting a droning noise while driving at abt 45-55 mph, and a metallic clunking from the centre of the car when letting off the accelerator and a nasty shock when shifting from D to R or vice versa. The shifter lever was also sloppy.
So I jack up the car to find the driveshaft clunking under hand torque rotation. I figured the flex disc is dead.
Ordered a genuine OEM quality flexdisc and a plethora of parts including tie rods, drag link, idler arm kit, water pump, output seal, bulbs etc. and then went to the MB dealership to buy some shifter bushings and clips along with some exhaust hangers etc.
On the weekend I got to it, car up on 4 jackstands, removed transmission mount and removed the disc, here it is alongside new disc
here is where it used to live
new one in place
Dont be surprised it was opposite, I removed it again and installed it correctly, the part said diese seite zur gelenkw - loosely translated to this side to driveshaft. btw I also installed a new output shaft seal by removing the 30mm 12 point nut. not shown here, too busy with grimy hands
The new bushings in place (these are a royal pain in the a$$ to install - I sliced the bushings at a 45 angle dunked them in boiling water and installed them hot, the front one on the transmission is very hard to install as you cannot bend your fingers (no space) - I reached from the back of the now hanging transmission to the top and held the bushing in place and worked it in with a screwdriver.
I also noticed this
that spring is actually the insert for the evaporator drain pipes, one on each side of the transmission tunnel. The pipes are foam (weirdly stupid I know) and have a spring in the middle so they dont collapse. Next project is to replace them both with proper pipes (tygothane maybe lol) - I think MB chose them because they dont sweat in cold environments.
here is why buying parts at MB dealerships is nice - free gourmet coffee too.
And here is what my lovely wife had ready when I was done.
The food was superbly nice n tender and the drive is now smooth as glass as it should be in W124 MB - you cannot feel the transmission shift gears and noiseless even if I accelerate beyond 80 mph
I also changed the tie rods and drag link - but could not take pictures, hands were occupied and the phone would need a solid degreasing then.. It was nasty as is.
