Differential out of mesh
Hi guys,
A second year without being able to attend the AGM with my GWagen and again it's for the same old story.
I bought my G in January 2003, in generally very good condition. At the top of the "exceptions" list, a noisy front differential, which I assumed would be reparable within reasonable costs.
About a year ago, my extremely unreliable mechanic replaced the crown, pinion and all bearings and seals and off I went. The noise was a little bit less dramatic, but still there, not noticeable up to 40 mph and from there on growing with speed.
My mechanic reckons that the diff is "out of mesh" -whatever that means- . The problem is, according to him again, that he needs a special tool to adjust this. I believe the tool to be Part no. 601 589 00 21 00 "Adjuster for drive pinion (basic dimension) and to determine shims for differential bearing".
He has tried to borrow the tool from Mercedes and even offered to bring the axle for them to adjust it -to no avail-. In three different garages they siad that they'd advise to replace the axle - £ 4,000 job in parts alone.
The front axle is in pieces and I suppose that I could carry it to wherever is somebody with the tool and the expertise to fix it.
Anybody out there who can help?
Thanks in advance
Jesus,
I am not in a position to help but I have seen somewhere that it is either not practical or perhaps not cost effective to bench rebuild differentials/axles for "G"s.-----as opposed to same operation on typical L.R.component ---- some fundamental difference in the way the crown wheel or pinion is fitted.
Perhaps to substantiate this ---- my own 1984 300 GD had the rear axle replaced complete at a then cost of some £2000.00 ---- this being done by the then owner ---- a skilled self employed mechanic himself, and if I understood him right he had first attempted to replace bearings himself.( I still got the old axle )
Also recall that Howard commented at AGM re demand for complete axles, though this was specifically rear axles for diesels .
I will contact previous owner mechanic as above and find out what I can for you.
Marcus
there is a way,Jesus, I have read about of checking the mesh by coating the crownwheel with engineers blue and observing the pattern left after rotating the crownwheel by turning the pinion.How accurate it is I do'nt know,but if you want to know more let me know.I too have noise from the front axle,but I hope to get rid of it by replacing the bearings on the crownwheel and pinion but not replacing the c and p themselves .According to a discussion on the benzworld forum,which I think you were part of,once you do'nt change the c and p you can replace the old shims with the new bearings and the mesh should be correct.Heres hoping.
bob
Haven't had a G-diff apart yet, but there's gold in the post about the engineer's blue and shims. Have seen it done many times in Africa on Chevy's/Fords/Land-rovers/HCV's and diff's do work very hard out there - I mean we don't use our G's to pull down trees on a daily basis... When I get a project G, I'll get my teeth sunk into it...
Just had a look at the Mercedes special tools list and pictures for the axles. Believe me there is nothing which a professional transmission/gearbox reconditioner wouldn't have. They don't even have a preload adjuster - apparantly done the "african" way with a lever and pull-scale(and calculating torque that way).
I'll make some enquiries and post back here in a few days time.
Finally I used the good old internet and found this place:
http://www.ukaxles.co.uk/welcome/index.html
to whom my mechanic is taking the diff on Monday.
Funnily, I got a call from Rakesh (fellow GWOA member and mechanic expert in Gs) who advised these very same people, together with the following:
So there you go guys, next time that somebody has a problem with a GWagen diff, you know where to go.
Cheers
Have you tried contacting Petre Meusel on 004940 66 849 48 He has an Aladdin clave of spares, bodyparts, axles/gearbox`s, engine`s etc. He trawls all germany for damaged or blown G`s. The main problem is that he doesnt speak very good english.
David.
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I just spoke to a very knowledgeable GWagen mechanic and he has confirmed what I knew before... it is perfectly feasible from a technical point of view to adjust the mesh but you need i) the appropiate tool and ii) the technical knowledge to do it.
He tells me the reasons that Mercedes garages don't do it is because they can't be bothered, their rich Mercedes customers anyway pay for a new axle if something goes worng with the old one. Other Mercedes specialists don't do it because the tool costs in excess of £ 3,000 and it is a very rare job to recoup the cost.
I have been advise to take the diffe to a good differential specialist shop. Does abybody know of any?
Thanks,