Gearbox change

[Adam230K]

Ok so now i have in my posession a second hand c230K manual gearbox with 32k miles on it. My friend who's a mechanic offered to change it for me as its a swap (easier said then done of course).

This is a question for the professional mech's among us:

Now what we wanted to know is, if there's anything special that needs to be known when removing/adding a gearbox in a W202? The reason i ask this is because we've changed a gearbox on his nissan s13 (twice), but the first time it took us 5 hours but that was because we found out the hard way, that the engine needed to be jacked up (so its tilted) to let the gearbox slip in.

I just wanted to know if there's anything i should look out for when doing this, any special nuts/bolts or any method that needs to be known before attempting something like this. I would really appreciate any feedback from you guys, and dont think i already appreciate the help you people have already given me

Hey who knows, if this goes really well, i'll take pictures while we're doing it and post it on the "HOWTO" bit in the forum

A

 

[Dieselman]

Just clear enough space under the car and off you go.

 

[Adam230K]

You done it before Diesel? is it really that simple?

 

[Dieselman]

Not done a 230k but MB always have loads of space round the gearbox, especially the 4 cylinder engines.
GrahamC230k didn't report any issues when his was done.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Disconnect battery
Remove exhaust system complete.
Remove prop shaft
Remove starter motor
Get a piece of 1/4 inch ply wood and slip behind engine to protect bulkhead.
Remove gearbox mounting plate.
Support gearbox and disconnect gear linkage.
Remove Clutch Slave cylinder from bell housing and secure with cable ties.
Disconnect speedo cable
Disconnect reverse switch cable.
(auto box) disconnect vac lines and kickdown cable from engine)
Disconnect Earth Strap from bell housing.
Take piece of timber 1/2 inch thick, 2 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide and slip between cross member and sump.
Lower Gearbox jack and let engine sit on provided wood.
Remove bell housing bolts and work gearbox back.
Hold of effin tight as auto box's get really heavy at arms length.
Lower box and there you go.
Installation, reverse but make sure everything lines up before you bolt up tight.
Keep an eye on the air intake to the Kompressor, best remove it before you start.

 

[Dieselman]

Hold of effin tight as auto box's get really heavy at arms length.

Manual box...

 

[Ian B Walker]

Manual box...

Read edit notes

 

[Adam230K]

This is really helpful guys thanks alot. You know, yesterday i was reading the invoice i got from Dronsfield, and it said "Our parts are garaunteed for 90 days provided they are fitted by a recognised independant specialist or at a dealers", how much would this type of job cost anyway? i'm guessing it can take 3 hours for someone who knows what he's doing right? which at an indy would be £60/h = £180 for the job, or at the dealer which is £120/h = £360 for the job.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

Even if you were paying that it's a good price for having a new box Can i ask where you got the box from? Was it a breakers?

Mine clicked over 140k last week, so might be useful information in the near future! I'd give you some mechanical advice, but anyone who's read the thread where i swapped the peugeot engine will know you're better off if i keep quiet

Good luck, photo's would be awesome as the HOW TO section is one of the most useful parts to this forum!

 

[nick mercedes]

This is really helpful guys thanks alot. You know, yesterday i was reading the invoice i got from Dronsfield, and it said "Our parts are garaunteed for 90 days provided they are fitted by a recognised independant specialist or at a dealers", how much would this type of job cost anyway? i'm guessing it can take 3 hours for someone who knows what he's doing right? which at an indy would be £60/h = £180 for the job, or at the dealer which is £120/h = £360 for the job.

Any decent garage can do this for you, it's an easy job that should take no more than a couple of hours.

Have them look at the state of the clutch while the box is off.

 

[nick mercedes]

Remove exhaust system complete.
Remove prop shaft
Remove starter motor

Seems a bit rash...

 

[grober]

HAVE YOU CHECKED THE GEARBOX NUMBERS MATCH -YOUR EXISTING ONE AND THE BREAKER SUPPLIED ONE? If all goes well it may well be worth hunting around for a gearbox rebuilder for the old unit to sell as a rebuilt unit.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian B Walker
Remove exhaust system complete.
Remove prop shaft
Remove starter motor


Seems a bit rash...

Exhaust removal, gives you room to get the box out. Trust me. 20 mins taken to remove the exhaust will save you about an hour and a half messing time trying to work over and round it.

Ditto the prop shaft. Has to be undone to remove the box, it will hang on the centre bearing if just uncoupled from the box end and possibly damage it. Take it off. 30 mins work max.

Starter motor, its going to fall out anyway so why take the chance of damaging it when you take out the box?

 

[Ian Scade]

Lifespan of 722608 01 transmission?

I have recently bought a 99 W210 one owner estate in mint condition - full MB history lots of new parts, obviously no expense spared. YOu can imagine my surprise to find that a second hand auto transmission has been fitted (there was aleak from the brake cable connection at the back which caused us to investigate). The original transmission was no 722608 01 250291, however the serial no of the one in the car is 722608 01 475 197.

I am mystified as to why a car with this mileage and TLC should need a replacement transmission.

Any suggestions and/or how much younger is the replacement?

 

[nick mercedes]

I am mystified as to why a car with this mileage and TLC should need a replacement transmission.

Because the 722.6 boxes are not the most durable of transmissions....

 

[Dieselman]

I am mystified as to why a car with this mileage and TLC should need a replacement transmission.

What mileage.?
That box only fits the E300TD which was only produced until '99 so it can't be that much newer than the one in your car originally.

 

[Adam230K]

Ok so far so good, first day passed and we've managed to get down the exhaust and the propshaft so far. no snapped nuts nothing unusual, all seems to be going quite well, pics up soon. The bitch about not having a ramp is that we had to jack up the car from the rear to spin the wheel so that we could spin round the propshaft... to untighten the bolts 1 by 1

It took a long time because we had to push his s13 out of the garage onto the stones outside it, and then reverse my car into it, also we had to put his bootlid and sunroof back on tight incase it rained on all his wires lol.

Its a pain but i'm having fun... really eager to continue 2moro.

Thing is, we only have from 6:00 til about 9-10 to do the work. so it might take another day or 2, but i'm loving it! lots of fun!

 

[nick mercedes]

Ok so far so good, first day passed and we've managed to get down the exhaust and the propshaft so far. no snapped nuts nothing unusual, all seems to be going quite well, pics up soon. The bitch about not having a ramp is that we had to jack up the car from the rear to spin the wheel so that we could spin round the propshaft... to untighten the bolts 1 by 1

Its a pain but i'm having fun... really eager to continue 2moro.

Thing is, we only have from 6:00 til about 9-10 to do the work. so it might take another day or 2, but i'm loving it! lots of fun!

You wasted your time dropping the exhaust and the prop, in the time that took you could have got the box off...

 

[Adam230K]

Nope. We tried that already and it couldn't be done, the exhaust was right in the way, and also the propshaft needs to come off to some degree to slot it out of the gearbox...

 

[Ian B Walker]

Nope. We tried that already and it couldn't be done, the exhaust was right in the way, and also the propshaft needs to come off to some degree to slot it out of the gearbox...

Thank you