I had one do that to me; until the brakes totally failed, I had no
idea what was going on. The master cylinder did not lose fluid that I
could tell, and the mechanic that did the safety inspection did not
catch it.
When I pulled off the master cylinder, brake fluid ran out of the
booster. it must have had fluid up to the middle of it's mounting
hole...
About 10k miles later the vacuum pump failed (the PO indicated that it
was the second pump that he put on it). When I put a new pump on it,
many vacuum issues sorted themselves out; the old pump bad been weak
for some time.
Speaking of which, I have the old pump still, I would expect that with
new valves (including the one in the fitting) and maybe resealing the
piston, that it would be servicable. I'll check it out, and if the
arm and bearing look ok then I might rebuild it...
Pull the master cylinder. Look in the brake booster. It can and will
fill with brake fluid which can be sucked through the vacuum pump,
where it has a jolly good time softening the seals and check valves
during its brief stop on the way to mingle with your engine oil...
--
John W Reames
jwrea...@comcast.net
Home: +14106646986
Mobile: +14437915905
On May 28, 2010, at 12:44, Zoltan Finks <mmmmmsuchpo...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Okay, I must admit I have been humbled on both the mechanical and
driving
fronts. (though I never claimed to know much about fixing cars)
I should have thought to play around with rpms and speed as I was
fighting
to shift the thing. Especially since I when I used to have my
motorcycle,
every once in a while I would have an effortless, silent shift. Back
then, I
surmised that I must be going just the right speed when I shifted,
and had
the right engine speed, and probably was on just the right amount of
incline
or decline or flat. I will now not consider myself a good manual
shifter
until I master this clutchless shifting you all speak of. Actually,
I never
did ever hit one of those awesome "speed shifts" that my brother
used to
pull off in his 340 Duster, so I pretty much knew I was not a stud.
My hot
rod had an auto. All us auto guys always had stick envy.
As for the undriveable 240: To date I had had no problems with
shifting
system, so I found myself yesterday searching under the hood for a
clutch
cylinder. The owner's manual didn't provide much help.
So there is a cylinder above the clutch pedal, and one at the
transmission?
Ok. I'll check for leaks.
I do know that there has always been seeping below the brake master
cylinder, but the fluid level does not go down noticeably.
I can also say that the hose leading from the brake master cylinder
and into
the firewall is braided (not steel braided) and has a hose clamp. I
wondered
if the hose clamp setup was not stock.
These are just observations from yesterday on the fly.
Brian
On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 6:53 PM, OK Don <okd...@gmail.com> wrote:
You can shift it when the clutch is acting up - just pretend that
you don't
have a clutch at all. You need to rev the engine to match the speed
it
needs
for the gear you're down shifting into. Or rev it too much while in
neutral,
then the gear will slip in when the speeds match with a little
pressure on
the shifter.
I think all manual tranny drivers shoulod learn how to drive
without a
clutch -- as I did the first time the clutch cable broke in my VW!
On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 8:26 PM, David Bruckmann <
bruckma...@transcontinental.ca> wrote:
Probably leaking clutch master or (more likely) slave cylinder.
The clutch is fed from the rear half of the brake fluid reservoir.
It is
filled, however, by overflowing from the front half. The clever
designers
also put the take-off point for the clutch master cyl halfway up the
reservoir (in case all you automatic-types were wondering what that
dead-end
take-off is halfway up your brake res) so that it is less likely
to cause
lack of fluid at the rear brakes.
If topping up solves it, you have a leak.
Fortunately it's not a very difficult job, or at least it wasn't
on my
W115, which has the same transmission IIRC.
D.
At 1:05 AM +0000 5/28/10, mercedes-requ...@okiebenz.com wrote:
Message: 15
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 18:05:00 -0700
From: Zoltan Finks <mmmmmsuchpo...@gmail.com>
To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Subject: [MBZ] 83 240D Manual shifting problems almost leaves me
stranded
Message-ID:
<aanlktinf0v1d8crnkl-hzri69aope7x5rdijvwbte...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hello old list friends,
A problem to ask about today:
83 240D manual shift. Started having problems downshifting.
Didn't want
to
go into 2nd after being in 3rd. Didn't want to go into 1st after
being
in
2nd.
Basically began to feel like I was trying to shift without the
clutch.
As
much as it pained me to horse on my beloved automobile, I was
forced to
either pull over and get a tow or force the thing into the gears.
Dawned on me that the clutch was basically engaging later, or less
effectively in the pedal stroke, if that makes sense.
I added some brake fluid to the reservoir and it temporarily
solved the
problem. It was not that low at all, but the added fluid made
problem go
away.
But later, problem reappeared, even though the fluid is still
topped
off.
My guess is that the tranny is this sensitive to being slightly
low on
clutch fluid because the clutch disk needs replacing?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Brian
--
OK Don
Panic! (the national past time).
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_______________________________________
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To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
_______________________________________
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For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com
To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
