Send again On 2/5/07, Harry Watkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Thanks to Peter and others, the job was made easy. While its fresh on my mind, I'll share the steps I took. Keep in mind that this is an 85 300TD and I've no experience with other models. I have the paper manual and read the procedure before hand, however, more than one model was covered and I got a little confused. Peter's answers were not confusing and all went smoothly after his input. 1. Remove the exhaust system from the transmission to the bumper. Two bolts with nuts, ½" socket and ½" box end. Four rubber donuts, all near the bumper, I left one donut attached to hold up that end while I removed the flange connection. I used a screwdriver and a wiggle to separate the pipe. Lowered it to the floor and pushed it clear. The manual spoke of an exhaust baffle that mine did not have. I pre Kroil everything I work on but there is very little rust under this car and it probably was not needed. 2. I supported the transmission with a large piece of wood and a small floor jack, then removed the transmission rear support plate and mount. Four bolts going straight up, 11/16' socket. One nut above the rubber mount, ¾", I used a flex gear wrench. 3. Disconnect the front flex disk. I removed the three bolts (5/8" socket) and nuts (11/16' box end) that left the disk attached to the transmission. I had to rotate the drive shaft once to gain access to the third bolt. The rear wheels were on ramps with a large floor jack left under the differential. I raised the rear just enough to turn the wheels. I ended up doing this again with the rear disk, so next time I'll remove bolts front and rear, then rotate the shaft only one time to gain access. I then used a tire tool to force the shaft to the rear and clear of the transmission. 4. Remove the center bearing support bolts (two). ½" short socket with a 6" wobble extension. Both are straight up, but one side needs a little wobble to get a good fit. 5. Disconnect the parking brake equalizer mechanism. I removed the spring by inserting the tire tool in the coil as a handle and gained enough slack to remove it and the V wire anchor. Needle nose pliers were used to remove a tiny cotter key from a small pin that released the cable coming from the cab. Now there was enough slack to remove the lever and one of the brake shoe cables to let everything swing clear. 6. There is a welded plate across the shaft tunnel that keeps the shaft supported up front until you are ready to slide it out to the rear. At this point, I used bailing wire to secure the two shaft ends together so there was no chance of separation until I had it out and marked for exact rematch. 7. Remove the rear disk. Same as the front, I left the disk on the differential. I forced it forward with the tire tool, dropped it down and slid it to the rear and out. I should have left it on the shaft for easier replacement on the bench. (oh well) Hopefully there are folks that will chime in to make this easier. Harry