Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: n/a on February 06, 2007, 11:07:16
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Got a couple of issues for the esteemed group here...
Had these issues since I got the car from my dad, and this is the first time I've had a chance to really look into 'em...
1) The car shifts just fine into 1st, 3rd, and 4th, but when shifting into 2nd it grinds about 75% of the time. Regardless of whether I double-clutch, am upshifting, downshifting, match revs, take it slow, bang it in, it will grind going into gear. Every other gear works just fine... Any suggestions, ideas?
2) The speedo in the car works only intermittently at best... It will bounce kind of aimlessly in any gear except 4th. 4th gear it appears to work just fine, and the rest of the gears it works if you get off the gas and are decelerating with the trans in gear.
Please help?!
(Political comments edited by moderator)
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Both problems are probably related to the nut on the transmission output shaft being loose. Tightening the nut is not a trivial job, but many have done it. The speedo drive gear is clamped by the pressure of the nut, if the nut is loose the speedo drive gear can spin free on the shaft and you get erratic readings. The same nut also holds first and second gear in place, and a loose nut allows excessive end-play which (if you're lucky) is the only cause of the grinding. Tightening the nut may solve both problems.
If you're not so lucky, the excessive end-play may have allowed a flat key inside the transmission to disengage from a slot it fits in, in which case the trans must be disassembled to fix. It's also possible the second gear synchro ring is shot.
The nut is a slotted nut, requires a special socket, which many members have made themselves. The driveshaft must be disconnected and flex disk removed, along with the transmission support plate and rear motor mount to get to the nut. Things to replace while doing this job are:
rear transmission seal
flex disk and all nuts/bots (they come in the kit)
shifter bushings
rear motor mount if necessary.
This is sort of double the work, but you could disassemble everything, tighten the nut (I use loctite on it), and reassemble TEMPORARILY with the old flex disk and then test drive it a day or two to see if that fixed it. Then go back in there and replace the old flex disk with the new one. This reflects a strong bias on my part to never reuse the flex disk nuts and bolts, because if they come loose you have a good chance of chewing up the driveshaft and/or trans output flange, which gets very expensive.
Do some searches on words like 'transmission' 'output' 'slotted' 'nut' and similar, you'll find lots of info on this.
Good luck!
George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual
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I had the similar symptoms when I first started driving my 66 230 stick shift.
To tighten the flange nut on the output shaft I made a spanner wrench out of a 1/2" drive 1-1/8" socket.
(http://www.sl113.org/forums/uploaded/al_lieffring/20061012174549_spanner.jpg)
I have reused flex disc bolts on many cars without replacing the rubber disc kit. And usualy don't replace the disc unless there are signs of wear or cracking.
Be sure to get it assembled tight, with all the bolts and washers in the proper positions.
Al
66 230sl
113-042-10-014715
904/396 blue, Ivory Tex
condition: not-as-rusty-as-before-bucket
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Hello Tom,
Yes these guys have it pegged exactly, they are really getting good at diagnosis! Acceleration and de-acceleration causes the speedometer needle to bounce off the bottom peg.
A sheetmetal lock plate is supposed to keep the special nut from comming loose in the transmission. Be sure to order this it is inexpensive and important.
Worn out sychronizers is rarely a problem in these transmissions.
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
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Okay, so you guys have been AWESOME about diagnosing this; now the question comes, where do I get all the parts I need in order to do this?
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quote:
Originally posted by fjr_wertheimber
where do I get all the parts I need in order to do this?
Start making phone calls:
http://www.sl113.org/data/show_table.asp?table_name=usr_parts_and_service_suppliers
Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both tops
1994 E420