I think you will be happy with the LUK clutch you purchased. I was happy with my OE clutch til I started to put too much power through it and was slipping and the release bearing was making noise. Just to mention a couple of things. I would put the new fly wheel on even if the old looks good. It could have some imperfections since the clutch was slipping. I would not want that new disc on an old surface since you are going through all that trouble to replace. Also, the manual says to use ATF+4 oil in the trans, but after doing research, Mercedes recommends Mobil 50w synthetic. After noticing that, I ordered the Mobil oil so that it could have the right oil in there. Also the part number to the rear main is 710473, it is a timken part number and is about 20 dollars. In my case, that was the only seal leaking but since I am already there, I am replacing all seals in the trans and transfer case since the parts are already off, even though the others are not leaking. I am also replacing the boot on the bottom of shifter which was ripped to an upgraded one with dorman part number 614-001. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the info. That part number is just what I needed. Rock Auto lists a Timken ($13.51) and a National ($16.78) under the same part number. The Timken just says that the material is rubber, while the National says that the material is PTFE. Both are sure to be good, but leaning towards the National. Will order a seal in a few hours.

My book does not call for ATF4. I am using Penzoil Syncromesh oil in the tranni and ATF4 in the transfer case.

Why is your transfer case off? I see no reason to remove it just to change the clutch.

 

From speaking to most local shops, Timken bought out National. They should be very similar. I have always had the best of luck with Timken, so that is what I am replacing all with. I removed the transfercase because it was going to be alot easier to remove the transmission. You are taking about 150 lbs off of the transmission. It also made it easier to remove the trans by itself. Make sure to use lock tight on the bolts. On my DMF, 5 of the 8 bolts were about 1/8 in out and made a nice groove on my bellhousing.

 

Thanks again for all your help. Tried to order the Timken seal, but no stock. Maybe new stock next week. The National was available for immediate shipment, so that is now on it's way to me. As it needs to be here yesterday, the shipment costs more than the seal itself. Oh well, dems de breaks!

May have been able to get the seal from some of the Cummins dealers around here, but by the time I spend my time and the fuel running around the various shops, the cost for the shipment will probably work out the same.

 

No problem. Seeing as I am going through this right now, I have fresh knowledge about the task. I had to borrow a truck to drive around in. I have more time than money at this point so I didnt expedite the shipping. I hope to have everything by Sat so I could install and start driving again. Good luck! Tell us what you think after driving it?

 

I'm interested in how your clutch comes out too,Ruben.

 

Update;

New clutch has been installed and I noticed the difference the first time that I pushed the clutch pedal in. It was amazingly easy to push. The second difference was when I started to let the pedal up and the clutch started to engage almost immediately. Have not driven the truck much yet, but so far everything seems to be fine.

The mechanic seemed to have a problem with the hydraulics and told me that it needed topping up. Strange! He assured me that he did not break the line, but I am not convinced that he did not. The first bit of pedal movement seems a bit mushy to me, possible indicative of air in the line, however as it is working OK, am going to keep driving it. This is the second master and slave cylinder assembly on my truck. The first once suddenly died years ago on a trip while I was towing my RV. Wonder if I should order a new assembly and keep it on the shelf?

One thing that puzzled me is that the old disc was only worn at a max, 60%. It should not have been slipping with that amount of meat left. Now I am wondering if the hydraulics were causing the clutch to ride and that is what caused the sudden slipping. There is no oil on the flywheel, pressure plate or clutch. Everything looked good except for the pilot bearing which was dry and black. There was no noise from my old clutch, pedal in or out, but I could see that very soon the pilot bearing would start making itself obvious.

I was extremely nervous about letting anybody work on my truck, but to my pleasant surprise, so far everything is fine and they did not cause secondary problems like so many shops have done in the past. The service manager came with me for a test drive and told me that nobody in the shop had ever seen such an "old" truck is as good a condition as this. They were very impressed.

 

They have 5 star dealers in Mexico or are you up here?

 

There are 5 star dealers in Mexico. However, I will not trust my truck with them.

 

Ditto here really!

 

When I pulled mine off, I too was puzzled with how much material was left on the disc. I did have a problem with the slave cylinder, before doing the clutch. After speaking to a trans shop in town, he told me that because the clutch was not disengageing properly because of the weak slave cylinder, the clutch would get hot and slip. I did notice that after putting in a new slave cylinder, the clutch would not slip.

 

I suspect that I had the opposite problem. My clutch was disengaging properly and would only start catching when the pedal was 3/4 out. With the new clutch I now suspect that it is NOT disengaging properly because reverse is often very hard to go in. It was never like this with the original clutch. Think more and more that I need to order a master cylinder and slave assembly and keep it on the shelf. I checked and see that there is more then one manufacturer, so now need to decide which one is best, although in reality, they are probably all similar.

 

So your clutch is still acting up? You did mention some freeplay? Before doing my slave cylinder, a couple of shops asked the same question before anything else. Does your pedal have some freeplay. I told them no. They said if it did, that meant more than likely I had some air in the system. Now these are prebled systems and dont have a valve to purge the air out. A couple of the same suggestions from the shops were given to me and worked for me when I put the new slave cylinder on was that to compress the shaft on the cylinder fully and fill with brake fluid. Connect to the line coming from master cylinder. Install slave cylinder on side of transmission and press the pedal about 50 times. I did it til my leg got tired. (I lost count at about 23) Fill back up with fluid and you are done. Make sure you put your thumb over the line so that you dont get air trapped in there. You will make a mess so make sure you have something to catch all the lost fluid. The other option I was given was to by a complete new system. I am on a budget so I choose the first option.

I also noticed on mine with this new clutch, that the lower gears are hard to go in at first start up, but once you start driving it, they get easier to engage. I noticed today that they were getting even more easy. I spoke to a shop in Phoenix (Big shout out to him, He has helped me a lot even thought I am more than 500 miles away. I would like to mention the shops name, but I dont know if thats allowed here). He told me that because I went to a different weight oil, and not the recommended ATF+4, that would change the way the gears engaged. I will continue to drive with the Mobil 50w until I get tired of the shifting.

 

You'll find the Mobil 50 especially in the morning to be too stiff. I don't see how Mercedes can recommend a straight weight 50 especially in cold climates. I'm sure Texas can get pretty cool in the winter mornings.
Carl48 on this site and others runs a fleet of G-56's on Delvac50 and 3qts of Royal Purple/Amsoil 5-30 Synchromesh. I just drained my similar combo fluid and it was like new @ 25K.
I wanted to try some 75-90 Amsoil MTG which many guys are having success with. I much prefer this to the Delvac/synchromesh combo. You still get the low speed gear rollover putting through the neighborhood but it's reduced some and shifting is slicker.

 

It does get cold out here in the winter. I will see how it shifts once it gets colder. I hope by then to have it broke down some to help with that. Thanks for the recommendation. I will try that the next oil interval. I dont think I am damaging the transmission any with that harder shift? Its not grinding or anything like that. I see it more as driver comfort.