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ammonman and Bertrand, I think I did. I told Roger what I had and what I wanted, he sent me a modulator based upon that.
I have seen that, and other charts for modulators for Mercedes 722.3 transmissions. However, I have also seen things on some Mercedes forums that implies most any modulator can be set for most any pressure. For example, check out the .315 and .317 transmissions in that chart. One takes a red modulator, the other takes a green. Modulator pressure is only 4PSI different.
Thanks for the ideas, guys! I very much appreciate it.
With the pan off, I now elected to replace the sealing O-ring on the bowden cable. Mine did not leak, yet. So, I saw this as a preventative measure.
I spent some not-so-quality time with Simple Green and a tooth brush, following up with brake cleaner on a rag to clean the cable housing and transmission case area.
WSM states to loosen lock tab and give the housing a quarter turn, then pull up. Um...yeah.
I saw posts mentioning removing the ball socket from the linkage end of the cable in the engine bay. I did so, and gained enough clearance to remove the link from the cable. I replaced the O-ring and lubricated it with fresh ATF. And then tried to install it.
No. Flat no. Nothing I did would get the link to engage the cable end. In desperation, I completely disassembled the linkage end of the cable and pulled as much slack as physically possible. That worked. I was able to engage the link with the cable, then install the housing back in the transmission. It helped having the pan off, being able to manipulate the link/lever with my finger to push it up to line up with the cable end.
Others have mentioned not being able to see what they were doing on this job due to tight confines. I was able to pretty much see what I was doing without too much difficulty.
Once the cable was reinstalled, I installed a new tiny return spring for the cable link lever. Mine was fine, but I have seen several posts where they have been broken. I reassembled the ball socket and bellows on the linkage end of the cable. I adjusted it so that the socket dropped cleanly on the ball, then added 1 full turn tight for good measure. I expect to have to adjust this some more after road testing.
Last act for this Greek tragedy was to change the differential oil.
During the PPI, the shop warned me that the differential might be leaking.
Sure enough, it was a little low, IE I could not get any gear oil on a finger through the filler plug hole.
On that note, I did have the forethought to break loose the filler plug BEFORE I broke loose and removed the drain plug.
Both plugs looked like *** on the outside and just fine on the inside. There was a slight amount of metallic fuzz on the magnetic drain plug. The oil that drained out looked quite good and clean, and was only slightly skunky.
I refilled the differential housing with Mobil 1 synthetic 75W-90 LS gear oil. WSM calls for 2.7 L for 1986. Meaning 3 quarts. Nope, had to get the bottle left over from the last fluid change on my Explorer. I believe I put in closer to 3.0 L of gear oil. Which is what the WSM calls out for 1987. Hmmm...
Unfortunately, my woes are just beginning. I am pretty sure the radial seal at the front of the differential housing is leaking. There is a pretty healthy layer of oil grime all over the junction of the differential and transmission. After running the driveline on the jackstands to measure and adjust modulator pressure, there was a gear oil sheen on the bottom of the transmission ID pad.
I have stocked up on aluminum crush rings for the differential plugs. I am going to keep a regular check on the differential oil level.
I understand that the transmission and differential must come out to effect this repair. I also understand that this is not going to happen any time soon. So, I will live with it and go from there.
07-10-2016, 08:47 PM
