need lube for 3.5 cabriolet

[Jim Rosenthal]

Does anyone here know where and how to get the proper rear axle fluid for my 1971 3.5 cabriolet? It has the limited-slip rear axle, so there is supposed to be a special fluid for it that has friction modifiers in it>

I found that Bud's in GA has one old bottle of it on the shelf, which they aren't anxious to part with, but they did give me the PN: 000 583 0904

This has evidently been superseded by: 000 989 8203

If anyone knows where to get this, OR knows of a reasonable facsimile, as they used to say, perhaps they could enlighten me. I need to top off the axle lubricant as during the winter the seals contracted and some leaked out.

And, as always, thanks for the entertainment and expertise on this, the best of all Benz forums.

 

[Klink]

Does anyone here know where and how to get the proper rear axle fluid for my 1971 3.5 cabriolet? It has the limited-slip rear axle, so there is supposed to be a special fluid for it that has friction modifiers in it>

I found that Bud's in GA has one old bottle of it on the shelf, which they aren't anxious to part with, but they did give me the PN: 000 583 0904

This has evidently been superseded by: 000 989 8203

If anyone knows where to get this, OR knows of a reasonable facsimile, as they used to say, perhaps they could enlighten me. I need to top off the axle lubricant as during the winter the seals contracted and some leaked out.

And, as always, thanks for the entertainment and expertise on this, the best of all Benz forums.

I'll get the current part number for you shortly...

 

[alabbasi]

Is it an LSD? If not, should 90w not work just fine?

 

[Klink]

Does anyone here know where and how to get the proper rear axle fluid for my 1971 3.5 cabriolet? It has the limited-slip rear axle, so there is supposed to be a special fluid for it that has friction modifiers in it>

I found that Bud's in GA has one old bottle of it on the shelf, which they aren't anxious to part with, but they did give me the PN: 000 583 0904

This has evidently been superseded by: 000 989 8203

If anyone knows where to get this, OR knows of a reasonable facsimile, as they used to say, perhaps they could enlighten me. I need to top off the axle lubricant as during the winter the seals contracted and some leaked out.

And, as always, thanks for the entertainment and expertise on this, the best of all Benz forums.

Sweet, Doc! Your 3.5 has the rare LSD option. The old number 000 583 09 04 was a straight 90 weight gear oil with a limited slip additive package. Many years ago that was superseded to the 000 989 82 03, which was a 85W/90 multigrade with limited slip additives. It was intended to be used in all the passenger car rear differentials, hence it carried the designation "universal" hypoid gear oil. Recently, that universal gear oil has been substituted to a synthetic 75-85 weight "universal" gear oil that carries the part number 001 989 33 03. It is available in 1L containers by the part number
001 989 33 03 12.

For what it's worth, they show 1000 liters of the 000 583 09 04 in stock in Germany. A nice round number of 1000 like that should be considered seriously suspect as incorrect, however you could order some of it from your local dealer and see what happens. It could actually be real, but I doubt it.

If you are seriously phobic about topping up with the synthetic (I wouldn't be, but some people are), and you find your dealer cannot obtain the ancient original number, hit me with a PM.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Thanks, Klink! Much appreciated and obliged!

My 3.5 also has the town and country two-tone horns, which evidently were a rare option as well. it is silver/black/black, which is not rare at all- probably the most common colors for these cars.

I am not phobic about using synthetic. I'll see if the dealer can get it. I agree a number like 1000l is unlikely to be true, but you never know.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Thanks again. I have three liters of it on the way. It is also made by RedLine and LubriMoly, or LiquiMoly. This means I can maybe drive this car this weekend.

 

[SG-Motorsports]

Sounds like an awesome car! Those 3.5 Cabrios are getting crazy expensive! I've never worked on one with a LSD, I always assumed that was only in the 6.3. Very cool.....must be super rare.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I think they made about 1200 of them, of which 900 are LHD, something like that. I had no idea it had the LSD until we put it on a lift for something and I noticed it had the metal tag on the differential housing.

They ARE getting expensive. Two just sold for nearly 400K at the Monterey auctions. I suspect the generally bull market in vintage cars and the price of 300SLs is dragging all of them up.

Now- does anyone know which metric hex driver removes the differential fluid level check plug? None of the ones I have are large enough, which means an entire new set, unless I can find out which single one I need. It looks like it might be 18mm, but I am not certain. If I have to get another set, fine, tools are cheap compared to damaged Benz plugs.

This is the best Benz forum I have ever seen. Nothing compares. And ironically it is about a single model. But it's the best of all of them.

My 1969 280SL is getting the Getrag transmission transplant, which I will post a thread on, when it is done and driving.

 

[Klink]

I think they made about 1200 of them, of which 900 are LHD, something like that. I had no idea it had the LSD until we put it on a lift for something and I noticed it had the metal tag on the differential housing.

They ARE getting expensive. Two just sold for nearly 400K at the Monterey auctions. I suspect the generally bull market in vintage cars and the price of 300SLs is dragging all of them up.

Now- does anyone know which metric hex driver removes the differential fluid level check plug? None of the ones I have are large enough, which means an entire new set, unless I can find out which single one I need. It looks like it might be 18mm, but I am not certain. If I have to get another set, fine, tools are cheap compared to damaged Benz plugs.

This is the best Benz forum I have ever seen. Nothing compares. And ironically it is about a single model. But it's the best of all of them.

My 1969 280SL is getting the Getrag transmission transplant, which I will post a thread on, when it is done and driving.

I don't think I have ever seen a differential oil plug that was not 14mm. While we're on the subject, I realize that you probably already know this, but I wanted to mention it just in case: Do note that your rear axle/suspension has to be at ride height, or it will wind up severely overfilled. This job is best done on a drive-on style rack, such as an alignment rack, or over an oil change pit.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Yes, but thank you for mentioning it. I don't have a drive-on lift, but I will be very careful about checking the level and not overfilling it. I ordered a set of large metric Allen sockets on Amazon, it's a lot easier than driving to every store in Annapolis.

 

[Klink]

Yes, but thank you for mentioning it. I don't have a drive-on lift, but I will be very careful about checking the level and not overfilling it. I ordered a set of large metric Allen sockets on Amazon, it's a lot easier than driving to every store in Annapolis.

If you are friendly with any tire store, gas station, Jiffy Lube with a pit, or anything likewise that happens to be nearby, you could drive it straight there, and simply pull the fill plug and allow any excess to drain out. That's how I DIY'd those back in the day before I was doing this for a living at an actual service facility. It is almost impossible not to have them overfilled without the axle tubes being in their "as driven" condition.

 

[SG-Motorsports]

I don't think I have ever seen a differential oil plug that was not 17mm.

Klink, I think you mean a 14mm allen. I've never seen a diff drain plug other than a 14mm. I just did a diff split-boot repair on a 1964 220SE cabriolet last week and it had 14mm plugs too. Here's a shameless plug for one of my wrenches that is similar to the MB factory wrench:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Oi...f-300E-190E-E320-C280-300D-/351033737250?rd=1

 

[Klink]

Klink, I think you mean a 14mm allen. I've never seen a diff drain plug other than a 14mm. I just did a diff split-boot repair on a 1964 220SE cabriolet last week and it had 14mm plugs too. Here's a shameless plug for one of my wrenches that is similar to the MB factory wrench:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Oi...f-300E-190E-E320-C280-300D-/351033737250?rd=1

.



I know. I was visualizing the wrench with the 14mm hex and imprint on it when I wrote that. Why I said "17", I have no idea. I'll blame the voice recognition on my phone... I corrected my post above. Thanks, Steve!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Could I jack the car up and put the jackstands under the axle tubes? Is that safe? Are they sturdy enough?

 

[Klink]

Could I jack the car up and put the jackstands under the axle tubes? Is that safe? Are they sturdy enough?

Unfortunately, that does not work well either. The jackstands will be too far in relative to the wheels, hence the axle tubes will not be "levered" into the ride level position. That's better than leaving them hanging, but you are still very likely to end up overfilled, as there will still be too much oil residing in the tubes. Note that even if this "lever" effect on the rear axle was not an issue, you would still have to jackstand the vehicle front and rear at an angle that very nearly approximated the front to rear angle that it has in a ready to drive / has been driven / fully settled state, least you have the oil fill port angled upwards or downwards relative to its "ready to drive" position. Even setting each of the four wheels on height matched wheel stands is inadequate, unless those wheel stands have slide plates that mitigate the tire friction, thereby allowing the suspension to fully settle.

I have long had the opinion that so many of these swing axles are mad more leak prone due to overfilling. Invariably, though they are oil soaked, indicating that oil has left them, checking them on a proper drive-on rack will reveal them to still be overfilled...

 

[SG-Motorsports]

Jim, Here's a good 'at home' solution for correcting the oil level in your diff. With the rear of the car jacked up, fill the diff with fluid. If it was completely empty it should take less than 3 pints (closer to 2). Then leave the fill plug out, place some rags/old t-shirts/kitty litter under the vehicle for about 6 feet. Then drop the vehicle off the jack, roll it backwards about 6 feet, then back forward over your stuff to catch the excess fluid (this will settle the suspension), then let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then simply jack it back up and tighten the fill plug and clean up the mess. Voila!

 

[Klink]

Jim, Here's a good 'at home' solution for correcting the oil level in your diff. With the rear of the car jacked up, fill the diff with fluid. If it was completely empty it should take less than 3 pints (closer to 2). Then leave the fill plug out, place some rags/old t-shirts/kitty litter under the vehicle for about 6 feet. Then drop the vehicle off the jack, roll it backwards about 6 feet, then back forward over your stuff to catch the excess fluid (this will settle the suspension), then let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then simply jack it back up and tighten the fill plug and clean up the mess. Voila!

That is fantastic, Steve. Sometimes the obvious is the hardest thing to see, and I feel like a complete dumbass for not having thought of it ...


Doc R, you may not want to do this if you have an attached garage, and/or an open pore floor. The tiniest bit of that gear oil soaked into your garage floor will emit and odor that will permeate your house 'till the cows come home, stay long enough to remember why they left in the first place, and then leave again...

 

[500AMM]

A solution I made once to work with the SLS in an "on wheel position", works perfect. Track width is approx. + 80mm since the supports are fixed on the hub face.


-a-