I'm doing this exact same job on my c300 4matic and I was doubting if It could be done without two post shop jack but your video not only showed me how to do it but that it could be done at home on jack stands. Great detailed step by step video sir . Thank you very much.
Yes, I believe that the two cars will be the same job (I hope there is a couple more mm clearance on the front driveshaft on the C300 though). ;-) Good luck with the job... let us know how it goes, and if it's the same as the X204 GLK transfer case.
Thanks for the reply (missed it 'til now). Glad to hear you had a successful DIY, and that you saved a boatload of money (assuming, but it's almost certain). ;-)
Mark I love your videos. Thank you so much for this and your other GLK videos. I haven't needed to do this, but I will be using your motor mount video very soon!
Professional job , just a bit harder when laying on the creeper . I would recommend when mating the transfer case to the transmission to use guide studs ( threaded / notched short rod ) aiding the installation and seal integrity !
On mine, there were short alignment pegs ( though it's easy to accidentally push them too deep during the process of seating the races). IIRC, the pegs were on the front (middle) xfer case housing "slice". I suppose that longer rods through the bolt holes might help keep the alignment straighter, which can only be a good thing.
Thanks for the like and sub! Good luck on your job - it's not all that horrible. A couple updates - be careful with that output shaft seal - it's easy to damage (ask me how I know...). ;-) Next time I'm going to remove the front driveshaft to minimize the amount of stress on the area. Second, I have to pass along some warning about Maktrans - the output shaft gear cluster I bought from them developed some play in one plane (indicating a loose internal U-joint). Worse, they ignored my emails for two weeks, then told me that they don't offer warranty for anything that's been installed or that isn't brought to their facility (in Poland). Then (despite having seen the video of the play) helpfully suggested that it's all in my head.
Just be VERY careful when inserting the front drive gear cluster into the (hopefully new) seal. I've learned (the hard way) that the seal is very easy to bugger up. I think one of the difficulties is that the gear goes in at a little bit of an angle, and if you lead with a corner of the "nose" that goes into the seal, it can catch it and flex it out of shape. I just figured out that in my original rebuild, the spring that holds tension on that seal (inside the lip) actually came out and was riding on the gear cluster "nose", allowing tranny fluid to leak out. I replaced the seal, and managed to mess up the new spring as well. Testing it some more, I learned that the trick is to insert the gear cluster at an angle lining up with the front driveshaft, and to put a thin schmear of synthetic grease on the "nose". If you get it right, the gear slides easily into place. If not, take it out and check that seal, and try again until you DO get it right. Hope that helps...
@@lewisdavis8640 The MB part number is 000000-008248 (you might try searching on multiple iterations of that, by eliminating the dash or some zeros). The name for the part is "Hexalobular Bolt". mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/mercedes-benz-hexalobular-bolt-8248 www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info2/000000008248.htm?bc=c&SVSVSI=3766
Hi , what’s the symptoms for you to repair the transfer case ? Mine is having slight vibration when turning into my parking spot , other then that , all good when driving straight
The problem with mine was excessive play in the U-joint that's part of the front output shaft. Others rebuild their transfer case because the bearings that hold the front and rear helical gear clusters get worn and cause noise. I'm not sure that either of these scenarios sound like what's going on in your car. I'd look at your CV axles (primarily the front ones). And yes, I have a video on how to swap those! Also it could be a problem with your differential(s) though that is less common.
@@mativideo1053 the seal number is W7X700, and can be sourced from FCP Euro or other legit supplier. I'd recommend getting a couple of them... They're cheap and easy to damage
Just a perspective idea. To determine shim thickness what you could do is take each half of the case, clean the mounting faces and put a precision measuring bar across the mounting face. Measure the depth from the mounting face to the bottom of the bearing race bore. Then do the same for the other half. Add the 2 measurements and whatever the thickness is of the gasket you use, now you know what the total distance is between the ends of the outer races. (Note on gasket use: if you use silicone sealer your gasket thickness is essentially
Good stuff... Thanks. I'm not sure that most DIYers are going to be able to measure to the precision required, but on the surface your process sounds reasonable. I agree with your take on the choice of gasket material.
@@Mark_H_DIY Definitely outside of the wheelhouse of probably 99% of DIYers, but with consideration that MB had no intention for these to be rebuilt except for by the manufacturer this is probably what would have been expected had they made it a serviceable unit.
I know that MB (and apparently most independent shops) quote only a transmission swap when the transfer case is bad. On the plus side, that's how I picked my 2011 4Matic up for chump change. ;-)
I've put about 15,000miles on the repair, and it's still smooth as butter. It almost feels like cheating to get such a great car for the price I paid for it, including the transfer case repair and new motor mounts). A little work involved, but if I "paid myself" the difference between what the car cost and what it was worth fixed, it would come out to hundreds of dollars per hour! And fwiw, the main reason I DIY is because I'm much more motivated to get it done right than any pro mechanic will ever be. ;-)
The front output shaft seal part number is 0159971246 (MB part number). You can find it many places, but I recommend only very trusted vendors like FCP Euro or even a MB dealership (the seal isn't expensive).
Friend... what is the name of the store where you bought the Mercedes Benz transfer case... I live in the United States but I can't get it... I need you to help me please🙏🏻
I HAVE AN GLK 350 AND BE ABLE TO DO THE JOB THANK TO YOUR VIDEO ONLY I WILL ASK WHAT TYPE OF TRANSMISSION FLUID DID YOU USE? YOU DO AN AMAZING JOB MAKING EASY WHATS DIFFICULT THANKS FOR YOU ADVISE THANK"S AGAIN MARK H......!
@@ReneMartinez-nq7hr I don't remember the specific brand, but the bottles should be visible in the video. It was from FCP euro, so I'm sure it was the right fluid. Just make sure that the fluid matches your year. They changed from an old fluid to the new fluid in 2011. I believe I have information on my comments on the video, but if not look for my video on changing transmission fluid, and the comments will describe the fluid you need for your car.
I may have this same problem i just bought 09 c300 4matic its making a slight noise on the right upper side . It may be the same thing bearings . I wonder what type of sound were you getting and could you see were it was coming from when looking up udder the car as tge wheels spin ? How did you determine the bearing before opening it up .
@@222mytony my car's bearings were fine, and the car was not drivable because of the broken front driveshaft. The symptoms you feel sound like transfer case bearings, but check for a bad CV axle or wheel bearing. Both are a LOT less work and cost!
@@222mytony nope, sorry. The front drive the s direct, while the rear drive has planetary gears and friction plates, which aren't going to be good at power transfer, just good for adjusting to slightly different traction conditions. And I even tried that scenario just to see how it works (and to move the car around without a front prop shaft). Not great.
@@Mark_H_DIYthank you mark, much appreciated. I’m trying to locate the cause of a whirring/whining sound when accelerating - mechanic I spoke to briefly thought perhaps something to do with transmission pump or bearing so I thought I might be on track with your video here. Noob here needless to say
@@MikeSlott consider yourself lucky that you don't have to rebuild the transfer case. It's doable, but not really a job you want to have to do. Good luck with finding the source of the noise, particularly if it's coming from the front end of the car. Hopefully it's not the transmission.
Friend, I already changed the transfer case... now the problem is that not all speeds are included. I can only enter 1 and 2... because it could be... or is it some censor?😢😢😢😢😢
Sorry to hear that! Here's the thing - the transfer case lives on the back of the "transmission" itself, so nothing done in the transfer case itself should cause a change in the actual shifting performance of the transmission. The one exception would be that if somehow the bearings in the transfer case were SO tight that they were "eating" the engine's power - doubtful! My bet is that you didn't properly top off the transmission fluid (shown in my video). I suppose using the wrong fluid could cause a problem as well. But you really DO have to follow the kind of complicated steps shown in the video to get the fluid level right, and the car shifting properly. 1) Car level, 2) Engine running 3) Transmission fluid temperature 45°C, 4) Shift through the gears a few times slowly, then 5) Pump in enough fluid so that some runs out, and then 6) when the fluid slows to a dribble, replace the drain plug.
@@hassejansson8062 The information on the parts you need is in the video description. You can use the part numbers to look up Swedish parts suppliers, though the front output shaft gear cluster is only available through the supplier I listed. Good luck with your repair!
The vendor is Maktrans. FWIW, the one I bought is still going fine, even though I thought I had some play in the output shaft. I remain a little disappointed in the vendor for their lack of communications, but think that the product is fine.
I believe the transfer case in the W212 version of the E350 is similar. But that one didn't start until 2010, so your 2008 W211 should have more of a replaceable, removable transfer case that doesn't really look anything like the one in the GLK in my video
Okay thank you for your reply. Do you know any good resources on how to rebuild the w211 transfer case? My car makes a jerk/clunk noise when I come to a complete stop. I know it isn't shifting because it still makes the noise when I manually put the car in first and then come to a complete stop. It also makes clunk noises when the wheel is turned all the way at slow speeds, especially in reverse. I have been told it is either the transfer case or the motor mounts. I would love to get your opinion. Thanks@@Mark_H_DIY
@tonygunk6345 it's really hard to say for sure, without hearing it or being in the car, but another possibility is a bad CV joint up front. They make a lot of noise when turning. At any rate, it's going to be a lot easier to replace or rebuild that transfer case than the one in my GLK, because it is a separate unit.
Hello, I have a question, I hope you can help me, I already put the new transfer gear from poland , but it is normal that when I turn it feels harder than the previous one. I could turn the previous one more easily by hand and now I have to apply a little more strength it feels tighter.
I did a follow-up video that deals with the issue you are having. The problem is that sometimes the preload on the bearings is too high when you reassemble the transfer case, and this could cause premature bearing wear and failure. In the second video, I show you how to determine the proper preload, and how to adjust it. It might take longer, but the end result is that your new bearings should last a long, long time. th-cam.com/video/JNt68kNdFUU/w-d-xo.html
was there anything wrong with the output shaft? I noticed that you said it had play but said it was in your head. I don't want to order it from them if the part went bad. Don't want to deal with them if the warranty sucks on it.. Thanks let me know.
The output shaft seems to be fine. With it out of the transfer case, I can't feel any real play. I think that there is a little play in the splines that amplifies any play in the U-joint. My big problem with the vendor (Maktrans) was in their refusal to answer me or discuss the issue rationally, and in a total lack of any real warranty. The owner's attitude is "interesting", too... But they're probably the only game in town for the output shaft cluster. Somebody out there could step up and start rebuilding these things and make some money!
@@koobmoua3751 it's all good. I've put 7-8,000 miles on it so far. Smooth and quiet. Make sure and watch the second video to see how to set the bearing preload and avoid damaging the output shaft seal.
I have same issue with Glk 350 2014 and i don’t know if it the translation or the transfer case . Im not able to drive the car. Not moving at all i just hear loud noise but no move . Any help please
@@AbedalrahmanKoni I would have to suspect it's the transmission, not the transfer case if your car can't move at all. The transfer case will supply power to the front wheels even if it's got serious problems inside. I suppose it's possible that all of the teeth could be stripped from the helical gears inside the transfer case, but in that case you were going to have serious transmission issues as well.
@@Mark_H_DIY Thank you i removed the front drive shaft because it’s broken like the one on the video . Car only can drive flat surface For few yard and cant recline even for one yard
@@AbedalrahmanKoni Well THAT changes things! ;-) With the front drive shaft out, the planetary gear and clutch pack in the rear drive will barely propel the car. You need to try to move the front output shaft and see if it's loose or not. If it is, you'll need to replace the gear cluster and u-joint that makes up the front output shaft.
@@AbedalrahmanKoni That doesn't sound good... There isn't any loud noise with the front driveshaft out of the transmission is OK. You should see if the front output shaft has play. If so, you might fix the problem by rebuilding the transfer case.
The front drive shaft was snapped off when I bought the car, so it wasn't much of a mystery. Diagnosing the transfer case was just a matter of moving the rear of the drive shaft up and down, feeling the play in the internal u-joint in the output shaft gear cluster. There is a short video on my channel that shows this movement when I bought the car.
@@OsasIduriase Unfortunately that is what you are going to hear from nearly all mechanics and virtually all dealers. Most shops just don't want to work on the internals of any transmission, and they consider the GLK transfer case part of the transmission. The other issue is if you need a front output shaft gear cluster, they will have to order it from a special supplier in poland. Not all shops want to go to that kind of trouble for something so unusual. I have had people send links to my repair videos to their shop to find out if they are willing to do it or not.
@@Mark_H_DIY but now I have another problem I’m thinking it’s a fuel pump issue….my engine suddenly losse power while driving and I can’t accelerate then I park and turn of the car after which it starts after like 5 to 10 minutes…….i noticed that before it turns off it displays a triangle yellow light and it says run falt indicator inoperative
Hi Mark, I managed to strip some of the T45 bolts that hold the back of the transfer case, the harder ones. I got one of those out by hammering the socket into the bolt because the angle allowed me to. Now, I cannot do the same to the top one and a couple of those on the right side. Are drill bolt extractors an option, considering the angle and cramped space? What would you do in my case? Many thanks
The first thing I would do would be to reinstall most of the bolts you already took out. That will make it easier to get the difficult ones out. It's one of my rules of thumb that you always take the awkward, difficult bolts out first. I never had any real difficulty extracting any of those bolts, as they are only torqued to about 20 ft lbs. It sounds like it's possible that your T45 socket is in bad shape. I'd suggest getting a fresh, new one. That might help. Also, you may be able to string together a couple wobble extensions, allowing you to use a hammer to tap in the new torx socket from further back toward the rear of the car. Also, it is possible to move the back of the transmission to the left of the car a little, which will give you more wiggle room to get in there. The top few bolts are going to be more interesting if they are truly stripped. I'd try the string of wobble extensions and a hammer first. After that, it's more a matter of finding something that will fit in that space than anything else. An extractor might work, but I'm not sure about the angle of attack, and you would have to be very careful with this tray shavings that are creates. At some point, the only option would be to drop the transmission, and remove them with a pair of vice grips. Anyway, good luck with the rest of the repair, and I hope you get through this initial glitch. Let me know how it goes.
@@Mark_H_DIY Thank you for the reply. I just tried stringing the wobble extensions but realistically I don't imagine it's going to work, because if I somehow succeed tapping the socket into them, I am going to strip them further while trying to unscrew them. The problem is that those bolts have been reused, and have been torqued down not to spec. They are tight and gummed up. The only way I see getting them out is tapping on them and working them out at straight angle. I think dropping the tranny is my only option. Now I am working in the same environment as you, on the jack stands and a jack supporting the tranny. My question is: Can I get the tranny say 90% down while still on jack and supported by the underbody of the car. I can't get it fully out as I don't have the tranny jack/supports and it's going to roll. Do you think this is doable or am I looking at towing it to the shop to properly remove the tranny? Many thanks
Thing is, if a Torx socket is square in the bolt's hole, I can't imagine it stripping or slipping. Maybe the hole has been compromised by now, but here's what I'd try if it was my car. I'd use my battery impact driver with a couple 3/8" wobble extensions. I'd drive the socket into the bolt as far and as straight as I could get it, then put the impact on the "back of the stack". Then I'd put as much forward (pushing) pressure as I could on the back of the impact and pull the trigger (in remove mode, of course). The result is usually a cleaner, crisper torque applied to the stuck bolt, leaving less opportunity for the wobbles or socket to twist. My (Makita) impact is small, but rated (IIRC) for about 80 foot pounds of removal torque. That should be more than enough, as those bolts shouldn't be snugged up anywhere near that tight. I've seen the sealant make them a LITTLE harder to remove, but nothing that my little impact couldn't easily overcome. Could you drop the tranny without "serious tools"? Probably, though it can "get interesting". You'd need to use a pair of pretty tall jackstands up front to get clearance, and buy / borrow / steal a cheap tranny jack. I've used this method for my Jeep Cherokee (easy because it starts out higher than my GLK on jackstands) and a VW Jetta (FWD, so it was probably harder than the GLK would be). You do have to be careful not to drop the tranny off the jack (mine has a fabric strap that can be looped over the top), but it was more "fiddly" than "difficult". Once you have it out, I suspect you'd be easily able to remove those bolts with a hefty pair of vicegrips, or you could cut a slot in the bolt heads and remove them with a flat driver head in an impact wrench (or even one of those hammer-driven drivers). I've never had to drop the transmission in my GLK, so take the above with the prerequisite grain of salt and do some research on what's involved. The good news is, once you pull the tranny, rebuilding that transfer case would be easy peasy. ;-)
@@clarkmgb9389 Absolutely! You can get a little more downward tilt to the rear of the transmission that way. Don't go crazy with it, as you might put extra pressure on some hoses on the rear of the engine, or even those hard to change motor mounts. But I did basically the same thing when I was changing the motor mounts, and getting that crazy front driveshaft back in place. :-)
The transmission and transfer case share the same fluid, which is transmission fluid. Because the transfer case is higher than the transmission pan, you only lose about a quart / liter of fluid rebuilding the transfer case. Just follow the recommended procedure for filling the transmission back up to spec.
Hey Mark. Thanks for the videos, doing this repair on my GLK with 100K miles. Videos are great. MB wanted to charge me 6000K for repair of front differential. I could not afford it, so i decided research the issue myself and found this video. Have the shaft out and its completely snapped on the inside U joint, Rotates 360 degrees. Parts are ordered and on the way. I cant find the output shaft dust cover though Any ideas on the part number for this? I see it comes with the front drive shaft on amazon. I really don't want to buy a front drive shaft just to get the dust cover, the old drive shaft is pretty good no issues I can see.
My dust cover came with the driveshaft, but I did order a spare or two. I got it from FCP Euro or Pelican Parts, I don't recall which. I'm sure one or both should have that boot. And given the difficulty of getting a driveshaft in and out, I'd be really, really tempted to swap it out just so I can forget about it for another 100,000 mi or so. :-)
Thanks - Just received the new remanufactured output shaft, it came with new Bearings pre-pressed on. Honestly the bearings feel a little rough, gritty when you spin them. Was wondering if this is normal with new bearings? the old bearing feel really smooth when you spin them in comparison.
The front propshaft was sheared off at the differential. I only noticed the transfer case output shaft issue when I was inspecting the car (pre-buy). I could move the rear of the propshaft up and down 1-2mm, in one plane, which indicates that the U-joint inside the front output shaft "gear cluster" was bad, possibly due to stresses from the propshaft breaking - or maybe it just wore out.
Hi, Josh. Yeah, that part number IS elusive! The MB part number is 000000-008248 (you might try searching on multiple iterations of that, by eliminating the dash or some zeros). The name for the part is "Hexalobular Bolt". I'll try to post a link to the part on a MB "official website" in a second reply (don't want a filter to stop this reply though).
My solution was to put the transfer case all back together again, and then install the shaft. That is difficult, because the shaft is about 3mm too long. Theoretically, you could do it like I did in the first video, but I managed to mess that seal up pretty well, even though I thought it went together well at the time. The only other bright idea I had was to use two people, and insert the shaft carefully into the drive shaft, and use a large magnet to hold them together while you reassemble the transfer case. As long as nothing slips, that should work. But this is a truly untested theory. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY I installed the output shaft through the new seal,put it all together then installed the front shaft last,it still leaked. Am I doing something wrong? I greased the seal prior to inserting the output shaft through it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
@@mikedizzle5273 You really need to watch my second video on the process. I made that one when I fixed the seal I messed up the first time (just like you did) and also to get more scientific about the preload on the helical gear bearings. I know it's a lot of video, but there are some things that are really good to know. To cut to the chase, the placement of the output gears (front and rear) is shown in pretty good detail at around 39 minutes into this video: th-cam.com/video/JNt68kNdFUU/w-d-xo.html
I just did this job fot the second time. The first time i pinched the seal putting the output shaft in. The second time doing this job i removed the large gear to the left of the output shaft,then i was able to align the output shaft straight through the output shaft seal, also made sure to lubricate both the seal and the area were the seal touches. After that i carefully re installed the large gear to the left and put everything back together. So far so good,no leaks.
@@mikedizzle5273 Sounds like you nailed it! It really is a little fiddly getting it all done without messing up that very fragile seal. If it's not leaking almost immediately, I don't think there's any chance it will ever leak.
The front output shaft seal I used is a Corteco seal (OEM, I believe). 013-997-72-46. The rear output shaft seal is (again, Corteco) 0239978747 (pardon the different formats - you might want to search on either format).
Not really. It's a one use bolt that is designed to stretch a specific amount to set the preload on the friction plates on the rear output shaft. I really don't know the effect on the balance of the transfer case if you were to reuse it.
@@emilioeduardogonzalezhuchi5178 in the first video, I wanted to show that you didn't need a hydraulic press to do the job. In the second video, I thought it would be helpful to show how to use the press to do it.
This is a great video of WHAT NOT TO DO when it comes to rebuilding a 4Matic transfer case. I've seen several of these come through our shop with burned up bearings and it's clear they were worked on by amateurs like the person making this video. The bearing preload for the main shaft and front driveshaft bearings has to be adjusted with a rear housing gasket. You cannot rely on RTV compound to set that clearance. Further down in the comments, someone mentions difficulty with bearing preload or "resistance to turning". The above video completely ignores this issue. You need to select composite gasket material (available at most parts stores) and make a gasket for the rear housing cover to set the bearing clearance properly. A gasket thickness of about 20 thousandths generally works well. If the shafts don't rotate easily and freewheel, you're going to overheat the bearings and destroy them in a fairly short period of time. This is what separates "professionals" from "amateurs". This is not a job for amateurs and should never be tackled without removing the transmission from the vehicle.
I'm actually doing a second video that address exactly those issues. I would have done it already, but got called away on a multi-week road trip. I wasn't happy with the amount of resistance I got on the output shafts, but wasn't aware of a spec for the preload until recently. The perplexing thing to me is that the bearings are exactly the same as the factory used, yet the outcome is different. FWIW, my plan was to machine down the spacers under the mid case bearing races to get the right preload, using charts from Timken that I found on preload vs. rotational drag. It looks like there is a reasonably wide range of acceptable preload, in terms of longevity of the bearings, so it won't be rocket science. I never would have made the first video if someone had made a better one. :-)
Also, I'm not aware of anyone on the forums I inhabit whose transfer case had been worked on prior to the bearings going bad. All the ones I know of failed without home mechanic intervention. It's clear that Mercedes' processes don't take into account fine-tuning the preload on a per vehicle basis, or if they do, they miss one once in a while.
If your shop is anywhere near Nashville I'd love to have someone replace the bearings in mine. Having a really hard time finding any shop willing to do the work.
FWIW, I'd give the shop kudos for being willing to do this job. Most dealerships (including the one the original owner of my GLK went to for an estimate) quote only transmission replacement as an option. OTOH, that DID allow me to buy the (one owner, well-maintained) vehicle for chump change, as a $10K transmission swap made no sense on a vehicle worth about $10K after the repair. ;-)
It also occurred to me that even if bearings were replaced badly, it can only be because the originals failed. According to Timken (OEM bearing supplier) that the lifespan of these bearings is far in excess of what the vehicles will ever need as long as the preload is fairly close to "perfect" (I'll be including that graph in my future video on the subject). Anyway, my plan is to either do a "part 2" video to supplement my original, or to rework it so that it includes the information (from Timken) on setting up the bearing preload. I'm always more than willing to admit what I don't know, and hopefully fill in any "knowledge gaps" by listening to others who DO know.
Picked it up for $3,600. On one hand, it had new Continental tires (600 miles), new battery, and was a highly maintained one-owner car in pristine condition. OTOH, the previous owner was looking at a $10,000 fix, so we were both satisfied with the price
I'm doing this job and I'm running into what I think is a problem, maybe someone can help me. The first thing that is off is that the gear that goes into the front shaft doesn't stay in place, I put it in and falls out by itself. I can get passed that, but when I install the middle case it doesn't go in all the way by itself, I have to hammer it on a little and then it still doesn't really seal. To get it to close I have to put the bolts on and tighten them down so they get pulled together. It does end up closing, but what I'm concerned about is that the gears don't spin easily anymore (Spinning the gear that connects to the back shaft so that the front tires spin too), and that's only after 2 bolts in (gets worse with more bolts). When I take out the bolts the case still remains seated on there and the gears are able to spin again (tightening the bolts makes it so that the gears don't spin easily). Is that supposed to happen? What am I doing wrong? What are the bolts supposed to torque to, maybe I can try that? Another thing is that there is about a half inch gap between the case and the front shaft boot whenever I install. If you have any ideas as to how I'm messing it up, please do tell. I hope that maybe I'm just over tightening the bolts, but I don't think I am. Hopefully this wasn't too confusing of an explanation to my problem.
I don't know if you put new bearings on the helical gear clusters or not, but if they're not REALLY seated, you're going to run into the kind of problems you have now. The output shaft helical gear does want to fall out when you put it in place - just the way it is, AFAIK. You just have to carefully place it and try to slide the middle case on carefully, and adjust it if necessary (you can see me do that in the video by sticking a finger in between the tranny case and xfer case to poke the helical gear up a little). Be VERY careful about the torque on those case bolts - all the cases are aluminum, so it's really (!!!) easy to strip them out (and then you will have "interesting times"). Also, getting the middle case together is a bit fiddly. I used a dead blow mallet to "help it along" and that seems to have helped. I'd start out by making sure that the four bearings are fully seated on both the helical gear clusters, and that (assuming you changed them) the races are driven in fully as well. The "preload" on the gears shouldn't change when you tighten the case unless one of those situations I describe above is happening...
I have the torque values for the various components. Keep in mind that your car COULD be different, but this should give you a good idea of the values you should be shooting for (and don't even think about doing this job without the right torque wrenches - just too much to go wrong, IMHO). Here's a link to a video with JUST the values (again, for my car)... th-cam.com/video/EybLI7ouqGI/w-d-xo.html
One more thing that I just thought of... If you didn't buy the OEM (Timken) bearings, you could be (sadly) dealing with a slight variation in the thickness of the bearings / races. I'd like to think they're all designed to very tight tolerances, but would never, ever trust a lot of the parts makers out there to do that right. If you did get "aftermarket" (or no-name) bearings, you may be able to at least compare the thickness of the main bearing races by holding them up against each other (with the gears out of the case, of course). If you pressed in new races, you'd have to either pull them out and use a micrometer to check them, or just trust (aka "hope") they're right.
More thoughts - if the bearings are "off-brand" and seem to be pressed on fully, I'd suspect any of the mechanical tolerances (the thickness of both the pressed-in race, and the race that is pressed on the gear clusters), as well as the dimensions of the bearing cylinders and even the angle of the bearing race(s). I guess that's to say that if things are too tight, I'd suggest pressing on new Timken bearings (if there's any doubt about your current bearings, that is).
So here's my story. Was getting a grinding noise from the transfer case in my 2010 GLK 350 4Matic. After watching your video I decided I would rather pay someone else to do this. It was VERY difficult to find a shop that was willing to take on this job. I finally found a shop that agreed to rebuild the transfer case for about $1,400. The shop finished the job after a week when they spec'd the job as 2 days. Not a great start. I get the car back and guess what? Yeah it's leaking trans fluid from the front output shaft seal. To make matters worse the shop would not admit to doing anything wrong and at first wanted to blame a bad output shaft or case??? After a very heated 1 hour call with the owner the shop agreed to put a new seal in for $350. I had absolutly no desire to throw good money after bad so no way in hell I'm giving this shop any more of my business. They should have fixed their error at no cost to me. So I dug into this myself, many many thanks to Mark. Without your video I don't think I could have done this. But yeah I just finished pulling it all apart and putting a new seal in the front. While in there I checked the preload per your second video. Yep on the front output shaft the preload was WAY WAY to high. That new bearing was not long for this world. I used the gasket method to bring the preload to acceptable levels. I used a 1/32" gasket material from Cometic that I cut myself. Long story short I just got back from the first test drive and NO LEAKS!!! Thanks again Mark. Your information was invaluable! P.S. Mark you make this job look easy. It was NOT easy. But doable just be patient and take your time. I did drop the exhaust on the passenger side. Although I didn't remove the front driveshaft it just really helped to have extra room on that side. I installed the front seal by putting it on the gear cluster first then slid the gear cluster/seal combo into place.
Thanks for the story, and for a reminder why I always do my own wrench-twisting. ;-) What we shadetree mechanics lack in experience, we more than make up for in motivation to do it right the first time. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY The thing is it was a German car specialty shop that charges top dollar and advertises working on super cars. And they either didn't check the preload or did and just ignored it. VERY disappointing.
@@clarkmgb9389 I'm sure it would have been aggravating to try to get them to stand behind their job when the bearings fried just a few thousand miles after the repair, too! It sounds like you've got it fixed to perfection, though. I put about 10,000 miles on my GLK since I did the repair, and so far, it's perfect. I expect it to stay that way, too! ;-)
I'm getting ready to do this job myself. When you put the front output shaft seal over the gear cluster,was it difficult to get into place? Did you line it up then tap it into place?
@@mikedizzle5273 it slid into place pretty easily. I did put a liberal amout of grease on the seal the gear the case and the splines. It did require light tapping to fully seat.
No for internal transfer case. This is when you separate transfer case from transmission. Look at the AR28.10-P-0100T Remove/install transfer case 21.10.11 Step number 20
@@klajdistari827 that's a different (211.08) transfer case, and the grease they're installing is on the "plug-type splines", whatever those are (I'm not familiar with that particular transmission or transfer case).
@@Mark_H_DIY I am replacing my transfer case with trans on my w211 e350 4 matic. I am having hard time to find that grease. Do you know what else I can use ?
@@klajdistari827 sorry, I'm not at all familiar with that transfer case or transmission. I'm not sure what the grease is being added to, so I would have a hard time giving you much of a suggestion anyway.
Thanks for the video. Question is this in your opinion doable without a lift as you have shown. I know in your situation u had a busted front shaft. But if we don’t is it still doable ?
Assuming you're in shape to handle a lot of laying on your back, yes... I didn't find it a particularly (physically) difficult job, and really having a lift wouldn't have made it a lot easier (sometimes working laying down can be less stressful on your arms and shoulders than working over your head on a lift). I would recommend removing the front driveshaft when reassembling the transfer case, though you'll just have to tuck it out of the way since you don't want to have to wrestle it out of its "cave". ;-)
Thanks! I got the output shaft gear from Maktrans in Poland. maktrans.net/zaptchasti-akpp/mercedes/722%2C9/zhelezo-722.9 It's worked out fine so far, and from what I've read from others who've ordered them, they apparently are a long-term solution to the lack of availability from MB. The part number I ordered is SQGX7229. There are Chinese vendors building these as well, but I have no clue as to the quality or longevity of those parts (and would tend to be skeptical because of systemic quality issues in the Chinese auto parts industry).
I'm doing the same repair on a w221 4matic and really appreciate the detail you put into making this video. Thanks and congrats on your successful completion. 30mm 12 point deep! Get one before you start 😂 yeah, you got me.
There is information on all the parts in the description of the video. Make sure and watch the second video as well, as there is new info you need to do the job right.
@@Mark_H_DIY ademas de saber hacer el trabajo, realmente se esforzo mucho, se dio el martillo en la mano en una oportunidad y no paro 2 segundos, cruzo los dedos para que le dure muchas millas el arreglo!!!!
My 2011 GLK 350 drive shaft broke also. Must be defect. The co2 sensor housing is damaged causing the engine light to come on. The mechanic checked everything ok, said to ignore the dummy light. IMO a Mercedes drive shaft should not break. This is my last Mercedes, enough.
The front propshaft (driveshaft) is a known "common" failure point in the vehicle. Just like any drivetrain part, it can wear out and fail. The problem with this particular part is, when it does break, "things can get interesting", with the shaft now resembling a baseball bat in the hands of a very strong madman. I bought my GLK with a broken driveshaft, and sadly (for the previous owners) it also damaged the U-joint on the front output shaft of the transfer case. I can't complain because it allowed me to buy the car for around 1/4th of what it would be worth fixed. All in all, the GLK is a very reliable platform - I put them on the "Toyota reliability level" (since Toyotas also break occasionally). I've read comment after comment on forums that people have driven these vehicles 100-200,000 miles with literally nothing but scheduled maintenance.
Actually, the vehicle was level. And due to the location of the drain / fill port, a little bit of front / rear height discrepancy won't make a measurable difference in the fluid level anyway.
Being that I work at a dealership, I respectfully disagree. It's your car and your transmission/ transfer case. The last seal you installed was little cocked in it' s bore as well. I hope that works out well and you do not have any issues with either. Being the perfectionist I am , I would lose sleep over this. That is just my opinion. The repair video was enjoyable. I hope you have the Mercedes for many trouble free years , you have earned it after this repair and the mounts. Mercedes are a great vehicle to own if you like to tinker. The driving experience is next level.
I think the appearance of being "un-level" is due to the fact that I am using very different jackstands front and rear on the car (hey, they're what I have). ;-) The first time I filled the fluid I did actually place a level on the door sill (but didn't show that in the video). Thanks for the kind words and wishes. I do really enjoy the car, which I bought because I always loved the way they look (IMHO the only pretty, "German-looking" SUV MB ever built) and because I was able to pick it up for a song due to the front propshaft / transfer case issues. What I didn't know is that my wife would like it SO much that we'd end up selling my 2006 BMW 530xi Touring instead. Oops. But to be honest, I really like the engineering and serviceability of the GLK far more than the (often sadistic) design for UNserviceability of the BMW.
All but the very best orators suffer from the tendency to insert a "huh", "ummm", "y'know", or other verbal tic into their speech, when their brain needs to catch up with their mouth. When listening to someone, your brain tends to filter out all these unnecessary fillers. But since TH-cam's Auto captioning inserts them, they tend to stand out like the proverbial sore thumbs. Hopefully there's enough useful content in my videos to overcome having to listen to a string of huhs. ;-)
i have very little understanding about transmissions, im here just to see what kind of job its to get my transfer case rebuilt in the shop 🥲 shop quoted about 2500 euros
@@mummonturbosukset3504 You'll be doing well to understand how the job goes, to speak intelligently with the mechanic, and to clarify your expectations (it would be very easy to skip some of the critical bits, like replacing the one-use rear output shaft clutch pack bolt, or even checking the bearings or front output shaft U-joint - depending on what is wrong with your transfer case. OTOH, most shops just quote a new transmission. ;-)
I'm doing this exact same job on my c300 4matic and I was doubting if It could be done without two post shop jack but your video not only showed me how to do it but that it could be done at home on jack stands. Great detailed step by step video sir . Thank you very much.
Yes, I believe that the two cars will be the same job (I hope there is a couple more mm clearance on the front driveshaft on the C300 though). ;-) Good luck with the job... let us know how it goes, and if it's the same as the X204 GLK transfer case.
I just did my GLK on jackstands in my garage. Very doable. But it is alot of work.
Thanks for the reply (missed it 'til now). Glad to hear you had a successful DIY, and that you saved a boatload of money (assuming, but it's almost certain). ;-)
Mark I love your videos. Thank you so much for this and your other GLK videos. I haven't needed to do this, but I will be using your motor mount video very soon!
Thanks! I hope that you'll find the videos you need going forward, for better yet, not need them at all because the GLK is just so reliable. ;-)
Professional job , just a bit harder when laying on the creeper . I would recommend when mating the transfer case to the transmission to use guide studs ( threaded / notched short rod ) aiding the installation and seal integrity !
On mine, there were short alignment pegs ( though it's easy to accidentally push them too deep during the process of seating the races). IIRC, the pegs were on the front (middle) xfer case housing "slice". I suppose that longer rods through the bolt holes might help keep the alignment straighter, which can only be a good thing.
Great GLK videos. Nice comments and follow up. Subscribed!
Thanks very much. I really do appreciate it!
Really good video , very thorough explanation with torque specs , thankyou sir , hopefully I successfully complete the same job , liked and subbed
Thanks for the like and sub! Good luck on your job - it's not all that horrible. A couple updates - be careful with that output shaft seal - it's easy to damage (ask me how I know...). ;-) Next time I'm going to remove the front driveshaft to minimize the amount of stress on the area. Second, I have to pass along some warning about Maktrans - the output shaft gear cluster I bought from them developed some play in one plane (indicating a loose internal U-joint). Worse, they ignored my emails for two weeks, then told me that they don't offer warranty for anything that's been installed or that isn't brought to their facility (in Poland). Then (despite having seen the video of the play) helpfully suggested that it's all in my head.
Just be VERY careful when inserting the front drive gear cluster into the (hopefully new) seal. I've learned (the hard way) that the seal is very easy to bugger up. I think one of the difficulties is that the gear goes in at a little bit of an angle, and if you lead with a corner of the "nose" that goes into the seal, it can catch it and flex it out of shape. I just figured out that in my original rebuild, the spring that holds tension on that seal (inside the lip) actually came out and was riding on the gear cluster "nose", allowing tranny fluid to leak out. I replaced the seal, and managed to mess up the new spring as well. Testing it some more, I learned that the trick is to insert the gear cluster at an angle lining up with the front driveshaft, and to put a thin schmear of synthetic grease on the "nose". If you get it right, the gear slides easily into place. If not, take it out and check that seal, and try again until you DO get it right. Hope that helps...
Hey where do I buy the extra seal , I ordered the bearing pack and that comes with one but I want to order an extra one
And what’s the part number for the long bolt ?
@@lewisdavis8640 The MB part number is 000000-008248 (you might try searching on multiple iterations of that, by eliminating the dash or some zeros). The name for the part is "Hexalobular Bolt".
mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/mercedes-benz-hexalobular-bolt-8248
www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info2/000000008248.htm?bc=c&SVSVSI=3766
Hi , what’s the symptoms for you to repair the transfer case ? Mine is having slight vibration when turning into my parking spot , other then that , all good when driving straight
The problem with mine was excessive play in the U-joint that's part of the front output shaft. Others rebuild their transfer case because the bearings that hold the front and rear helical gear clusters get worn and cause noise. I'm not sure that either of these scenarios sound like what's going on in your car. I'd look at your CV axles (primarily the front ones). And yes, I have a video on how to swap those! Also it could be a problem with your differential(s) though that is less common.
Do you remember the number of the seal for the front shaft drive? 54:58 you show this seal
@@mativideo1053 the seal number is W7X700, and can be sourced from FCP Euro or other legit supplier. I'd recommend getting a couple of them... They're cheap and easy to damage
@@Mark_H_DIY thank you for the information
Just a perspective idea. To determine shim thickness what you could do is take each half of the case, clean the mounting faces and put a precision measuring bar across the mounting face. Measure the depth from the mounting face to the bottom of the bearing race bore. Then do the same for the other half. Add the 2 measurements and whatever the thickness is of the gasket you use, now you know what the total distance is between the ends of the outer races. (Note on gasket use: if you use silicone sealer your gasket thickness is essentially
Good stuff... Thanks. I'm not sure that most DIYers are going to be able to measure to the precision required, but on the surface your process sounds reasonable. I agree with your take on the choice of gasket material.
@@Mark_H_DIY Definitely outside of the wheelhouse of probably 99% of DIYers, but with consideration that MB had no intention for these to be rebuilt except for by the manufacturer this is probably what would have been expected had they made it a serviceable unit.
I know that MB (and apparently most independent shops) quote only a transmission swap when the transfer case is bad. On the plus side, that's how I picked my 2011 4Matic up for chump change. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIYI assumed that was the case. It's a fantastic way to get a deal.
I've put about 15,000miles on the repair, and it's still smooth as butter. It almost feels like cheating to get such a great car for the price I paid for it, including the transfer case repair and new motor mounts). A little work involved, but if I "paid myself" the difference between what the car cost and what it was worth fixed, it would come out to hundreds of dollars per hour! And fwiw, the main reason I DIY is because I'm much more motivated to get it done right than any pro mechanic will ever be. ;-)
good afternoon, could you tell me the number of the oil seal or where to order or buy, thank you 🙏
The front output shaft seal part number is 0159971246 (MB part number). You can find it many places, but I recommend only very trusted vendors like FCP Euro or even a MB dealership (the seal isn't expensive).
is this the same transmission and transfer case that’s in the 2015 or w212 e63s amg?
If those vehicles use the 722.9 transmission, they would be the same, though I would suggest still doing due diligence before ordering the parts....
Friend... what is the name of the store where you bought the Mercedes Benz transfer case... I live in the United States but I can't get it... I need you to help me please🙏🏻
See my reply above (or is it below?). ;-)
what kind of grease i can put between the transfer case and transmission. That goes on those two gears that connect to each other
@@klajdistari827 no grease. The gears are lubricated with transmission fluid only.
I HAVE AN GLK 350 AND BE ABLE TO DO THE JOB THANK TO YOUR VIDEO ONLY I WILL ASK WHAT TYPE OF TRANSMISSION FLUID DID YOU USE?
YOU DO AN AMAZING JOB MAKING EASY WHATS DIFFICULT THANKS FOR YOU ADVISE THANK"S AGAIN MARK H......!
@@ReneMartinez-nq7hr I don't remember the specific brand, but the bottles should be visible in the video. It was from FCP euro, so I'm sure it was the right fluid. Just make sure that the fluid matches your year. They changed from an old fluid to the new fluid in 2011. I believe I have information on my comments on the video, but if not look for my video on changing transmission fluid, and the comments will describe the fluid you need for your car.
I may have this same problem i just bought 09 c300 4matic its making a slight noise on the right upper side . It may be the same thing bearings . I wonder what type of sound were you getting and could you see were it was coming from when looking up udder the car as tge wheels spin ? How did you determine the bearing before opening it up .
@@222mytony my car's bearings were fine, and the car was not drivable because of the broken front driveshaft. The symptoms you feel sound like transfer case bearings, but check for a bad CV axle or wheel bearing. Both are a LOT less work and cost!
Can you unhook the Propeller shaft and front drive axals if you just want two wheel dive ?
@@222mytony nope, sorry. The front drive the s direct, while the rear drive has planetary gears and friction plates, which aren't going to be good at power transfer, just good for adjusting to slightly different traction conditions. And I even tried that scenario just to see how it works (and to move the car around without a front prop shaft). Not great.
Well if they did let you do that you'd have to plug it somehow I'd think oil would come out wouldn't it ?
Great information! in the case of the bearing kit: do you know will these parts fit the base model (not 4 matic) ? thank you!
@@MikeSlott the non-4Matic (aka rear wheel drive) model doesn't have a transfer case, so there's no place to put those bearings...
@@Mark_H_DIYthank you mark, much appreciated. I’m trying to locate the cause of a whirring/whining sound when accelerating - mechanic I spoke to briefly thought perhaps something to do with transmission pump or bearing so I thought I might be on track with your video here. Noob here needless to say
@@MikeSlott consider yourself lucky that you don't have to rebuild the transfer case. It's doable, but not really a job you want to have to do. Good luck with finding the source of the noise, particularly if it's coming from the front end of the car. Hopefully it's not the transmission.
@@Mark_H_DIY thank you mark 🙏
Friend, I already changed the transfer case... now the problem is that not all speeds are included. I can only enter 1 and 2... because it could be... or is it some censor?😢😢😢😢😢
Sorry to hear that! Here's the thing - the transfer case lives on the back of the "transmission" itself, so nothing done in the transfer case itself should cause a change in the actual shifting performance of the transmission. The one exception would be that if somehow the bearings in the transfer case were SO tight that they were "eating" the engine's power - doubtful! My bet is that you didn't properly top off the transmission fluid (shown in my video). I suppose using the wrong fluid could cause a problem as well. But you really DO have to follow the kind of complicated steps shown in the video to get the fluid level right, and the car shifting properly. 1) Car level, 2) Engine running 3) Transmission fluid temperature 45°C, 4) Shift through the gears a few times slowly, then 5) Pump in enough fluid so that some runs out, and then 6) when the fluid slows to a dribble, replace the drain plug.
Helo ther i heav a problem with my transfer case to
Can you tell me wer i can order spear part for this
Best regards from Hasse in Sweden 😊
@@hassejansson8062 The information on the parts you need is in the video description. You can use the part numbers to look up Swedish parts suppliers, though the front output shaft gear cluster is only available through the supplier I listed. Good luck with your repair!
What’s the vender in Poland please , if you would like to share , and how much the part cost you . Thank you .Ion Mata
The vendor is Maktrans. FWIW, the one I bought is still going fine, even though I thought I had some play in the output shaft. I remain a little disappointed in the vendor for their lack of communications, but think that the product is fine.
I have an 08 e350 with a bad transfer case, do you know if it is a similar one?
I believe the transfer case in the W212 version of the E350 is similar. But that one didn't start until 2010, so your 2008 W211 should have more of a replaceable, removable transfer case that doesn't really look anything like the one in the GLK in my video
Okay thank you for your reply. Do you know any good resources on how to rebuild the w211 transfer case? My car makes a jerk/clunk noise when I come to a complete stop. I know it isn't shifting because it still makes the noise when I manually put the car in first and then come to a complete stop. It also makes clunk noises when the wheel is turned all the way at slow speeds, especially in reverse. I have been told it is either the transfer case or the motor mounts. I would love to get your opinion. Thanks@@Mark_H_DIY
@tonygunk6345 it's really hard to say for sure, without hearing it or being in the car, but another possibility is a bad CV joint up front. They make a lot of noise when turning. At any rate, it's going to be a lot easier to replace or rebuild that transfer case than the one in my GLK, because it is a separate unit.
Hello, I have a question, I hope you can help me, I already put the new transfer gear from poland , but it is normal that when I turn it feels harder than the previous one. I could turn the previous one more easily by hand and now I have to apply a little more strength it feels tighter.
I did a follow-up video that deals with the issue you are having. The problem is that sometimes the preload on the bearings is too high when you reassemble the transfer case, and this could cause premature bearing wear and failure. In the second video, I show you how to determine the proper preload, and how to adjust it. It might take longer, but the end result is that your new bearings should last a long, long time. th-cam.com/video/JNt68kNdFUU/w-d-xo.html
thanks for the info ,I appreciate
was there anything wrong with the output shaft? I noticed that you said it had play but said it was in your head. I don't want to order it from them if the part went bad. Don't want to deal with them if the warranty sucks on it.. Thanks let me know.
The output shaft seems to be fine. With it out of the transfer case, I can't feel any real play. I think that there is a little play in the splines that amplifies any play in the U-joint. My big problem with the vendor (Maktrans) was in their refusal to answer me or discuss the issue rationally, and in a total lack of any real warranty. The owner's attitude is "interesting", too... But they're probably the only game in town for the output shaft cluster. Somebody out there could step up and start rebuilding these things and make some money!
@@Mark_H_DIY so is there any issues with it now?? How’s the car driving?
@@koobmoua3751 it's all good. I've put 7-8,000 miles on it so far. Smooth and quiet. Make sure and watch the second video to see how to set the bearing preload and avoid damaging the output shaft seal.
@@Mark_H_DIY ok will do. Thanks for all your help.
I have same issue with Glk 350 2014 and i don’t know if it the translation or the transfer case . Im not able to drive the car. Not moving at all i just hear loud noise but no move . Any help please
@@AbedalrahmanKoni I would have to suspect it's the transmission, not the transfer case if your car can't move at all. The transfer case will supply power to the front wheels even if it's got serious problems inside. I suppose it's possible that all of the teeth could be stripped from the helical gears inside the transfer case, but in that case you were going to have serious transmission issues as well.
@@Mark_H_DIY Thank you i removed the front drive shaft because it’s broken like the one on the video . Car only can drive flat surface For few yard and cant recline even for one yard
@@AbedalrahmanKoni Well THAT changes things! ;-) With the front drive shaft out, the planetary gear and clutch pack in the rear drive will barely propel the car. You need to try to move the front output shaft and see if it's loose or not. If it is, you'll need to replace the gear cluster and u-joint that makes up the front output shaft.
@@Mark_H_DIY in same time its make very loud noise like steel crashing
@@AbedalrahmanKoni That doesn't sound good... There isn't any loud noise with the front driveshaft out of the transmission is OK. You should see if the front output shaft has play. If so, you might fix the problem by rebuilding the transfer case.
How did you know this transfer case was bad what was the driving symptoms please
The front drive shaft was snapped off when I bought the car, so it wasn't much of a mystery. Diagnosing the transfer case was just a matter of moving the rear of the drive shaft up and down, feeling the play in the internal u-joint in the output shaft gear cluster. There is a short video on my channel that shows this movement when I bought the car.
@@Mark_H_DIY my mechanic said I should get a full gear box that he isn’t sure if he replace the transfer case it would work
@@OsasIduriase Unfortunately that is what you are going to hear from nearly all mechanics and virtually all dealers. Most shops just don't want to work on the internals of any transmission, and they consider the GLK transfer case part of the transmission. The other issue is if you need a front output shaft gear cluster, they will have to order it from a special supplier in poland. Not all shops want to go to that kind of trouble for something so unusual. I have had people send links to my repair videos to their shop to find out if they are willing to do it or not.
@@Mark_H_DIY finally fixed it thanks a lot
@@Mark_H_DIY but now I have another problem I’m thinking it’s a fuel pump issue….my engine suddenly losse power while driving and I can’t accelerate then I park and turn of the car after which it starts after like 5 to 10 minutes…….i noticed that before it turns off it displays a triangle yellow light and it says run falt indicator inoperative
Hi Mark,
I managed to strip some of the T45 bolts that hold the back of the transfer case, the harder ones. I got one of those out by hammering the socket into the bolt because the angle allowed me to. Now, I cannot do the same to the top one and a couple of those on the right side. Are drill bolt extractors an option, considering the angle and cramped space? What would you do in my case?
Many thanks
The first thing I would do would be to reinstall most of the bolts you already took out. That will make it easier to get the difficult ones out. It's one of my rules of thumb that you always take the awkward, difficult bolts out first. I never had any real difficulty extracting any of those bolts, as they are only torqued to about 20 ft lbs. It sounds like it's possible that your T45 socket is in bad shape. I'd suggest getting a fresh, new one. That might help. Also, you may be able to string together a couple wobble extensions, allowing you to use a hammer to tap in the new torx socket from further back toward the rear of the car. Also, it is possible to move the back of the transmission to the left of the car a little, which will give you more wiggle room to get in there. The top few bolts are going to be more interesting if they are truly stripped. I'd try the string of wobble extensions and a hammer first. After that, it's more a matter of finding something that will fit in that space than anything else. An extractor might work, but I'm not sure about the angle of attack, and you would have to be very careful with this tray shavings that are creates. At some point, the only option would be to drop the transmission, and remove them with a pair of vice grips. Anyway, good luck with the rest of the repair, and I hope you get through this initial glitch. Let me know how it goes.
@@Mark_H_DIY
Thank you for the reply.
I just tried stringing the wobble extensions but realistically I don't imagine it's going to work, because if I somehow succeed tapping the socket into them, I am going to strip them further while trying to unscrew them. The problem is that those bolts have been reused, and have been torqued down not to spec. They are tight and gummed up. The only way I see getting them out is tapping on them and working them out at straight angle.
I think dropping the tranny is my only option. Now I am working in the same environment as you, on the jack stands and a jack supporting the tranny. My question is: Can I get the tranny say 90% down while still on jack and supported by the underbody of the car. I can't get it fully out as I don't have the tranny jack/supports and it's going to roll. Do you think this is doable or am I looking at towing it to the shop to properly remove the tranny?
Many thanks
Thing is, if a Torx socket is square in the bolt's hole, I can't imagine it stripping or slipping. Maybe the hole has been compromised by now, but here's what I'd try if it was my car. I'd use my battery impact driver with a couple 3/8" wobble extensions. I'd drive the socket into the bolt as far and as straight as I could get it, then put the impact on the "back of the stack". Then I'd put as much forward (pushing) pressure as I could on the back of the impact and pull the trigger (in remove mode, of course). The result is usually a cleaner, crisper torque applied to the stuck bolt, leaving less opportunity for the wobbles or socket to twist. My (Makita) impact is small, but rated (IIRC) for about 80 foot pounds of removal torque. That should be more than enough, as those bolts shouldn't be snugged up anywhere near that tight. I've seen the sealant make them a LITTLE harder to remove, but nothing that my little impact couldn't easily overcome. Could you drop the tranny without "serious tools"? Probably, though it can "get interesting". You'd need to use a pair of pretty tall jackstands up front to get clearance, and buy / borrow / steal a cheap tranny jack. I've used this method for my Jeep Cherokee (easy because it starts out higher than my GLK on jackstands) and a VW Jetta (FWD, so it was probably harder than the GLK would be). You do have to be careful not to drop the tranny off the jack (mine has a fabric strap that can be looped over the top), but it was more "fiddly" than "difficult". Once you have it out, I suspect you'd be easily able to remove those bolts with a hefty pair of vicegrips, or you could cut a slot in the bolt heads and remove them with a flat driver head in an impact wrench (or even one of those hammer-driven drivers). I've never had to drop the transmission in my GLK, so take the above with the prerequisite grain of salt and do some research on what's involved. The good news is, once you pull the tranny, rebuilding that transfer case would be easy peasy. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY It helped me to lower the trans some using the floor jack that was hold it after removing the trans mount.
@@clarkmgb9389 Absolutely! You can get a little more downward tilt to the rear of the transmission that way. Don't go crazy with it, as you might put extra pressure on some hoses on the rear of the engine, or even those hard to change motor mounts. But I did basically the same thing when I was changing the motor mounts, and getting that crazy front driveshaft back in place. :-)
Friend, how many liters of oil or fluid did you put in the transmission... is the fluid only put in the transmission and not in the transfer case?
The transmission and transfer case share the same fluid, which is transmission fluid. Because the transfer case is higher than the transmission pan, you only lose about a quart / liter of fluid rebuilding the transfer case. Just follow the recommended procedure for filling the transmission back up to spec.
thanks very much buddy
Hey Mark. Thanks for the videos, doing this repair on my GLK with 100K miles. Videos are great. MB wanted to charge me 6000K for repair of front differential. I could not afford it, so i decided research the issue myself and found this video. Have the shaft out and its completely snapped on the inside U joint, Rotates 360 degrees. Parts are ordered and on the way. I cant find the output shaft dust cover though Any ideas on the part number for this? I see it comes with the front drive shaft on amazon. I really don't want to buy a front drive shaft just to get the dust cover, the old drive shaft is pretty good no issues I can see.
My dust cover came with the driveshaft, but I did order a spare or two. I got it from FCP Euro or Pelican Parts, I don't recall which. I'm sure one or both should have that boot. And given the difficulty of getting a driveshaft in and out, I'd be really, really tempted to swap it out just so I can forget about it for another 100,000 mi or so. :-)
Thanks - Just received the new remanufactured output shaft, it came with new Bearings pre-pressed on. Honestly the bearings feel a little rough, gritty when you spin them. Was wondering if this is normal with new bearings? the old bearing feel really smooth when you spin them in comparison.
@@roryschimper202 my new bearings were buttery smooth. I'd be concerned about anything else. Where did you get the output shaft assembly?
What was it doing before you did thos job?
The front propshaft was sheared off at the differential. I only noticed the transfer case output shaft issue when I was inspecting the car (pre-buy). I could move the rear of the propshaft up and down 1-2mm, in one plane, which indicates that the U-joint inside the front output shaft "gear cluster" was bad, possibly due to stresses from the propshaft breaking - or maybe it just wore out.
Do you have a part number for the long, torque-to-yield bolt?
Hi, Josh. Yeah, that part number IS elusive! The MB part number is 000000-008248 (you might try searching on multiple iterations of that, by eliminating the dash or some zeros). The name for the part is "Hexalobular Bolt".
I'll try to post a link to the part on a MB "official website" in a second reply (don't want a filter to stop this reply though).
mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/mercedes-benz-hexalobular-bolt-8248
www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info2/000000008248.htm?bc=c&SVSVSI=3766
Anyone know the trick to installing the output shaft through the new seal so it doeant leak after putting everything back together?
My solution was to put the transfer case all back together again, and then install the shaft. That is difficult, because the shaft is about 3mm too long. Theoretically, you could do it like I did in the first video, but I managed to mess that seal up pretty well, even though I thought it went together well at the time. The only other bright idea I had was to use two people, and insert the shaft carefully into the drive shaft, and use a large magnet to hold them together while you reassemble the transfer case. As long as nothing slips, that should work. But this is a truly untested theory. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY I installed the output shaft through the new seal,put it all together then installed the front shaft last,it still leaked. Am I doing something wrong? I greased the seal prior to inserting the output shaft through it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
@@mikedizzle5273 You really need to watch my second video on the process. I made that one when I fixed the seal I messed up the first time (just like you did) and also to get more scientific about the preload on the helical gear bearings. I know it's a lot of video, but there are some things that are really good to know. To cut to the chase, the placement of the output gears (front and rear) is shown in pretty good detail at around 39 minutes into this video: th-cam.com/video/JNt68kNdFUU/w-d-xo.html
I just did this job fot the second time. The first time i pinched the seal putting the output shaft in. The second time doing this job i removed the large gear to the left of the output shaft,then i was able to align the output shaft straight through the output shaft seal, also made sure to lubricate both the seal and the area were the seal touches. After that i carefully re installed the large gear to the left and put everything back together. So far so good,no leaks.
@@mikedizzle5273 Sounds like you nailed it! It really is a little fiddly getting it all done without messing up that very fragile seal. If it's not leaking almost immediately, I don't think there's any chance it will ever leak.
Is there a parts list? I can't find the seals
The front output shaft seal I used is a Corteco seal (OEM, I believe). 013-997-72-46. The rear output shaft seal is (again, Corteco) 0239978747 (pardon the different formats - you might want to search on either format).
Hi one question, Can't the long hexagonal bolt be used again?
Not really. It's a one use bolt that is designed to stretch a specific amount to set the preload on the friction plates on the rear output shaft. I really don't know the effect on the balance of the transfer case if you were to reuse it.
I have a c300 but I don't understand very well when you say about preloading the bearing seats.
Can you help me where to find the torque measurement to tighten the hexagonal bolt? For c300 2009 4 matic lux
Why in the second video did you use the hydraulic press? and in the first video no
@@emilioeduardogonzalezhuchi5178 in the first video, I wanted to show that you didn't need a hydraulic press to do the job. In the second video, I thought it would be helpful to show how to use the press to do it.
This is a great video of WHAT NOT TO DO when it comes to rebuilding a 4Matic transfer case. I've seen several of these come through our shop with burned up bearings and it's clear they were worked on by amateurs like the person making this video. The bearing preload for the main shaft and front driveshaft bearings has to be adjusted with a rear housing gasket. You cannot rely on RTV compound to set that clearance. Further down in the comments, someone mentions difficulty with bearing preload or "resistance to turning". The above video completely ignores this issue. You need to select composite gasket material (available at most parts stores) and make a gasket for the rear housing cover to set the bearing clearance properly. A gasket thickness of about 20 thousandths generally works well. If the shafts don't rotate easily and freewheel, you're going to overheat the bearings and destroy them in a fairly short period of time. This is what separates "professionals" from "amateurs". This is not a job for amateurs and should never be tackled without removing the transmission from the vehicle.
I'm actually doing a second video that address exactly those issues. I would have done it already, but got called away on a multi-week road trip. I wasn't happy with the amount of resistance I got on the output shafts, but wasn't aware of a spec for the preload until recently. The perplexing thing to me is that the bearings are exactly the same as the factory used, yet the outcome is different. FWIW, my plan was to machine down the spacers under the mid case bearing races to get the right preload, using charts from Timken that I found on preload vs. rotational drag. It looks like there is a reasonably wide range of acceptable preload, in terms of longevity of the bearings, so it won't be rocket science. I never would have made the first video if someone had made a better one. :-)
Also, I'm not aware of anyone on the forums I inhabit whose transfer case had been worked on prior to the bearings going bad. All the ones I know of failed without home mechanic intervention. It's clear that Mercedes' processes don't take into account fine-tuning the preload on a per vehicle basis, or if they do, they miss one once in a while.
If your shop is anywhere near Nashville I'd love to have someone replace the bearings in mine. Having a really hard time finding any shop willing to do the work.
FWIW, I'd give the shop kudos for being willing to do this job. Most dealerships (including the one the original owner of my GLK went to for an estimate) quote only transmission replacement as an option. OTOH, that DID allow me to buy the (one owner, well-maintained) vehicle for chump change, as a $10K transmission swap made no sense on a vehicle worth about $10K after the repair. ;-)
It also occurred to me that even if bearings were replaced badly, it can only be because the originals failed. According to Timken (OEM bearing supplier) that the lifespan of these bearings is far in excess of what the vehicles will ever need as long as the preload is fairly close to "perfect" (I'll be including that graph in my future video on the subject). Anyway, my plan is to either do a "part 2" video to supplement my original, or to rework it so that it includes the information (from Timken) on setting up the bearing preload. I'm always more than willing to admit what I don't know, and hopefully fill in any "knowledge gaps" by listening to others who DO know.
How much did you pay for the suv?
Picked it up for $3,600. On one hand, it had new Continental tires (600 miles), new battery, and was a highly maintained one-owner car in pristine condition. OTOH, the previous owner was looking at a $10,000 fix, so we were both satisfied with the price
Nice job
Thanks 👍
WHat is the kit part number?
Everything you need is in the video comments.
I'm doing this job and I'm running into what I think is a problem, maybe someone can help me. The first thing that is off is that the gear that goes into the front shaft doesn't stay in place, I put it in and falls out by itself. I can get passed that, but when I install the middle case it doesn't go in all the way by itself, I have to hammer it on a little and then it still doesn't really seal. To get it to close I have to put the bolts on and tighten them down so they get pulled together. It does end up closing, but what I'm concerned about is that the gears don't spin easily anymore (Spinning the gear that connects to the back shaft so that the front tires spin too), and that's only after 2 bolts in (gets worse with more bolts). When I take out the bolts the case still remains seated on there and the gears are able to spin again (tightening the bolts makes it so that the gears don't spin easily). Is that supposed to happen? What am I doing wrong? What are the bolts supposed to torque to, maybe I can try that? Another thing is that there is about a half inch gap between the case and the front shaft boot whenever I install. If you have any ideas as to how I'm messing it up, please do tell. I hope that maybe I'm just over tightening the bolts, but I don't think I am. Hopefully this wasn't too confusing of an explanation to my problem.
I don't know if you put new bearings on the helical gear clusters or not, but if they're not REALLY seated, you're going to run into the kind of problems you have now. The output shaft helical gear does want to fall out when you put it in place - just the way it is, AFAIK. You just have to carefully place it and try to slide the middle case on carefully, and adjust it if necessary (you can see me do that in the video by sticking a finger in between the tranny case and xfer case to poke the helical gear up a little). Be VERY careful about the torque on those case bolts - all the cases are aluminum, so it's really (!!!) easy to strip them out (and then you will have "interesting times"). Also, getting the middle case together is a bit fiddly. I used a dead blow mallet to "help it along" and that seems to have helped. I'd start out by making sure that the four bearings are fully seated on both the helical gear clusters, and that (assuming you changed them) the races are driven in fully as well. The "preload" on the gears shouldn't change when you tighten the case unless one of those situations I describe above is happening...
@@Mark_H_DIY I did change out the bearings, I'll have to double check then. Thanks for the advice, I'll update on what I come up with
I have the torque values for the various components. Keep in mind that your car COULD be different, but this should give you a good idea of the values you should be shooting for (and don't even think about doing this job without the right torque wrenches - just too much to go wrong, IMHO). Here's a link to a video with JUST the values (again, for my car)... th-cam.com/video/EybLI7ouqGI/w-d-xo.html
One more thing that I just thought of... If you didn't buy the OEM (Timken) bearings, you could be (sadly) dealing with a slight variation in the thickness of the bearings / races. I'd like to think they're all designed to very tight tolerances, but would never, ever trust a lot of the parts makers out there to do that right. If you did get "aftermarket" (or no-name) bearings, you may be able to at least compare the thickness of the main bearing races by holding them up against each other (with the gears out of the case, of course). If you pressed in new races, you'd have to either pull them out and use a micrometer to check them, or just trust (aka "hope") they're right.
More thoughts - if the bearings are "off-brand" and seem to be pressed on fully, I'd suspect any of the mechanical tolerances (the thickness of both the pressed-in race, and the race that is pressed on the gear clusters), as well as the dimensions of the bearing cylinders and even the angle of the bearing race(s). I guess that's to say that if things are too tight, I'd suggest pressing on new Timken bearings (if there's any doubt about your current bearings, that is).
So here's my story. Was getting a grinding noise from the transfer case in my 2010 GLK 350 4Matic. After watching your video I decided I would rather pay someone else to do this. It was VERY difficult to find a shop that was willing to take on this job. I finally found a shop that agreed to rebuild the transfer case for about $1,400.
The shop finished the job after a week when they spec'd the job as 2 days. Not a great start. I get the car back and guess what? Yeah it's leaking trans fluid from the front output shaft seal.
To make matters worse the shop would not admit to doing anything wrong and at first wanted to blame a bad output shaft or case??? After a very heated 1 hour call with the owner the shop agreed to put a new seal in for $350.
I had absolutly no desire to throw good money after bad so no way in hell I'm giving this shop any more of my business. They should have fixed their error at no cost to me.
So I dug into this myself, many many thanks to Mark. Without your video I don't think I could have done this. But yeah I just finished pulling it all apart and putting a new seal in the front. While in there I checked the preload per your second video. Yep on the front output shaft the preload was WAY WAY to high. That new bearing was not long for this world. I used the gasket method to bring the preload to acceptable levels. I used a 1/32" gasket material from Cometic that I cut myself.
Long story short I just got back from the first test drive and NO LEAKS!!!
Thanks again Mark. Your information was invaluable!
P.S. Mark you make this job look easy. It was NOT easy. But doable just be patient and take your time. I did drop the exhaust on the passenger side. Although I didn't remove the front driveshaft it just really helped to have extra room on that side. I installed the front seal by putting it on the gear cluster first then slid the gear cluster/seal combo into place.
Thanks for the story, and for a reminder why I always do my own wrench-twisting. ;-) What we shadetree mechanics lack in experience, we more than make up for in motivation to do it right the first time. ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY The thing is it was a German car specialty shop that charges top dollar and advertises working on super cars. And they either didn't check the preload or did and just ignored it. VERY disappointing.
@@clarkmgb9389 I'm sure it would have been aggravating to try to get them to stand behind their job when the bearings fried just a few thousand miles after the repair, too! It sounds like you've got it fixed to perfection, though. I put about 10,000 miles on my GLK since I did the repair, and so far, it's perfect. I expect it to stay that way, too! ;-)
I'm getting ready to do this job myself. When you put the front output shaft seal over the gear cluster,was it difficult to get into place? Did you line it up then tap it into place?
@@mikedizzle5273 it slid into place pretty easily. I did put a liberal amout of grease on the seal the gear the case and the splines. It did require light tapping to fully seat.
No for internal transfer case. This is when you separate transfer case from transmission. Look at the
AR28.10-P-0100T Remove/install transfer case
21.10.11
Step number 20
@@klajdistari827 that's a different (211.08) transfer case, and the grease they're installing is on the "plug-type splines", whatever those are (I'm not familiar with that particular transmission or transfer case).
@@Mark_H_DIY I am replacing my transfer case with trans on my w211 e350 4 matic. I am having hard time to find that grease. Do you know what else I can use ?
@@klajdistari827 sorry, I'm not at all familiar with that transfer case or transmission. I'm not sure what the grease is being added to, so I would have a hard time giving you much of a suggestion anyway.
@@Mark_H_DIY ok thanks a lot
Thanks for the video. Question is this in your opinion doable without a lift as you have shown. I know in your situation u had a busted front shaft. But if we don’t is it still doable ?
Assuming you're in shape to handle a lot of laying on your back, yes... I didn't find it a particularly (physically) difficult job, and really having a lift wouldn't have made it a lot easier (sometimes working laying down can be less stressful on your arms and shoulders than working over your head on a lift). I would recommend removing the front driveshaft when reassembling the transfer case, though you'll just have to tuck it out of the way since you don't want to have to wrestle it out of its "cave". ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY thanks you so much for your time!
Hi Mark. Great video! I'm looking to purchase a transfer case gear output shaft for my 2011 E550 7229. Could you tell me where you bought these parts?
Thanks! I got the output shaft gear from Maktrans in Poland. maktrans.net/zaptchasti-akpp/mercedes/722%2C9/zhelezo-722.9 It's worked out fine so far, and from what I've read from others who've ordered them, they apparently are a long-term solution to the lack of availability from MB. The part number I ordered is SQGX7229. There are Chinese vendors building these as well, but I have no clue as to the quality or longevity of those parts (and would tend to be skeptical because of systemic quality issues in the Chinese auto parts industry).
Thank you Mark!
I'm doing the same repair on a w221 4matic and really appreciate the detail you put into making this video. Thanks and congrats on your successful completion. 30mm 12 point deep! Get one before you start 😂 yeah, you got me.
@@jimdempsey767 There's always that ONE tool you need for something like this. ;-( Good luck with the repair, and hope it all comes out perfect.
Hello, can we have the contact details of the spare parts supplier ?
There is information on all the parts in the description of the video. Make sure and watch the second video as well, as there is new info you need to do the job right.
Merci
Sos un genio!!!!
Gracias!
@@Mark_H_DIY ademas de saber hacer el trabajo, realmente se esforzo mucho, se dio el martillo en la mano en una oportunidad y no paro 2 segundos, cruzo los dedos para que le dure muchas millas el arreglo!!!!
So far (over 10,000 miles), so good! Still quiet and smooth.
My 2011 GLK 350 drive shaft broke also. Must be defect. The co2 sensor housing is damaged causing the engine light to come on. The mechanic checked everything ok, said to ignore the dummy light. IMO a Mercedes drive shaft should not break. This is my last Mercedes, enough.
The front propshaft (driveshaft) is a known "common" failure point in the vehicle. Just like any drivetrain part, it can wear out and fail. The problem with this particular part is, when it does break, "things can get interesting", with the shaft now resembling a baseball bat in the hands of a very strong madman. I bought my GLK with a broken driveshaft, and sadly (for the previous owners) it also damaged the U-joint on the front output shaft of the transfer case. I can't complain because it allowed me to buy the car for around 1/4th of what it would be worth fixed. All in all, the GLK is a very reliable platform - I put them on the "Toyota reliability level" (since Toyotas also break occasionally). I've read comment after comment on forums that people have driven these vehicles 100-200,000 miles with literally nothing but scheduled maintenance.
Vehicle was.not level when you checked fluid, you under filled it.
Actually, the vehicle was level. And due to the location of the drain / fill port, a little bit of front / rear height discrepancy won't make a measurable difference in the fluid level anyway.
Being that I work at a dealership, I respectfully disagree. It's your car and your transmission/ transfer case. The last seal you installed was little cocked in it' s bore as well. I hope that works out well and you do not have any issues with either. Being the perfectionist I am , I would lose sleep over this. That is just my opinion. The repair video was enjoyable. I hope you have the Mercedes for many trouble free years , you have earned it after this repair and the mounts. Mercedes are a great vehicle to own if you like to tinker. The driving experience is next level.
I think the appearance of being "un-level" is due to the fact that I am using very different jackstands front and rear on the car (hey, they're what I have). ;-) The first time I filled the fluid I did actually place a level on the door sill (but didn't show that in the video). Thanks for the kind words and wishes. I do really enjoy the car, which I bought because I always loved the way they look (IMHO the only pretty, "German-looking" SUV MB ever built) and because I was able to pick it up for a song due to the front propshaft / transfer case issues. What I didn't know is that my wife would like it SO much that we'd end up selling my 2006 BMW 530xi Touring instead. Oops. But to be honest, I really like the engineering and serviceability of the GLK far more than the (often sadistic) design for UNserviceability of the BMW.
@@Mark_H_DIY Hello, I needed clarification, doesn't the transfer case have to contain oil independently of the automatic transmission?
@@bbranquinho3133 Nope... The transfer case feeds off the transmission fluid flow. No separate fluid.
Oh
My bad. found it:)
Thanks for letting me know ;-)
@@Mark_H_DIY Do you have an MB parts number for the front and rear output seals? THanks;)
The part numbers are in the video description (though I didn't replace the rear output seal - it was fine).
man... your poor hands! 😥
@@Solidsnake0208 my days as a hand model are long behind me... ;-)
dude your videos would be so much more easier to watch if you would stop saying HUH HUH HUH GEEZ
All but the very best orators suffer from the tendency to insert a "huh", "ummm", "y'know", or other verbal tic into their speech, when their brain needs to catch up with their mouth. When listening to someone, your brain tends to filter out all these unnecessary fillers. But since TH-cam's Auto captioning inserts them, they tend to stand out like the proverbial sore thumbs. Hopefully there's enough useful content in my videos to overcome having to listen to a string of huhs. ;-)
IT would def make for a good drinking game in college . huh =DRINK huh =drink huh=drunk
goog content though !
With one of my videos, the participants would need emergency stomach pumping! ;-)
i have very little understanding about transmissions, im here just to see what kind of job its to get my transfer case rebuilt in the shop 🥲 shop quoted about 2500 euros
@@mummonturbosukset3504 You'll be doing well to understand how the job goes, to speak intelligently with the mechanic, and to clarify your expectations (it would be very easy to skip some of the critical bits, like replacing the one-use rear output shaft clutch pack bolt, or even checking the bearings or front output shaft U-joint - depending on what is wrong with your transfer case. OTOH, most shops just quote a new transmission. ;-)