190E 2.3-16 Noisy Diff

[Aussiecossie]

Hi all and greetings from Down Under. I've already posted this on the 190.com forum but haven't had much luck with answers yet. I hope someone here can help....

I'm new to the forum although I've owned my 2.3-16 for about 3 years now. These beasts are very rare in Aus. because they were never officially sold here, the only ones being private imports.

My question involves a noisy diff - the symptoms are a loud whine under load/acceleration. If I back off a little or depress the clutch while moving along then the noise disappears. The whine gets louder the faster I go up to a certain level (at about 60 mph) then stays pretty much the same. The noise has been pretty constant for about 18 months now and is not getting any worse so I figure it's not something I have to fix tomorrow but I would still like to do something about it.


I've had it diagnosed as a worn crown wheel and pinion and it's apparently not fixable. My only option therefore seems to be to buy a new or second hand diff, which you can imagine is non-existent here. However, the experts I went to said that if I got a standard 190E diff, they could transfer the limited slip part of the Cosworth diff over and everything would be OK. So can anyone tell me if the standard 190E diff is the same as the Cossie one except for the LSD part? I would have thought it was weaker and possibly had a different ratio (mine is a RHD car originally from Hong Kong so I assume it's the Euro spec 3.07:1) but would love some advice on this. What about the diffs from other models - eg, 190E 2.6 or 300E? These would be easier to find in Aus.

Failing this option, does anyone know if the crown wheel and pinions are available new in Europe. If not, what about second hand stuff, either by private sale or from breakers yards? Even with shipping costs, I think it's going to work out much cheaper than going to MB and asking them for a new one.

Thanks and Cheers,

Andrew Clayton
Melbourne, Australia

 

[flyingtech55]

Hi Andrew

I can't help you with your cossie diff. problem directly but diff. problems seem to be very common on 190s. When I was looking for my 190 (2.0E) I found a number which were otherwise OK but had noisy diffs One really howled. The 190 I finally bought has a good diff. which I look after by changing the oil every 12 months. Hope it stays good.

There should be someone in Australia who can repair your diff. though. Diffs are used on all cars and LSDs aren't all that uncommon; some Jags have them as standard as do some of the big Holdens. Differentials are also a common engineering component used in industrial applications and should not be unknown to engineering companies. Provided you can get the bits from Mercedes a repair should be possible; however of course cost comes into the equation.

Hope this helps

Gliderman

 

[mjtray]

Andrew,

Try dropping the following Merc Breakers a quick e-mail and see what they come up with.

1) Merc Man: parts@mercman.net

2) www.mercedesparts.co.uk

If for whatever reason they do not want to ship to Aus then let me know, I'm sure that something can be arranged.

Good luck

 

[mjtray]

Bit of a coincidence but I was looking through an old Owners Club mag and a reader had written in complaining of a noisy diff on his 190 2.6.

The Techie replies by saying, you've guessed it " The diff whine on overrun for example is due to a tolerance fault. Change the diff for a Mercedes exchange unit. An economic way to possibly reduce the noise is by changing the oil to an LSD type, part number 2X 000 583 09 04 available from MB dealers"

This may or may not help.

Good luck.