240D Five Speed ! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Brad123D · #1 07-30-2003, 05:06 PM

I talked to someone who claimed to have a 1982 240D 5 speed (!)parts car and it's for sale. If it is truly a 5 speed , how rare is this car ?

TimFreeh · #2 07-30-2003, 06:14 PM

The 5 speed was available for the 240D for several years. It's pretty rare - I would guess less than 5% of the manual transmission 240D's are 5 speeds.

Maybe somebody else out there has exact production figures.

Tim

sokoloff · #3 07-30-2003, 06:17 PM

Didn't know any US versions had 5 speeds. Of course I've never looked for one either. Let's hope the five speeds in your parts car aren't 4 forward and 1 reverse.

Len

leathermang · #4 07-30-2003, 08:44 PM

That brings up the question as to what percent of the 240's were manual compared to auto ... anyone know ? I am referring to US cars of course.

#5 07-31-2003, 08:31 AM

If it's a factory five speed, it's a Euro car.

In response to leathermang's question, I don't know the exact answer, but I sure have seen lots of manual transmissioned 240D's over the years. It wouldn't surprise me if it was 50/50 or so. It also wouldn't surprise me if there were more manual US 240D's than automatics. But just observing cars over the years is nowhere near enough data to know for sure.

Have a great day,

Stevo · #6 07-31-2003, 11:39 AM

A couple of days ago I called on an add for a "77" 5 SPEED 240D and it turned out to be 4 speeds ahead plus reverse.

My 5 speed came to the US via Rotterdam, non were US cars.

rs899 · #7 07-31-2003, 12:20 PM

Larry/Stevo/anybody-

Someday soon I think I will have an opportunity to peruse the junkyards of Eastern europe ( or delegate a relative to do so) for a 5-speed for my 240D. If I find one, will it bolt up on the existing 4-speed adapter plate ? Is the driveshaft the same length?. Is the slave cylinder in the same place (do I need that master to slave pipe?) Any other possible gotchas?

Rick

#8 07-31-2003, 03:24 PM

See my sig. I have a 240D 5 speed. They were only available in Europe, so it'll be a Eurospec car. I'd snag it up in a heartbeat as they are a rare find.

leathermang · #9 07-31-2003, 05:09 PM

Rick,
I am pretty sure that the 5th gear was an addition to the end of the four speed,,, thus will take a shorter drive shaft.
The later model ones were made in one piece... I do think the adapter plates will work,,, due to the front four gears being the same .....

leathermang · #10 07-31-2003, 05:20 PM

I would like to remind people thinking about putting a five speed into their cars... that their engine's torque curve needs to be consulted and to protect the engine from lugging the rear end ratio may need to be adjusted... depending on the speed the car will be used at.. Remember that the AutoBahn does NOT have a speed limit ( where they had 5 speeds available from the dealer )... and a four cylinder may need to be doing 85 in 5th to keep from lugging it....

R Leo · #11 07-31-2003, 06:00 PM

The manual GB used in the 123s is built-up; ie separate bellhousing, gearbox and tailpiece. And, from my research it seems as if Greg is right, the 5 sp of that vintage is an add-on to the tailpiece. Whether or not you need to lengthen or shorten the driveshaft when installing a five-speed is the simple part of the equation; simply finding one of the bloody things is the real challenge.

From what I can tell, the later model chassis (is it a 124?) apparently uses a one-piece transmission (integrated bellhousing, gearbox and tailpiece) which is incompatible with the earlier transmission and engine (OM616-617) configuration mainly because the starter is on the left-hand side of the OM601-602-603 engine as opposed to the right-hand placement of the starter on the OM616-617s. See the following picture of the automatic transmission installed in the 124 chassis vehicles.

Check out this post from earlier today...
190E Tramnsmission...will it fit on an OM617?

It also appears that the fifth speed in the 190E was extremely tall and maybe even too high a gear for this particular genre of short stroke diesel.

There's also been some cogitation about adapting a Borg-Warner(?) five speed to the OM616-617 engine. IMHO, this would be one helluva hat trick. In the first place, the flywheel on these engines are significantly smaller in diameter than the domestic flywheels I'm used to and they have most of their mass concentrated in a raised rim (approx 1" x 1") out near the circumference of the flywheel. My experience on Detriot iron is limited to vehicles older than about 1978 but, in all the ones I've ever worked on, I've never seen a flywheel (manual trans) like the ones on these MBZs.

If an Euro, diesel, 123 compatible, five-speed providentially lands on my door step, I'll probably find a way to install it in Marlene. Until then, I'm sticking with my four-speed installation project.

R Leo · #12 07-31-2003, 06:18 PM

124 auto tranny