Thread: Mercedes Clutch locked up

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My dads Mercedes ( '83 240D ) has been sitting/ not run for 3 years, in my grandfathers barn where we have it stored.. were going to try to get it on the road this year.. I put some Diesel 9-1-1 in the tank, checked oil and put in a new battery. pushed in the clutch to try to start it, and the car lunged ( good thing I had my foot on the brake too ).. tried it again and it did the same.. clutch is a cable clutch, so it's frozen.. the pedal feels just like it should, just it's stuck.. I pulled it into neutral ( and the shifter is very stiff to move for some reason ) and started it... took 3 trys to get it started, but it did start fairly easy... It's a 4spd manual.... I know with old barn find's, stuck clutches are quite common.. I can pull the car out of the barn with my old Ranger to where we can work on it easier ( it's tight in there ).. but what can I do?

Sometimes just putting the trans in High and hitting the starter with the clutch pressed will break it loose. If there's a cover on the bottom of the bellhousing, pull it off, and with someone holding the pedal down, try to pry the disc off the flywheel with a knife or screwdriver. If that doesn't do it, you may have to unbolt the clutch from the flywheel. If it were mine, I'd start it in Low gear and shift it through the gears to High, then hold the gas to the floor and jam the brakes on with the clutch depressed. Sounds like you need three legs to do it all, but a stick to hold the gas pedal down does the trick. If you don't know how to shift gears without the clutch, you're out of luck on this trick.

I don't know if the MB trans will hold togther if it was shifted without the clutch... I think we'll try bumping the starter in high gear first, and then go from there.. shouldn't be stuck too bad, it's only been 3 years

I suppose dynamite would be a bit too aggresive, Matt????

We do want to keep the car in 1 peice, if at all possible

is it the clutch or the cable? i some of those cables can be a sticky mess after sitting for a while

I'll have to check the cable.. I know the clutch and preassure plate is a popular swap in the small Ford 6's, when connecting them to T5 transmissions. the MB stuff fits right in

Shifting without the clutch won't damage the trans if you match engine RPM to the speed of the car while you go through Neutral. The real trick is to get going in First, best to warm the engine up, then with a slight downhill slope, put it in First and hit the starter. I've had to do that on my Eagle at the stoplight in Medicine Hat when the clutch froze to the flywheel in a blizzard, and that was grossing over 120,000 pounds!