Flex Disk replacement - Drive Shaft procedure question

[ja17]

If all else fails you can add a second washer under the bolt head.  This is not normally the case. Make sure you have everything set up correctly.

[georgem]

Sorry to keep banging on about this but:

Its now in and I took her for a drive - beautiful - two washers as you suggested Joe so all good - the backyard mechanic wasn`t needed!. As per the SLS diagram I attempted to keep the two drive shafts and the gear box in a straight line but in the end I used the "hope and pray"  method as I couldn`t see any method of doing this.

One thing I did notice was the fact that when I tightened up all six bolts, the flex disc ended up looking like a potato chip ie where it was bolted to the gearbox, if curved forward, to the prop shaft it curved back. Is this normal? In my mind I assumed that it would remain on a single plain ie stay flat.

Hmmm, as I write I`m thinking that maybe this isn`t so bad - the prop shaft has the centering spider and the disc attached. This is then inserted onto the shaft that protrudes from the centre of the gearbox flange BUT there is a fat rubberwasher/seal stopping it go all the way forward. When the flex disc is bolted down, forcing the centering spider up against the rubber seal, it would naturally distort the ring. Am I on the right track?

[ja17]

Another option, as last resort, add a second  washer under the bolt head so the bolt does not stick out as far. Make sure everty thing is assembled correctly first. Also compare your new hardware to the original hardware that you removed in the first place.

[tel76]

When all the bolts are tightened your disc should be completely flat and not under any stress, if it is not you should not operate the car until you have found out what is wrong.
Did you loosen the large nut that holds the sliding sleeve where the front shaft meets the rear shaft ?
If you have the correct MB parts then you should not require extra washers, to fit them would be a cock up, have another look at your hardware, are they MB genuine parts, if so have you got the correct part number ?
If you leave it like that it will fail in a very short time and when it does it will spoil your day and you could have a large accident.

[ja17]

Sounds like your driveshaft is compressed too much. It might need to move forward a bit. Loosen the two  center carrier bolts. If your driveshaft has the large Lock nut, loosen it also. At this point you can move the driveshaft forward enough to "flatten out" the flex disc again.