Cracked Coil Spring & Play on Wheel

[MecrazyBenz]

Car: W202 98 Esprit 113K Probably all original suspension still

In recent travels my car suspension has felt it has been getting stiffer and noisier when going over speed bumps.

I jacked the front end of the car to have a quick look, and discovered a few things:

1) the front passenger side coil spring is cracked at the bottom. The Driver side appears to be ok.

Q. Are springs replaced in single/pairs/all four ?

2) when the streering wheel is straight, both front wheels have slight play when pushing on top and bottom of wheel/tyre.

Q. Does this sound like a bearing issue ? I do sometimes get a low humming sound when driving.

3) on full lock, there seems to be considerable play in the wheel when pushing it left to right. This play is about the same on the other wheel also.

Q. Is this common on w202's or should I be thinkning about replacing track rod ends or something else ??????

Also as im going to be replacing the coil spring/s, is it worth replacing anything else while my mechanics at it, such as dampers/bushes, bearing in mind the car has now covered 113k miles and probably still has all original suspension parts.


Thanks for any suggestions / help in advanced.

 

[grober]

You need an EXPERIENCED mechanic.

1. replace the springs in pairs definitely. Its a stress corrosion issue.If one goes the other's usually not far behind. Usually only front springs affected.
2.this model is known to knock out its ball joints top and bottom. A thorough inspection should show where the problem lies. Replace if in doubt since they are a crucial safety component.
3 Bearing wear normally gives a growling sound rather than humming. Humming sounds more like a tyre/certain road surface interaction.
4.Visual inspection of track rod ends should show any wear. They are a classic potential MOT failure

Does sound as if you need the front suspension /steering checked out. How much work you do depends on.
1 how far you need to strip the suspension down to effect repair
2 how much money you have
3.how long you intend to keep the car.

If the car needs a lot of front suspension work it makes sense to get it all done at the same time to avoid any future repetition of dismantling / assembly.

Heres where having a good mechanic you can trust is invaluable. His experience will tell him where to look for known weakness and assess the degree of wear. To a certain extent you are reliant on his judgement since he is the man with the pry bar under the car with the old inspection lamp.

 

[MecrazyBenz]

Many thanks grober for your advice.

I was/still am planninng to keep the car long term, so will definately get it all checked out and resolved.

Will keep this thread posted.

 

[MecrazyBenz]

Went to see the mechanic yesterday and explained the situation. The car spent a good half hour on the ramp with the mechanic pushing and pulling at various bits with his lamp.

- Basically in his opinion, all is ok, apart from the broken spring.
- Ball joints look ok
- Control arm looks ok
- Tie rods look ok
- Dampers are not leaking, and car bounces as it should
- The bushes have dired out causing the squeeking noise.

All in all sounds better then expected. Probably just replace the 2 front springs and see how it goes.

 

[grober]

Probably best to get the Merc ones since they are rated on a points system depending on equipment fitted aircon, autotrans etc and not too expensive. EPC do ventura which are OK but not so" tailored "as the pukka Merc ones.

 

[MecrazyBenz]

Probably best to get the Merc ones since they are rated on a points system depending on equipment fitted aircon, autotrans etc and not too expensive. EPC do ventura which are OK but not so" tailored "as the pukka Merc ones.

Yup, merc ones indeed. As its the Esprit model, im sure it uses the same ones as the sport model. The mechanic i spoke to said it would be 3 hours labour to replace both springs. Does this sound right?.

Also he quoted £58 + vat for the pair of springs. But my silly mind forgot to ask him if they were genuine or what?

GSF car parts have coil springs listed on their website but again no mention of manufacture. Il give them a call.

 

[grober]

Go With Your Own Mechanic

Usually very easy to do if you have the right mercedes spring compressor. Would take longer without it. Might be worth getting an estimate from your MB dealer, BUT since your other mechanic has spent time checking your car out for you, its probably fairest to give him the work. his hourly rate are probably much better anyway.

 

[Bazzle]

Play on lock is normal .
This is why you should not turn remove and turn steering wheel if it is off centre.
Did he say wheel bearings OK< play must of been somewhere?

Bazzle

 

[MecrazyBenz]

Play on lock is normal .
This is why you should not turn remove and turn steering wheel if it is off centre.
Did he say wheel bearings OK< play must of been somewhere?

Bazzle

He did say there was a very small amount of play on the vertical line that could possibly be caused by bearings. He said until he gets the wheel off and has a look around he cant say for sure, but he was optimistic that the amount of play vertically was nothing to worry about.

He did also mention that if the bearings did need replacing, the entire wheel hub needs replacing as the bearings are part of that ????? and a pair of wheel hubs were quoted around the £160+ plus labour

 

[grober]

Hubs have to be removed completely.

He did say there was a very small amount of play on the vertical line that could possibly be caused by bearings. He said until he gets the wheel off and has a look around he cant say for sure, but he was optimistic that the amount of play vertically was nothing to worry about.

He did also mention that if the bearings did need replacing, the entire wheel hub needs replacing as the bearings are part of that ????? and a pair of wheel hubs were quoted around the £160+ plus labour

Sounds to be an honest mechanic from first paragraph. There is a perceptible "end float " on front hub bearings normally. The recognised way to measure / adjust this is with a dial gauge which most garages have. I am however puzzled by his remark that replacing the 2 hub bearings requires a new hub assembly. Normally this isn't necessary when replacing bearings unless his experience has taught him otherwise on older cars where corrosion might be a problem. You do need the correct drifts, presses and spacers to do the job correctly so maybe he is talking about pre-assembled rebuilt hub units, dont know. On the bright side it doesnt sound as if you will need new bearings anyway.

edit on reading this again I think he means you have to strip the hub down to its component parts to replace the bearings not replace it. This involves dismantling the front brake calipers removing the brake discs and then removing the hub from the stub axle to renew the bearings on the bench. This is definitely required and pretty labour intensive. The 4 bearings plus seals plus grease are relatively cheap in comparison but make sure to get good quality replacements.

 

[big x]

Sounds like there's nothing wrong with your front wheel bearings.Slight play with the wheel off the ground and grasped at the 12 and six o'clock position is normal.If the play is to much it's a simple matter of ajusting the hub nut.Don't fall into the trap many here do of throwing money at the car just beacuse it appears to be a high tech bit of kit.
Steering play with the wheel straight ahead is 25mm at the rim.
BTW the C-class Haynes manual is worth getting.

adam

 

[grober]

C class HAYNES manual

As big x says this will save you money and give you some good background info.