Front suspension on 2001 A Class collapses

[lofty]

I have been contacted by an owner requesting information on the front suspension on an 2001 A class with only 29000 miles on the clock where the aluminium lower cup on the strut of the front suspension has completely broken away allowing the suspension to collapse, It appears this is also accomanied by a broken spring, lower tail end.

He has contacted MB.UK and they are collecting his car on Tuesday but this is without doubt a very serious situation and one which owners should be fully aware of.
This happened as his Son got into the car BUT If this unit were to fracture in this way while moving at speed I hate to think of the consequences and yet short of inspecting your units nothing further can be done by the owner MB YES they could arrange a recall for inspection or at the very least warn owners of the problem.
I have taken the unusual step of posting a copy of the photograph sent to me so that owners can see what I'm talking about and so that they can inspect the ali cups on the struts on their cars as well as the condition of the spring
If owners use the front jacking support and jack the car up until the front wheel just leaves the floor an inspection can be made of these components. Remeber the wedge your wheels and take all safety precautions .Please do this as a matter of some urgency and try to avoid an accident, which is waiting to happen
PS if you want to read this owners comments first hand then I understand from Sergio that it has been posted on his site http://svc.cc/board/html
the other photo is of my own car , note the duck oil lubrication applied when ever I'm in the area of the car , it helps to keep out the rust and assists with preventing the sulphation of the ali components due to road salt.
lofty

 

[grober]

Thanks for the heads up Lofty. On reading the posts on the other site an Australian owner seems to imply that the steel spring broke first (quite common on the first A class and lots of other modern cars nowadays, peugeot, citroen comes to mind) which remained undetected. The broken end then wore away the alloy spring perch before it finally failed. Seems a plausible explanation rather than a sudden catastrophic failure. The other possibility would have been a very violent suspension event, hitting a large pothole or kerb at speed causing sufficient damage to precipitate sudden failure later.
Ah the MacPherson strut, a blessing and a curse!!

 

[lofty]

update from owner via lofty

I have been asked by the owner to make it clear that on contacting Mercedes-benz Uk they were very sympathetic and most helpful, as was said above they are arranging for the car to be collected on tuesday next when it will be taken to the local dealer for repair. It appears at this stage that MB will be showing some goodwill.

When I hear more I will update you, I trust that in future any other owners suffering spring damage problems front or rear, will take the same line by contacting Mercedes UK that way we may get to the bottom of this problem.
I will at a later date try and get the MB contact dealing with this defect
lofty

 

[lofty]

another broken front spring located

One owner having read this report on another site checked his car and found a broken front spring of which he wasn't aware , at this stage his alloy spring support is still intacked , I have advised him to contact MB.UK as well
So the time spent on this posting was well worth while, if you haven't done so please check or get your cars checked that way we can aviod the accident that's waiting to happen.
lofty

 

[lofty]

Update.am 31/05/06
MB UK Have now acknowledged the letter I sent to them, and have advised the head office of Daimlerchrsler, they have requested a copy of the letter be forwarded to them. If members wish I will keep you updated .
lofty.

 

[grober]

Mb Speak????

Will be interesting to hear what sort of response you get. Dont expect much.

 

[Satch]

Sounds familiar:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=18112

 

[lofty]

For those members interested I have just posted a copy of the letter recd from DaimlerChryler in respect of broken springs. or rather none broken springs! Along with their contact address on my site .

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/albert.rowe/mypage.19.htm

Now I feel it's up to those who have and are having problems to write to the address and contact given with the complaint number.outlining their particular experience.
lofty

 

[lofty]

follow up information

Ray 's car was with MB for three weeks, he did not have a car provided, he had to pay half the cost of repair and MB only replaced the strut and spring on one side.as ther car had only done 30000!
As most DIY as well as professionals are aware it is very bad practice to replace one component on either brakes of suspension as balance can be lost.

I have now sent details of the front & rear spring problems to VOSA, (Vehicle & Operator Services Agency) that is following letters from MB denying there is a problem.
Although I have furnished them with all the details plus photographic evidence they are unlikely to be able to progress the complaint/problem with DaimlerChrysler as I am unable to give them specific information, date of discovery, service history, year of car etc, as the problem has not occurred on my own car.
If there are any UK members out there who would be prepared to give VOSA this information in respect of their own cars then would you please e-mail me or contact VOSA to obtain a form of notification of defect likely to cause and accident where upon they may well be able to progress the complaint. Please quote ref. New-VSD 27th June. 2006. and mark for the attention of Andrew Taviner, Senior Administrator, the form reqd is :-VSDR100 - DI (GP) without your co-operation MB are off the hook.

Either way VOSA are now at least aware that there are problems on the Mercedes ‘A’ Class suspension and in the event of an accident where their officers are tasked to investigate the cause, they can at least pay attention to that area of the car as the possible cause.

 

[lofty]

UPDATE
VOSA have been in contact again today, they haven't been able to access the html page I posted for them they aren't allowed into my site, thought it might be porn! What my site!!

Any way I sent them a printed copy last week and they have now come back with information.

They have been contacted before on this problem, the rears do not cause a problem because although they fail they haven't to date caused an accident nor do they consider they will. And as we are aware they are normally spotted on service or MOT
The fronts are a different story,
According to VOSA the front spring has a designed weak area so that when/if it fails the broken end of the remaining spring locks into the bracket on the strut. See photo attached
This was Rays car the most recent notification of front spring and strut support failure.
What they are interested in is the case where according to the owner; the spring came to rest on the tyre. I have contacted that member by PM and asked him to either contact VOSA or me with more details.

According to VOSA MB have been doing tests to try and determine what causes the springs to break so far they have not come up with the answer. But they told me there wasn't a problem lying B*******S

Vosa have said that a very small amount of corrosion on the springs can cause them to fail, they have also said that the design of the front suspension is such that it should not collapse more than 30mm, this is due to what they call a secondary spring on the piston of the strut under the corrugated gaiter.
Again they have no record of such a breakage causing an accident.
I can do no more it's now up to owners .
The attached photo shows the remaining portion of the spring sited in the strut where MB & VOSA agree it is designed to stop