getting nervous

[kemp2368]

hi all,its that mot time in a few days, its been 1 year since buying my 1st merc and i must say its been trouble free (touch wood)all ive needed was 2 new front tyres
i fitted new electric ariel with new cd player when first got her and all is well.
the reason for posting is that on the old mot was a advisory saying the nearside&offside front lower suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement
ive only done around 4 k this year,does anyone have any advice about changing these if needed or is it a garage job?? i use a very good local mechanic who has never let me down or ripped me off in 20 years, he charges about £35 p/hour and comes to my work place to pick car up
how long should it take him etc
thanks in advance

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
The lower arms can be replaced completely or the bushes can be bought to replace them either way the arm has to come off.
When my bushes went I had the arms replaced, me and my mechanic wieghed up the labour time over replacing the bushes, or the entire arm and decided to go for the new arms. The main factor deciding this is that the old bushes would need to be pressed out and the new ones pressed in.(time consuming and potentially troublesome).
I bought the lower arms from Euro car parts, it may also be worth replacing the lower ball joints at the same time while the arms are off as they are also a common W202 complaint.

 

[kemp2368]

good news,passed mot but with a couple of advisorys,slight weep from shock,slight leak from diff and it took a couple of goes to pass emisions
overall not to bad
he says the suspension bushes are fine,and both leaks are miniture and normal for a car 14 years old
as for the emissions he reckons it might need new lambda next year,or might be as i only drive it 3 miles a day

 

[Smiley]

good news,passed mot but with a couple of advisorys,slight weep from shock,slight leak from diff and it took a couple of goes to pass emisions
overall not to bad
he says the suspension bushes are fine,and both leaks are miniture and normal for a car 14 years old
as for the emissions he reckons it might need new lambda next year,or might be as i only drive it 3 miles a day

3 miles a day - you need to give it a 20 mile run once a week - it will all last a lot longer - none of the mechanicals are getting warmed up. I am not surprised you had emissions problems.

 

[kemp2368]

3 miles a day - you need to give it a 20 mile run once a week - it will all last a lot longer - none of the mechanicals are getting warmed up. I am not surprised you had emissions problems.

thanks for your positive comments

 

[GazCaff]

3 miles a day - you need to give it a 20 mile run once a week - it will all last a lot longer - none of the mechanicals are getting warmed up. I am not surprised you had emissions problems.

I agree, I only drive my car a short distance on a day-to-day basis, so I make sure it gets a proper run at least once a week.