Suspnsion Knock

[Klausy]

Hi All,

'51 plate W203 saloon.

It has developed a rather worrying suspension knock that at first I thought was the exhaust coming lose. Two different independants have had a quick look and tell me that it might be bushes and OK to drive.

There is another garage right next door to work and purely out of convenience I have asked him to give me a price to replace these bushes. Having only driven it (and not put it on a ramp) he tells me that the main suspension frame has come away from the car and it is very dangerous to drive.

Could he be right? Can he deduce this from only driving it?

Any thoughts please.

 

[BlackC55]

Get him to take a pic. Its sounds like he is BS you.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Take it for an MOT, irrespective of when it's next due. They'll find the fault for you.

 

[Klausy]

He now thinks it might be time for new dampers.

He is quoting £160 for supply/fit of the rear pair?

Any thoughts on this price....

 

[BlackC55]

Get it diagnosed properly is my advice. Is he just guessing?

 

[Klausy]

Well I have to do something rather than nothing, I've ordered a pair of dampers for the rear and I'll change them myself over the weekend.

You never know, he might be right and I will then save myself his labour charge.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Take it for an MOT, irrespective of when it's next due. They'll find the fault for you.

I still think this is the best immediate course of action.

As BlackC55 says, get it diagnosed properly. Bear in mind he's a respected pro when it comes to Mercs although this is sound advice for any car (or mechanical device!)

Your car will become a money pit when you embark upon randomly changing things. My personal view of taking off perfectly good original parts and changing them for modern replacements (genuine or not) is that you can start to introduce reliability issues especially if work isn't carried out perfectly. I'm thinking; twisted bushes, incorrect alignment etc.

 

[Klausy]

Sound advice from you all, thank for that.

I have had the car over a pit to take a look at it myself, it appears that the shock absorber bottom bolt was loose.

Tightened it up, problem solved, it cost me nothing and the difference is amazing.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a LandRover man and I've always done my own work on them, slowly but surely I'm gaining confidence in working on the Merc.

I may as well service it myself now that I've booked the day as a holiday and it's already over the pit.

Where's that mug of tea....?

 

[grober]

I take it you won't be going back to the garage next door to your work.

 

[Klausy]

Absolutley, we are a 30 'odd strong work force and I think he sees us as a captive audience. It's not my style to be critical of folk but I won't be going there again...

 

[MB-BTurbo]

That is not ok for someone to just willy nilly guess at your expense.

At the very least if you had initially suspected the bushes you could have tried lubing them with silicon spray. I did that when I got knocking from the front. It went away so I now know that it is definitely them.

 

[bing]

2 useless independent garages taking wild guesses without even looking underneath