W124 coupe - squeaky and clunky

[neilz]

My car is a W124 E220 Coupe from '95 and along with the engine issues posted separately I've got the following problems:

1) Front axle sometimes knocks when turning left, tends to be with sharper corners, usually when turning while going over a speed bump! (A-frame suggested)
2) Rear right wheel rubs underside over some bumps, but not the other wheels
3) Brakes makes repetitive squeaking sound but work perfectly (several very short squeaks rather than one long one) when lightly applied (been suggested that brakes not fitted professionally (done by previous owner))

So braking while steering sharp over a bump does get rather noisy!

Any ideas? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[bing]

Usually if knocking or clunking it's the control arm (wishbone) bushings. Having said that there is plenty of rubber/joints under there that wear/fail over time. So check all i.e tied rod ends, anti-roll bar bushings, idler arm, drag link, strut mounts and shocks. Damm pot holes and humps in London don't help!

 

[The G.F.P]

ive found with wheel squeeking like this

pull away ... squeek, squeek squeek, squeek squeek squeek, then as i get to 15 mph they stop squeeking

it was a metal half disc behind the wheel to maybe keep brake dust off stuff the working, mine got slightly bent when the wheel comes on and off

just hit it back a bit and it was ok

one of mine clonks on full left lock, done it for 6 years now and still ok

 

[neilz]

<sigh> They can fund 5000 extra police officers for that damn wedding but they can't fill in those damn pot holes!

I'm a relative newbie which really doesn't help so would saying the sound comes from the front axle centre-left help at all?

EDIT: If that sound is doing the car no harm then is it actually worth investigating the knock sound?

 

[neilz]

ive found with wheel squeeking like this

pull away ... squeek, squeek squeek, squeek squeek squeek, then as i get to 15 mph they stop squeeking

it was a metal half disc behind the wheel to maybe keep brake dust off stuff the working, mine got slightly bent when the wheel comes on and off

just hit it back a bit and it was ok

I'll check that, thanks, sounds like you may well be right! It's really really annoying when you're slowly braking round a sharp bend on a B road, that squeaking can go on for ages!

 

[The G.F.P]

i know nothing about cars and if i cant fix them by swearing at them i get my mate to have a look and he has a big hammer

 

[neilz]

i know nothing about cars and if i cant fix them by swearing at them i get my mate to have a look and he has a big hammer

Same, which is why my family think I'm mad wanting to restore my coupe, but I'm going to. I've already spent twice what it's every going to be worth and that's on unexpected repairs alone so why stop there? I'll never get back what I've already spent on it no matter what condition it's in if I sell it!

 

[The G.F.P]

your doing it on the right car

ive had 4 and find that every 10-12 years stuff needs replacing which is damn good as most cars dont last that long

only thing is you have the 2.2 and it wont be long before you will want the 3.2 then the 3.6 amg then like most of us start drooling over the 5.0 v8 engine w124 coupe then youll want the hammer looking one

it never ends

 

[neilz]

In the family we've had the 560sec, the 600sec, the Pagoda, 6.2 (can't remember what range) so this is a little underpowered compared to them! I've decided that I'll take this car off the road and have it as a project in a few years and buy myself a rust-free (there must be one out there?) W123 300D. Even less powerful, but after all those powerful cars I'm looking for reliability. I also had a low-mileage 1994 W202 C200 for a very short while (ECU went killing everything else) and my 560SEC produced smoke as if it was running off Redex so I just sold it quick.

I looked at your cars, shame GFP1 got crashed, that's the one that looks almost exactly like mine.

So from what I understand the knock could be anything in the suspension at the front? I know I said I may not bother but if I'm restoring it then why not? I'll try your hammer theory at the weekend, and if nothing sticks out then I'll lock myself in a cupboard and scream, that sound is so annoying!

 

[BoyracerAU]

The W124 coupe is a great car. I completely understand why you're doing what you're doing.

Just last week, I had a steering arm and ball joints replaced on another of my cars. Before this was done, I was getting a rattle similar to that which you've described. If you jack up each of the front wheels, give them solid taps with your fist at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock and 6 o'clock and see if they wobble at all. They shouldn't..

With your brake pads, I had a classic Mini that used to do that. I was told to put a light coat of copper grease on the back of the pads, which I did, and the noise went away.

 

[neilz]

It's an amazing car, so comfortable and much smarter than newer ones I think, it feels more expensively made. If I can't really be bothered to wait for parts to arrive etc. and go to a garage how much would they charge do you think for four ball joints to be fitted?

Things like this I was originally planning to do myself but now I think a pro can do them a lot quicker than I can, get the parts cheaper and I trust their work more than my own!

 

[BoyracerAU]

The car I had fixed last week wasn't a Mercedes Benz, it was a Citroen, and fortunately the job was done by a specialist independent Citroen mechanic who also happens to be a good mate of mine, so I couldn't hazard a guess as to what the same job for an MB might cost.

Generally speaking though, I think it's always a good idea to identify the problems before giving the car to a workshop.

And I couldn't agree more with you about giving the car to a pro, but make sure he's a Mercedes Benz pro who knows his way around these cars or you may find yourself paying through the nose whilst he blindly muddles his way through. I've got four different marques in the garage and each one is looked after by four different workshops. They're all excellent at what they do and I don't ask them to do anything else to anything else.

 

[neilz]

Can anyone here recommend a competent, reasonable garage to replace ball joints?

I know my local indy would charge me a fortune (£400 to replace a propshaft coupling, the only difference I noticed afterwards was that the car didn't roll back when I moved the selector to reverse

 

[The G.F.P]

GFP 1 was bought from the insurance company and the bloke fixed it then he brought down for me to see

 

[neilz]

That's great to hear, would have been a shame for a car like that to be scrapped!

 

[300CE]

Can anyone here recommend a competent, reasonable garage to replace ball joints?

I know my local indy would charge me a fortune (£400 to replace a propshaft coupling, the only difference I noticed afterwards was that the car didn't roll back when I moved the selector to reverse

I'd look around for another garage Neil, £400 to change a coupling seems a hell of a lot of money to me. Where abouts in London are you based?

 

[neilz]

I know, but at least they do the job. My extremely-ill-fated Jeep Wrangler (the one which ran on 2 cylinders, which wouldn't go above 2000rpm without misfiring terribly, the one which couldn't go above 55mph, the one which stalled up hills, the one which was so rusty a step fell off while I was driving up Kensington Church Street) was maintained by 3 separate garages, all cowboys! This garage was recommended to me by the chauffeur of one of my dad's clients (my dad's an interior designer) and maintains mainly Rolls Royces (it's based in Battersea and looks like a bog standard garage, it doesn't even have a website any more!)

 

[300CE]

Blimey, sounds like you haven't had a lot of luck. You've done the right thing by coming to the forum, loads of decent garage advice available.

 

[neilz]

The worst bit is, it was a rare 1994 4.0 Limited Edition which I had bought 10 years before for £17000!

 

[Mr Nicey]

I have your answer

Carserv - Mobile Mechanic & Car Servicing

Charlie has worked on My E320 Coupe twice. Water Pump replacement and a service and new bushes.

He did his apprenticeship at Mercedes.

The water pump replacement was £175. The B service and new bushes was £225.00

And twice on the Mrs Car. Again the prices were staggering. Cambelt replacement under £200 and a brakes overhaul and water jets repair for £90.

I totally recommend Charlie 100 % he's reliable, tidy, cheap, mobile, clean.