w124 judder

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Adeinfrance

Active Member
Joined
May 20, 2012
Messages
247
Location
Henley-on-Thames RG9, UK
Car
Mercedes 300CE----Fiat 500F 1967---- BMW 530d Touring-----Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Hi all. Managed to get the 300ce back to the UK from the south of France yesterday, 14 hours door to door, with no apparent leaks from the recent secondhand gearbox but now have a judder which starts around 70mph. Can't tell exactly where from as the whole car is shaking. All four tyres are recently fitted so have ruled out balancing, certainly nothing from the fronts as the steering wheel was OK. Never had this problem before the gearbox was fitted. Also I only had a top speed of 80mph and no kickdown, although the gearbox seemed fine, so I guess this will be incorrect adjustment of the new accelerator cable I had fitted last Tuesday. The car is now located in Marlow, Bucks so does anybody know of anybody local that could sort out these problems? I know a lot of places don't like working on these older mercs. I also noticed on arrival at Calais that the electric fans aren't kicking in so had to put the heater on full whilst in the queue, that was comfy!
Thanks in advance, Ade
 

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If the gearbox was off, then it might be the propshaft causing the judder, if it wasn't aligned properly.
 
Probably worth re checking wheel balance- I had this after new tyres once -one wheel hadn't been balanced correctly. On another occasion i had a persistent vibration which took over a year to diagnose-it turned out to be an oval tyre (from new)-spent a fortune changing bushes and shocks and several garage visits trying to get to the bottom of that one. :doh:
 
If the gearbox was off, then it might be the propshaft causing the judder, if it wasn't aligned properly.

I'm not a mechanic but I thought yesterday perhaps propshaft. There is nothing until 70mph. Is it possible to misalign the propshaft? If it is I wouldn't put it past the French mechanic as he forgot to tighten up one of the pipes to the oil cooler when he fitted the gearbox. As regards balancing, the front tyres were fitted last Thursday before leaving and I watched the guy balance them, the rears however were done 1 year ago then the car was parked up so perhaps a flat spot? Surely wouldn't that make the car vibrate at slow speeds as well, and after 800 miles in the heat yesterday the tyre would have rectified itself. All pressures were spot on before departure. I could here like a rumbling noise every few seconds as well almost like something was running out of balance then correcting itself if that makes sense. I have had the car 14 years so I know every noise it makes.
 
bad alignment can cause whole car to shake at a that speed.

Some of the suspension joints may have worn over the years and caused the alignment to go bad.

Have quick look now, at all wheels, and across whole width of each wheel to see if there is any signs of uneven wear.
 
bad alignment can cause whole car to shake at a that speed.

Some of the suspension joints may have worn over the years and caused the alignment to go bad.

Have quick look now, at all wheels, and across whole width of each wheel to see if there is any signs of uneven wear.

I've not noticed any strange tyre wear in the past and all the tyres are now new.
Have put it in my mates garage today for a serious check over and mot so hopefully he will discover the problem. He reckons some of the problems may be due to lack of use. Am really looking forward to getting my old car back on the road so I can use her again after her being parked up for a few years so if anybody is around the Marlow area next month and fancies a meet up let me know.
 
It's ideal to check for tyre wear with new tyres, especially over the length of journey you have just made.
 

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