w203 estate leaning slightly to one side.

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TOPHATT712

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2018
Messages
8
Location
Winnersh, Wokingham
Car
C220 CDI AVANTGARDE ESTATE
Hi, parking the car up yesterday i noticed the car had a slight lean to the left.
is this a common problem. car just passed MOT so cant be a broken spring.
any ideas what to check.
 
Mot test is only valid for 24 hours or the edge of the forecourt, whichever comes first!

I would still check for broken coil spring
 
............................
cant be a broken spring.
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Oh yes it can! It's just the last three or four centimetres that break off in the lower seating. It can be very difficult to spot even if you know it's broken.
 
It doesn't take much of a gradient to cause a visual lean.
I would be sure the ground is even and check again.
 
Dampers shouldn't affect the ride height AFAIK.... only the springs do. The dampers simply stretch or compress to fill the gap. A failed damper will result in a visual leak, and/or an audible knock, and/or wavey ride and excessive lean when cornering, and/or horizontal tyre wear pattern.
 
Shouldn't no, but they do. Looking at my own from the back of it, it would lean to the left. The springs were fine. The shocks were knackered and nowadays when the shocks fail, majority of the time there is zero leakage or visual signs of leaks showing. My knackered shocks visually looked fine. But they were absolutely shot. Same springs on it. Only replaced the shocks. Handling back and tilt gone. Shocks that were knackered were Mercedes shocks, same kind same type. I really should have changed springs too but why fix what aint broke. Literally. From my own experience with any car when a spring is broken it is very much plainly obvious by handling, noises, rattling etc....

Dampers shouldn't affect the ride height AFAIK.... only the springs do. The dampers simply stretch or compress to fill the gap. A failed damper will result in a visual leak, and/or an audible knock, and/or wavey ride and excessive lean when cornering, and/or horizontal tyre wear pattern.
 
W203 Wagons need to be checked with accuracy on:

completely flat ground
No load in car (including you)
Then measure after noting your datum points. Vertically upwards through the center of the wheel to the first point of contact with the wheel arch.

Then report back.


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Oh yes it can! It's just the last three or four centimetres that break off in the lower seating. It can be very difficult to spot even if you know it's broken.

Absolutely - the only way to tell on our Vito was by feeling inside the cup ... visually the spring looked completely normal.
 
I’d agree with broken spring, MOT is only a quick visual - could have been missed or broken after :thumb:
 

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