W208 Convertible - creaking rear suspension

[tpwuk]

The CLK is booked in on Thursday to hopefully resolve my creaky rear suspension. It creaks the most when reversing off my drive. What do you think it could be, bushes, coils, dampers??? Also my steering at low speeds moans like an old women! The noise reduces somewhat after everything as warmed up. From searching the forum a possible cause could be the steering damper, which from what I've read isn't a big job. Hope it's nothing too serious though!

 

[x332race]

Creaking rear suspension on my CLK turned out to be a broken spring.

 

[tpwuk]

So my car was looked at yesterday for the creaking suspension and noisy steering.

Turns out the creaking is coming from the roof mechanism and not the rear suspension, so they've lubricated the roof mechanism, but to be honest it hasn't made much difference! They couldn't reproduce the steering noise but when I picked it up it was there, as clear as day! The mechanic thinks it's the steering damper.

Whilst it was up on the ramps they noticed the engine mounts are shot. These are going to be replaced next week along with a further look at the steering.

Besides probably having to live with the creaking from the roof mechanism my multi-contour seats have now stopped working!! Could they have disturbed something whilst lubricating the roof??

 

[grober]

Could still be a broken rear spring- they are sometimes hard to spot especially if its up at the top near the spring pad. The critical components on the steering/suspension are the front hub upper and lower ball joints since failure spells suspension collapse on to the road. Make sure the "moaning" isn't coming from there.Steering dampers don't normally moan they just fail silently due to loss of fluid??

 

[tpwuk]

What's involved in checking the springs? Is it labour intensive? I'm just wondering why they may have discounted it.

 

[x332race]

Roof mechanism creaking rings a bell with me....I now remember when I had a W208 Convertible an annoying noise coming from the rear....I eventually traced ti to loose fixings for the roof mechnism....

If I recall, I lifted up the hood half way so I could access the mechanism and you will find a number of bolts holding the mechanism in palce....try tightening the bolts to see if any are loose....a couple of the bolts on the drivers side were ever so slightly loose so I tightened them and the noises went away. From memory the bolts were immediately behind the rear seat...worth trying anyway.

Look at this thread...I posted a photo of the bolts in it so you can see what I mean (post 28)

 

[BlackC55]

Loose bolts are a common issue on the 208 roof.

 

[tpwuk]

This sounds promising! Will try when I get home from work!

 

[grober]

What's involved in checking the springs? Is it labour intensive? I'm just wondering why they may have discounted it.

They mainly break where the end sits on the suspension arm= place where the spring is subject to the most corrosion damage. However I have seen rear springs broken at both ends-probably done at different times. Inspection involves jacking the car up and removing the wheel to let the suspension droop down. Breaks can usually be seen with careful visual inspection but sometimes can be missed even by MOT test inspectors. Having said this BlackC55 and x332race both seem to have come across this roof mechanism problem before so does sound the more likely cause.

 

[Ian B Walker]

The rear inner wishbone bushes are known to creak when dry also

 

[tpwuk]

Okay so I had a look at those bolts and they do appear to be loose. Although my tools are just soooooooo pathetic I can't nip them up enough!

Need to buy a decent socket set methinks!

 

[pharmed]

^ Definately, a decent set of tools makes most jobs a breeze compared to going without!

 

[tpwuk]

I had those bolts for the roof tightened up but still have the creaking noise. Looks like I will be booking it in with Ian at 124Works to have the rear inner wishbone bushes checked out.

The steering noise is now solved. It was the steering damper.

Almost there now before my W208 is perfic!

 

[x332race]

Have had a creaking noise from the back of my W203 for some while now...been driving me crazy.....now solved turned out to be a "weak" shock absoarber......the top 2" were not working at all so a lot of ply in the shock....howver, rest of shock was working ok.....

Had both rear shocks replaced as a precaution.

 

[tudoramg]

creaking w208 body work or suspension???

I've just bought a 1999 clk320amg cabriolet. The suspension / body work was creaking/ clunking when driving up or down driveway or pulling out from a junction etc. ( anything which made the body flex ). When we got it on the ramp to do the front wheel bearings and a good under sealing we noticed that one of the tie bars that run from the rear edge of the sills to a point behind the rear diff was loose at the diff end. you could tell it had been moving by the rusty dust around the tx50 bolt fixing. I tightend it up and now all is quiet!!! "sorted"! got to be worth checking all the brace bars coz they're designed to stiffen the body of the cabriolets to improve handling. they only have one bolt at each end. there are two diagonal bars on the rear and the same on the front. hope this helps. turns out the wheel bearings were fine and the noise from the front was down to bad tracking and tyre wear. Ah well win some loose some !!

 

[tpwuk]

Will check that in the morning! Thanks for the tip!

 

[tpwuk]

I've just bought a 1999 clk320amg cabriolet. The suspension / body work was creaking/ clunking when driving up or down driveway or pulling out from a junction etc. ( anything which made the body flex ). When we got it on the ramp to do the front wheel bearings and a good under sealing we noticed that one of the tie bars that run from the rear edge of the sills to a point behind the rear diff was loose at the diff end. you could tell it had been moving by the rusty dust around the tx50 bolt fixing. I tightend it up and now all is quiet!!! "sorted"! got to be worth checking all the brace bars coz they're designed to stiffen the body of the cabriolets to improve handling. they only have one bolt at each end. there are two diagonal bars on the rear and the same on the front. hope this helps. turns out the wheel bearings were fine and the noise from the front was down to bad tracking and tyre wear. Ah well win some loose some !!

Did the creaking noise you hear sound like it was coming from inside or outside the car? On mine it sounds almost like it's coming from the roof cover behind the rear headrest/roll bars/boot area. It's louder inside the car than out.

Cheers

 

[tudoramg]

208 creaking

hi again, It was one of those strange difficult to place noises. when i test drove the car before i bought it i was convinced it was the front wishbone bush on the drivers side or an anti roll link arm!! not concerned about it to much but bought the car at a knock down price!! The more I drove it the more it sounded like it was from osr or under the drivers seat sill area. had my bro jump in the back to try and listen for it. it turned out to be right under the spare wheel housing. I presume the brace bars transmit the noise along. hope this helps a bit. Was it a main dealer that told you is was the roof frame??? I would have thought this was a common noise on cabs!! Definatley more noisy inside the car.

 

[tpwuk]

Just the guys one here suggested the roof frame. I'll get those brace bars checked out. Had a look today myself but I haven't got any tools.

 

[sirswift93]

My CLK 320 2001 is squeaking too!!!

Hi,

Did you ever figure out what was making the noise from the rear of your CLK? I checked the two bolts that hold down the left and right side of the top but they are tight.

When I lift the back of the top up and down it does make the same squeaking noise I hear when I am driving, but I can't seem to find a way to access the frame between the top and the headliner. It sounds like its coming from between the rear glass and the right side of the frame.