W209 Facelift (mopf) strange suspension clicking noise

[Liloff]

Hi there guys, and greetings from the Bulgarian MB Club.
It's been a while since I last wrote here...
Long story short: I found a facelift (mopf) W209 CLK 280 in immaculate condition and loaded with options. I couldn't resist the temptation and shortly after I got it, sold my other vehicles and left it as my daily driver.

A year ago started noticing strange clicking noise when making slow speed turns, mostly in underground parking areas. Noise comes from the front suspension. Recently it started being more noticeable.

Ride comfort has not changed, there are no unusual sounds when driving on bad roads or pavement areas.
It is not related to tyres and rims, as the sound occurs both on 16" with winter tyres and on 17" with summer. Rims are genuine W209, no aftermarket stuff. It was almost gone for a long period, but after driving in a flooding rain, it started occuring again.

After inspecting the suspension a number of times, we were never able to find anything wrong. There is no wear and tear. Everything is like new. The car has a massive metal splashguard under the oil sump that goes all the way from the bumper to the gearbox. Engine bay and steering elements are protected from snow, water, etc.

I couldn't come up with a better idea and changed the sway bar drop links. Guess what... nothing changed. The ones i took off the car were as good as new, even though they are 10yr old.
I cannot relate the noise to the steering rack either (and i am happy about that).

So... i am a bit stuck now.
Next suspects on my list are:

-Front strut bearing and the accessories around it
-The torsion bar bushings.

Torsion bars have been updated on the mopf model and now the bushing is part of the metal bar itself (non-replaceable). I may try applying water-resistant silicone grease/lubricant on the bushings and see if that would change anything. There are also some odd dust gaitors... i don't recall from memory where they sit exactly.

Has anyone successfully dealt with such an issue guys?
Thanks

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[PobodY]

Have you looked at the suspension top mounts? - I'm just wondering if that's the sound of the strut twisting in the bushing rather than a noise originating from the knuckle.

 

[Liloff]

Suspension top mount is #120 on the 2nd image, right?
I strongly suspect them... according to some mechanics opinions, the design of the top mount on 203/209 is a bit... crappy.

 

[PobodY]

Yes, or one of the associated parts. - It shouldn't really be twisting around, but those bushes don't last forever and I'd expect a creaking noise which isn't coming from anywhere near the wheel.

 

[markjay]

Read this thread....:

W204 Front Hydro Bushing

 

[Liloff]

@markjay, thanks mate. That's quite interesting
In a nutshell:
Upper control arm has a bushing with fluid in it, that is normally protected by 2 caps... never noticed the caps, will recheck although EPC is able to relate the A2113330697 part number to my vehicle as well.
The bush itself comes from 203 era (A2033331014), but has been replaced for 204 with A2043331114.
Even though it has been replaced, yours failed on a pretty new car.
Still, you had to replace the strut mounts as well.

Did you order genuine part for the A2043331114, or a Lemfoerder-like aternative?
Quite a nice topic you have there. I was searching for 203/209 related ones
And... did it sound like in the video I posted? Sound is with windows open.
Cheers
K

 

[markjay]

My post related to the W204, however when researching it I found quite a lot of material online (including WIS documents) describing the very same issue on the W203.

Uultimately I only posted links relating to the W204, but it seems that this issue actually started with the W203 and was never fully resolved by MB in spite of various modifications over the years.

 

[markjay]

All the parts I bought were original MB parts.

I bought the modified hydro bushes on the premise that I will find the old model on the car; I was quite surprised to see that the old bushes removed from the car had the same part number as the new ones, i.e. they were already the modified part.

In hindsight, perhaps I should have bought complete Lemforder arms instead, given that the new MB bushes will be just as prone to failure as the old ones...

The complete arms are more expensive than the bushes alone, but then again pressing the bushes out and in of the arms was quite time consuming, so possibly the reduced labour cost when replacing complete arms will compensate and the overall cost will be the same.

 

[markjay]

As for the dust caps, they are a modification, i.e. my car did not have these factory fitted, but I did fit them when renewing the hydro bushes.

To be honest, I don't fully understand their purpose, they don't seem to provide much protection. I suspect that they are actually meant to contain the fluid if the hydro bush leaks.... e.g. so as not to contaminate the brakes etc. But I don't know for sure.

 

[markjay]

Also:

Labour costs will be lower if replacing the top strut mounts and hydro bushes (or complete arms) at the same time.

If replacing the hydro bushes (or complete arms), the front suspension will need to be realigned and the camber checked - and if need be adjusted using adjustable bolts.

 

[markjay]

Interestingly, I had a W203 for 9 years, and sold it with 55,000 on the clock, and no suspension issues whatsoever... in fact when I took it to WIM, Tony was quite surprised to see a car of that age that was all in the green and needed no adjustments at all...

 

[Liloff]

Problem resolved.
Replaced the bushings with the new part#. Central section of the bushing is totally different.
Also the rubber "caps" were not installed originally on mine.
Minor cracks, visible only when cleaned a bit. I would have never thought that they cause all that trouble
All noises gone. Big THANKS @markjay .

 

[Liloff]

An update...
After replacing the bushes in above post, noise re-appeared. Still, way quieter compared to what it was before.
I got a bit pissed off and ordered the strut mounts (all the bits and pieces above the spring).
Ordered Lemfoerders. Quality is brilliant, cannot differentiate from the original.
No significant difference. Mine were a bit worn out, so i do not regret changing them, but still... pisses me off.

The only things left unchanged are the bushes of the other control arms.
Will do a short research and compare genuine vs. Lemfoerder parts and see how it goes.

 

[Liloff]

Final update:
Believe it or not and exactly as expected, the actual reason was disastrously lame.
On a positive note, my front suspension is brand new now (for no reason)

No matter what i've changed, after several hours on the road, noise re-appeared.
It was not possible to identify the reason, but we already knew that.

My car has the following option:
481 UNDERSHIELDS
That essentially is a massive 3+mm. metal plate under the engine.
It was dry and sunny outside and after 10 minutes of scratching the back of our heads and visually inspecting the suspension elements, I decided to have a short drive around with the shield off. We were too lazy to put it back on for the test drive.
Guess what... all quiet!

Returned back and started looking at the plate itself... Yea, you guessed it right. There is a plastic cap underneath the cross member (or whatever this element is called). Picture is not mine, i found it on internet. Ignore the white arrow and focus on the yellow circle.
This cap makes firm contact with the metal shield, and upon any twisting of the chassis, the shield acts as the cone of a speaker, producing loud noise.

Greased it with some heavy-duty thick stuff to see if it is going to resolve it. If it starts again, i will just drop the shield by 1/2cm using some washers and that's it.

Absolutely ridiculous, but hey... life is funny I was almost ready to to sell the car

 

[Abb]

Well done you for getting to the bottom of it Even more so for updating the thread and helping out other members.