I have recently been experiencing some odd steering characteristics. It started about a month or so ago and appears to maybe getting worse. It's hard to explain, but the problem is that the steering has become extremely sensitive in that a slight turn of the steering wheel will make the car turn/sway not so smoothly. It almost feels like there is something loose and the car wants to sway.

I have pulled off both front wheels and saw nothing that jumped out at me. I have noticed that the right front wheel has very slight movement if pulled back and forth firmly like the wheel bearing is loose.

i'm a novice with respect to suspension, but i did also notice that the rather big,thick bar that attaches to the front of the right wheel assembly appears to have moved/slid at the collar where it attaches the assembly based on the degree of wear (i.e., dirty road worn bar, then the last 1/2" or so just prior to the collar attachment is clean as a whistle).

Any help would be appreciated.

93 300D 2.5 turbo, 160K miles

Sounds like you're describing the front anti-sway bar, that's the way it mounts.

Anything loose in the suspension should be suspect, wrestle with those wheels and see what's loose. Don't forget about the rear suspension either, the thrust arm bushings are notorious for getting loose at the 15-20year mark and causing tracking issues.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

More observations....when backing up and turning somewhat sharply (pulling out of driveway) this morning, i noticed the front passenger tire gives a little kick/bump.

Check All the controll arm bushings and the ball joints as well.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Check the rear suspension too. On my W124 the rear suspension rubber joints were all shot and when I gave the car a blip on the throttle it would steer one way with the rear wheels then when I took my foot off the throttle it would steer the other way. It also became quite sensitive to wind. The multi-link rear is quite dependent on rubber bushings having some pretty well controlled mechanical properties, and when they age and fall apart or develop bulges a great deal of additional motion is allowed, which makes its presence known by scaring the crap out of you. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Has any repairs been done that required your hood to be raised? Did you run over some bad rail road tracks really fast? What about hitting some pot holes while going fast, say over 60 mph?

BenzDiesel

yes, and likely yes and yes. It definitely feels like the front end is swaying/loose rather than the rear end. Whatcha thinking?

It has been discussed at this site in great detail. Once you remove the slop out of your steering wheel and if you still have the problem with excessive swaying/slop, then maybe you do have damaged front end components. If you don't do the adjustment yourself, I would have another mechanic, trustworthy; do the procedure from the last person that had your hood raised, just for insurance purposes, insurance that the screw wasn't intentionally or accidentally moved. It takes about less than 15 minutes to mess it up and get the steering wheel out of specs and have you thinking bad thoughts about your Mercedes. And hardly any rail road track or pot hole will affect a Mercedes to the point that it will cause steering wheel slop or excessive sway, unless you can see an obvious bend in a control arm or some other component. I'm sorry but I always get suspicious when my car acts strangely after I have had it worked on, although that is very rare for me these days.

BenzDiesel

Maybe i misinterpreted your question. I had some misc work (fluids change, new radiator) done maybe 4 months ago or so by a shop. Since then, I personally replaced the motor mounts about two months ago, and a bad glow plug two weeks ago. The front end sway seems to have started in the past week or two. There is no real play in the steering, if anything it feels like it has gotten tighter rather than looser. I haven't found any noticeable loose suspension parts, and the only physical evidence of something being odd is apparent movement (very clean bar exposed, with some apparent new metal scrapes on the bar) of the anti-sway bar at the bushing mount in front of the front passenger wheel assembly.

I know i haven't mess with the steering box intentionally. Where exactly is the steering box adjustment screw? Can the steering box go out of adjustment on its own? Should i try loosening it?

Have your steering box adjustment screw adjusted.

It has a 19mm or 3/4 nut that locks the hex screw. Clockwise loosens the wheel. Counter Clockwise tightens. I'm glad to know that it is more likely that nobody looking for a fast buck worked on your car lately. Your problem is more likely the part that you are describing. However, if your steering wheel is tight as it should be, then the car is going to go only in the direction that you steer it. If it does something else, then you are out of alignment and possibly have damaged components that probably need to be checked out at an alignment shop that you can fairly and reasonably and hopefully trust will a good job for you.

BenzDiesel

i am going to go ahead and replace the sway bar bushing. this seems a logical first step and doesn't appear too complicated. the dealership has the part for $12.

Any have experience or otherwise know the procedure and how easy or hard is it to replace the sway bar bushing on a 124?

It is trivially easy to replace the sway bar bushings on a 124. There are actually four bushings - two where the bar mounts to the chassis of the car, and one on each of the suspension control arms. I suggest replacing all four.

It's been many years since I last performed this job and I cannot recall the particulars. The basic task is simply to loosen the mounting brackets which secure the bar, remove the bushings, and reassemble in reverse order. The bushings just slide off the bar. I don't recall if the center bushings are split or if they must be slid to the end of the bar.

I'm not sure what to make of the bar moving laterally in the bushings. Generally the first sign of wear is clunking from the front end when one tire goes over a bump and the other does not. If this repair does not correct the symptoms I suggest having the suspension inspected by a good mechanic, looking for wear or play in the suspension bushings and ball joint. This is important stuff to repair when worn.

- JimY

may be going backwards, but after lunch today is really shook on the wheels to try to see any indication of something out of whack. As i briefly mentioned in my original post, i again today noticed a small amount of lateral play in the front passenger wheel accompanied by a clicking/popping noise. sounds and feels like something in the wheel assembly is loose (wheel bearing, ball joint). granted this needs addressed, but could that little bit of movement cause my front end sway?

FOLLOW UP

Forgot one detail. while i had the front passenger tire off last weekend using just the tire jack (i.e., front driver side where firmly on the ground), when i pushed the car side to side i could hear a popping noise that obviously couldn't be coming from the passenger wheel assembly/suspension. Sounded like it was coming from the center of the car, but my guess is it was coming from the driver side front wheel assembly and perhaps i've been focusing on the wrong side.

It is under the car connected to the steering components. You will see it because it looks just like a shock, which it is. When worn, they allow slack in the steering, which could cause sway. Most times when you disconnect this shock, damper on these older cars, there will no shock action at all. I mean absolutely no bounce back or resistance, which in my experience causes more of a shimmy action moreso than a swaying action.

BenzDiesel