Front end grinding noise...........W-123
 

Hi,

I have been lurking on this site while I shopped for a car and got lots of good info about them. Now I own one and I have a question.

First, a little about my car. She is a 1977 Euro 300d with a 4 speed, manual windows and doors. A few years ago a turbo diesel engine was installed. Over all she is in good shape but I am treating her like a rolling restoration.

Now my question: When I make a hard right turn there is a terrible, metal on metal grinding sound that sounds like it is coming from the front wheel. It only happens on a hard right turn, when I am going straight there is no sound. I jacked up the car and checked the wheel bearing for play and they seemed fine. I also checked for play in the front end but I could not find any. The steering feels fine and there is no play in the steering wheel.

However, when I tried to take off the left front wheel and it was really hard to get off, like it was warped. I got it off and I found a scrape mark on the inside of the wheel. The tire looked normal.

My question is this. Is there any thing that could be causing the wheel to warp? Could I have bent a wheel? I put the spare on and it went on fine and I am going to drive it tonight and see how it feels.

Thanks for any help,

Reed

look up front at what the fan or some other pully might be grinding against on a right turn that allows the engine to shift to that side due to a weak engine mount.

Been discussed in here lately.

Check for looseness in the wheel bearing. If it were loose enough the wheel might rub on a suspension part on a turn where a pulling is imposed on the wheel.

I will check the pulley/fan idea. I did a search but I turned up nothing.

I checked the wheel bearings by jacking up the car and giving the wheels a shake but I did not feel any play.

Thanks,

Reed

I love the color!

Yep, one of my favorite colors!!

And a manual transmission and turbo engine too!

Got a photo of this wheel scrape?

If it's terribly damaged, I can offer you a free 14" steel replacement that I have kicking around. I run wider Bundts, so I don't really need a steel wheel for anything.

Your car looks good. I love that colour, too.

NICE! A turbo and a proper 4-speed (as opposed to a conversion - with all their potential problems).

What part of Seattle are you in? I work in SODO, maybe we could get together for lunch sometime. I'd love to get a good look at your Euro...

Me first! Why do you think I'm offering freebies? :D

check the dust cover. its the closest thing to the wheel. sometimes they get bent and can scrape the inside of the rim.

you guys must love Thanksgiving to love that color

it is a rolling pumpkin

i'd lean towards the motor mount if it were me

Heh. It's just one of those awesome colours that only an old Mercedes can pull off. I like some 70's household light fixtures, too. Go figure. :)

Thanks for all the advice so far. I did some more checking around and I think that I found the problem. After I changed the front wheel to the spare, the noise did not go away but now I can feel the slop in the front wheel and I think that it's the wheel bearing.

How hard is it to change out? Do I need any special tools to change out the front wheel bearings?

Thanks for the complements too. When I started looking for one I told my girl friend that I wanted a Mercedes 300d with a 4 speed but that I would never find one. Than about 3 months later I found my car on craigslist.

Cheers,

Reed

You will need a drift to remove the races. You may just be able to properly tighten your bearing and be good to go.