1995 E300D steering gearbox question
 

Hey,

I tried yesterday to tighten up my steering a little bit by adjusting the allen screw on top of the gearbox. The bolt and screw seem to be seized up together. I tried a never seize, wd 40, mystery oil to break it free but it would not budge(I did loosen the bolt). Finally I ended up stripping the allen screw. Then i tried to unscrew the entire thing from the bolt and it came to a stop. My question is what would happen when I try to break the bolt free when the allen screw is in the top position not rotating anymore. Would I be able to damage something?

Bolt and screw? There should be a set screw held by a nut. Hold the set screw with a hex tip tool while loosening the nut. CCW on the set screw tightens the box. Steering will get very heavy before you run out of adjustment range.

Everything in the steering linkage including steering column and front suspension should be checked and found to be like new before you touch the box.

Sixto
87 300D^2

Everything is tight. i checked everything.

I loosened the nut and tried to turn the set screw but it was not budging. I ended up stripping the allen key.

My question was what would happen if i turned the set screw together with the bolt making it come out of the steering box. It gets to a point where it stops and is maxed out. At that point I wanted to try and break the Nut loose, but was not sure if I could do any damage inside the steering box or the set screw.

It'll screw right off the box but I wouldn't do that without supporting the pitman arm and counting turns. Come to think of it, I simply wouldn't do that :) IIRC the nut has a rubber or nylon skirt to seal the box. Kind of a self locking nut installed backwards. Can you cut a slot across the top ofthe set screw? Soak the deal in penetrating oil and see if the screw brakes free of the nut.

If its the same box as an '87, the resistance is probably the weight of the output shaft resting on the lower end seal. There's an excellent write-up in the archives on resealing a W123 steering box. It shows what's going on inside.

Sixto
87 300D^2

If I'm not mistaken, this is a self adjusting gear.

to it does not look much different than w123 w126 gearboxes, but I am not sure if it is self-adjusting.

the steering gearbox is the same as used by older W124 models. Why are you adjusting it, 1 inch freeplay measured at the rim of the steering wheel is normal for this car. A loose feel causing wander is mostly bad alignment or bad ball joints - the steering gearbox is very long life.

I tried to find the drawings from looking at the website, but there were not drawings available. It said that I could click on the links, but these did not work. Do you guys have the drawings that you could send me. I would like to take a look at them if possible