ok heres the situation - driving along flat road about 25-30mph and all of a sidden here clunking noise from rear of car then fast clunking noises. pull over, nothing dragging /hanging from the underneath. start again and more clunking when off the throttle ( coasting) then.. disaster strikes left rear wheel locks up completely. Now getting really worried about even making it a couple of miles without something even worse happening. Any how make it home gingerly and pull left rear wheel suspecting brake caliper seized - chock car and put tranny in neutral/ disc spins freely and there is good amount of pads left .Inspect everything I could see safely without jackstands and nothing looks broken / shocks -springs etc. BTW parking brake works ok. Replace wheel and road test car carefully -result same symptoms fast clunking sound at about 25-30 mph - don't dare drive further so it's parked. Anybody have a guess on what's happening here
bearings- differential? or?

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

Sounds like the half shaft/axle shaft is going bad. My left one made a clunking type of sound that would make noise sometimes and then stop - mine never locked-up. Replacing it cured the problem. You also have bearings on the outer hub and the differential that you should also look at and eliminate as a problem.

Good Luck!
Tom

__________________
America: Land of the Free!

1977 300D: 300,000+ miles

American Honda: Factory Trained Technician & Honor Grad.
Formerly:
Shop Foreman;
Technical Advisor to Am. Honda;
Supervisor of Maintenance largest tree care co. in US for offices in Tex.

thanks tcane for the reply - it's my guess now as well it's a 1/2
shaft however the boots appear in good shape on both sides so i did not suspect this sudden situation to occur - anyone else have a comment or 2? am i looking at any further damage to say the differential or tranny?

btw it's kind of scary to have a wheel lock up when you are tooling along peacefully in traffic for the uninitiatied

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I'd double check the parking brake. They have a tendency to "hang" and cause all sorts of clunking; then appear to be okay.

Might also be the axles.

There are two constant velocity joints (CV) one on either end of the 1/2 shaft I believe. These joints consist of caged balls that when they deteriorate can cause some weird noises and I've experience a lock-up situation on a GM econo box when the worn cage and balls started to bounce around inside the outer bell of the CV joint. The hardened steel balls and cage where smashed into barely recognizable pieces. You don't necessarily have to have the boot fail first and then the joint sometimes this kind of part was maybe not up to specs or had a defect and just suffers a premature failure. I would think that the lock-up situation can't be to good for the remainder of the drive train, and a new 1/2 shaft is probably much less than a new rear end. Good luck!

84300DT,

Quite a while ago I had a buddy pick up a 1968 230 in New York State and drive to Connecticut. The previous owner forgot to tell him the parking brake light was out and he drove all the way with the brake on. A few days later, on the way to work his left rear wheel locked up. He pulled over and checked it out, then tried to drive and to his surprise the car ran without the wheel being locked up. He drove slowly to work and then to the MB dealer to have it checked. Turned out the wheel bearing had siezed and the outer race spun in its housing. He had to get a new semi-trailing arm assembly. After driving as far as he did the wheel was actually loose on the spindle, and the problem became somewhat obvious. But when it started it was not so apparent. So, you may want to check the wheel bearings. Good luck, Jim

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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)

Pull that rear brake rotor first and make sure something didn't break off/fall into the parking brake mechanisim.

h=Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

thanks for the replies!
took the car to my indi mechanic today - will see what he thinks. altho on the drive over (about 1 1/4 miles) the clunking sound was still there the left rear wheel did not lock up again. Anyone have any further thoughts? Will post results as soon as hear back from the indi.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

the indi called, bad news, he said the diff was shot. i am so bummed as i really luv this car- anybody ever have to replace
a differential ? how much $$$ involved? somehow i have the sinking feeling it will not be economical and she may end up on the 'parts' forum. what a pity...

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

A completely ruined differential!?! Not unheard of, but unusual. I second TXBill's suggestion to buy a used diffferential, you may even find one in the price range TXBill gave with a 30-60-90 day warranty (usually only a replacement). If you find several that are close in price, I'd go with the one with the warranty.

Good Luck!
Tom

__________________
America: Land of the Free!

1977 300D: 300,000+ miles

American Honda: Factory Trained Technician & Honor Grad.
Formerly:
Shop Foreman;
Technical Advisor to Am. Honda;
Supervisor of Maintenance largest tree care co. in US for offices in Tex.

The Service Manual shows how to rebuild them if you are so inclined and it looks pretty straight forward. You may need to utilize a machine shop for some work so it helps if you have a friend that owns/runs a good machine shop.

__________________
Jim

here's the update - walked back to my indi and drove the car home - a decent test drive, even floored the car through all the gears - still has the clunking sound from the rear but no left rear wheel lock up again .. Whew! that was really scary i tell you when it happened . Well, now getting really puzzled - if the differential was that bad how could i floor the car through all gears and still have a rear end attached to the car?? Slammed parking brake on too at about 30mph, no effect. Floor car in reverse from a stop - no effect. Am beginning to think now that think my indi did not take the time for a proper diagnosis and am definitely going for a 2nd opinion. Any further comments/guesses/thoughts out there tonite?

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

hey thanks bill, and yes after 7 years i guess i really do luv this car and i'm not ready to let her die for sure. i'm gonna try another indi in town (not my usual guy) and see what they have to say. unfortunately i don't have the tools/facilities avaialble to me to really diagnose this problem safely myself. this forum has been invaluable and i do appreciate any and all the imput received in order to keep dieseling! it must have been interesting to have a wheel lock up inside a car wash to say the least..

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

My wagon had the diff rebuilt at about 258k (previous owner), I can verify that thru service records and it ran about $750. Personally, if it was the diff., I would opt for a used. FYI

drove her to the '2nd ' indi local mechanic today - - mech drove car and returned in one piece (not angry..) as no wheel lock up - he was as puzzled as to what is going on as i am anyhow await further diagnosis - will post result
i need painkillers .. this is making me crazy!!! my baby is sick and
i don't know what ails her

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP