Steering Column Rattle Feeling
 

This is not a shimmy or shake that one might feel with warped brake rotors or untrue/unbalanced wheels, but rather it feels like there is side to side/up and down play in the steeing colum when I'm making turns (mostly right ones) on rough roads.

I've already replaced the stearing damper and stut mounts. I can't make the steering column wobble up or down or side to side by pulling on the steer wheel itself, but when the vibration happens, that's exacly how it feels, like there's a bad bearing or something causing play in the steering column.

The car is a '91 190e with approx 190k miles. Could it be a suspension component causing this problem? Like control arm bushings or ball joints? Is this a common problem with this chassis?

Could be idler arm bushing. It is on the passenger side of the steering system. Normally right under the exhaust downpipe. Attached to the steering mechanism and the frame of the car!

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to take a look at it today. That would be sweet if it's just the idler arm bushings.. I'll post my findings tonight.

OK. I took a look at the front suspension today. I found that I could rock the right front wheel, just a slight bit, when pushing against the sidewall at the twelve-o-clock position while on the ground, and while grabing the wheel at the twelve and six-o-clock positions in the air.

I checked the wheel bearing for proper adjustment (it had never been touched in 190k mi) and it wasn't far enough off to make a real difference. So I suspect it must be the lower ball joint. Again, the strut mounts are new and tight.

I did go ahead and replace the idler arm bushings, since they had never been replaced and I already had them on hand (plus it's a cake job on these 2.3 litre cars :) ) That seemed to have tightend up the steering just a bit, but did not solve my original problem.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to R&R the lower ball joints without removing the entire lower control arm? I'd like to advoid having to take her in for an alignment if possible.

It is possible, but it's not preatty. Need a chain or spring compressors to keep the spring in place, else it will just fly away killing anything and anyone it's path.

I have not done this yet myself, but I'm getting ready to, so as far as I know this is how it goes.

lift car, compress spring, or tie it down, lower the control arm on some wooden blocks if not using a spring compressor so it stays in place. detach the steering knuckle from the ball joint, remove the entire strut assembly if not enough room for clearance, and either use a hammer to get the ball joint out, or a press, you can get a press in a store like princess auto.

I'm waiting for aspring compressor before I try this, I don't trust springs that much.

xp190

The spring compessor idea sounds good. Please let me know how this works out for you. I want to fix this soon, before something breaks. :eek:

There are posts by other members who have done this alread, that's how I found out how it can be done, but if you want my feedback, it might be a week or two before I get to it since I plan on doing the control arm bushings as well, I got a spring compressor from a friend, now just the press from princess auto, ball joints are waiting on the shelf, after that it's just time to tackle everything and some money for an alignment.

Cheers

xp

Let us know what happens. I have the exact same problem on my 560 SEL with 113k miles. Have not replaced the damper yet, and will do so first. But the symptoms I am having are the same.