Help: new front bearings hasn't stopped the vibration!
 

hello again

my car drives perfectly, except when i try to turn right, then a serious grumbling sound occurs. the faster/tighter the turn the more it grumbles/vibrates. it is now impossible to turn right at anything over 20mph gently. i'd have bet my house it was bearings but now that i have renewed both front sets of bearings nothing has changed at all. if it was bearings i would at least have expected the noise to change slightly but it is exactly the same. i have tried various degrees of tightness/freedom on the retaining nut but this makes no difference either, so i have tightened it up and backed it off one third as per the Haynes instructions.

i can only conclude that this problem is being caused by something else, but i am now at a loss to find what it is. the only clues i can offer are:

1. the steering rack is quite loose at the steering wheel, and maybe this problem manifests itself due to worn steering racks. in which case, is this a big job to replace or worth it since the car is virtually worthless (but a good runner).

2. the right hand side engine block mount has disintegrated. which means the engine knocks when i start it up, but apart from that there are no other problems. i am due to replace this next weekend. i can't imagine that this is responsible for the problem but thought it worth mentioning just in case.

apart from those two faults i can't think of anything else that is wrong, so any thoughts and suggestions would be most appreciated.

thanking you in advance as always

justin

it's your mount..you feel the motor hitting the chassis.. Replace both mounts and the shocks.. Trans mount is most likely beat to snot as well.


Jonathan

I had a similar problem on a vehicle (not a MB). The problem turned out to be a small crack in the wheel where the lug bolt was located. When the wheel was under load as in a turn the "growling" would occur.

I'd go with JHODG5CKs' advice first. :sun_smile

Might add...

Your car does not have rack and pinnon steering. That would be the old reticulating(sp?) ball design.
So, it will never feel like a car with R & P. I think an inch play is considered within tolerance. Worn suspension and steering parts will add to the loose/play feel. Check the steering dampener and tie rod ends, ball joints etc.

Michael

many thanks for the response,

i am hopefully going to replace the mounts tomorrow, and hopefully that will cure the problem. now i think about it, the mount problem and the wheel problem both started at the same time, and got worse together.

perhaps that's the clue i missed, i'll let you know tomorrow or sunday.

regards

justin

Good news!

only one new mount arrived at the shop, so i fitted that and the problem has stopped. i have an oil leak on that side and i suspect that the oil has perished the rubber on that side.

many thanks for the helpful responses.

regards

justin

That's surely the case. Oil on the rubber mounts turns them to jelly in short order. You ought to do the opposite side as well.

fortunately the other side is completely dry, but i think it's time i got to to the source of this wretched oil leak.

regards

justin