rear clunk 190E

[d.delano]

I'm chasing a problem with a 93 190E 2.6 that's really tricky. It's kind of something you have to wait until it gets worse to figure out but at that point it may be too late. In the morning when first moving off I get a clunk in the rear as I step on the accelerator pedal. After that, normal behavior throughout the day. Hasn't gotten worse so I live with it. I have been told it's a sloppy diff but I'm skeptical. They aren't supposed to get that sloppy until after 200k, but there is a lot of slop somewhere back there that I'd like to tighten up. This car is kind of a cream puff and hasn't seen much abuse, but my stepmother drove it some lol so I don't really know. She may be one of those people that doesn't wait until the car stops moving to bang it into drive when backing up. I can feel this slop when letting of the pedal under engine braking. Had it up on the lift, independent Mercedes mechanic has inspected it, couldn't find anything. I've looked underneath there myself a hundred times and nothing seems bad. Got one moist axle. Just put some Redline Shockproof Heavy in the differential but no real change. Could it really be inside the differential, where the big pin locks into the center carrier? Could that hole in the carrier be elongated to the point where I get that slop? I've never heard of anyone replacing a differential in one of these that wasn't used. Kinda would want a new one or good rebuilt if possible. Any ideas?

[JEBalles]

I'd put my money on an axle, probably the moist one. Did you check to make sure the grease boots on the axles weren't torn or compromised? I doubt it's the diff. On the other hand, it seems like you'd know that:

'93 190e 2.3 - low speed 'clunking'

[d.delano]

Well I'm just looking for other opinions on this, maybe hoping to get lucky with somebody's anecdotal info that would directly relate to the problem I have. Intermittent troubles are such a PITA.