my c280 is creaking from front end and more
 

Hi Guys, Another quandrie or two...since I've been fixing everything from the engine harness to all new brakes with sucess and am back on the road I was quickly reminded of another nagging problem.....It's creaking comming from my front end...left side more than the right. I have sprayed the entire suspension area with silicone lube when that did'nt work trans oil....Is there a perticular single thing that gets dry and creaks on these things? this 1995 car only has 60k miles and the front end is tight, no play, altho I do suspect prehaps the steering damper may be wearing out as I have a slight wobble above 70 mph even tho theres no runout in the wheels and I have had tires balanced 3 times now....I did put amg 17 monoblocks with factory sized tires for that car/wheel, I had a non mercedes shop do the alignment and may go back to my dealer for that as I know there are extensive m-b procedures to be followed as well as which tires can cause the car to drive funky at times....then in the next thread I can revisit steering wheel squeaking... altho I've seen posts I can't find any on c280 creaking... thanks, Cliff

When does it creak?

I had to replace the bushings both front lower control arms (due to creaking) on my wife's 95 C280, when we bought it at 60K miles. It was very diificult to get the old bushings out, and by the time I replaced the bushings and ball joints I wished I had bought new arms from Mercedes, which incidentally did not offer the bushings separately (for good reason). It also needed an engine wiring harness, but it's been absolutely trouble free since.

creaks
 

Thanks for the replies you guys, It seems most noticable when moving slow and hitting slight or shallow dips in road, when turning into my drive way for instance which is a pretty smooth entrance...I like this car but just this month along with me doing the work I think I'm near $1500. spent and have other places to spend my time and energy as I am building a resto mod 61 econoline pickup w/450 h.p.mid engine and have a couple other cars I'd like to be restoring....I think maybe I'll drill a 1/8 hole in the contorl arm at bushings and squirt some oil or lube in there and see what happens....like I said the car is tight and for that much more and cost/ work just for a noise which for the moment is harmless but a sign of friction where it's not supposed to be Is pissi'in me off....I got a friggen acre and a half of grass to cut and no help from any cheerful(or not) female...which can also lead to noticable peace and quiet while and after doing the chores and having a few beers...so maybe my attitude will change later for now it's become F--k that car....thanks!

Mine had squeaky sway bar bushings. Would squeak when I hit a bump.

From my experience a dry/creaking bushing is on a fast road to failing, so perhaps a change might be best if you don't want a big job or the expense of having it done. I sometimes wonder if Mercedes used environmentally friendly rubber on some pieces during those years as well. I just got back from driving the C car and although very different from my S coupe, it's a pleasure to drive.

" It seems most noticable when moving slow and hitting slight or shallow dips in road"

A few years back, when my W124 made a loud squeaking/creaking noise over speed bumps and shallow dips in the road, the problem turned out to be the ball joints.

So before you go drilling anything, it couldnt hurt to try and squirt some oil inside the ball joint protective boot to see if that resolves the problem.

+1 check the ball joint boots for signs of cracks; water gets in and lube gets out.