88' 300 TE Wagon with hydraulic shock trouble
 

I just put new hydraulic shocks on the back of my 88' 300 TE Wagon because the seals were out and leaking. The car felt good for awhile but now when you are going down the road at about 50 to 70 it feels like the car is jumping around on the road. Like you are towing something. You seam to be fighting with the car to keep it going straight down the road. You can feel it more when my boys are in the far back seats. I have flushed out the system and put new MB oil in it. The oil that came out was black and now the new oil in the reservoir is on the dark side. Could it be the height control valve or did I miss something. I did put new struts on the front last fall because of pot holes in Michigan. :confused:

Try bouncing the rear bumper -- if it is very stiff or the rear end doesn't move at all, just the tires bulge out, your accumulators are shot. They are charged with high pressure nitrogen that eventually leaks out and causes the spring effect to go away.

Eventually, the rear suspension will lock up, with only the tires providing spring effect. Will bounce the h....l out of the car, tossing the rear end around on bumps.

These are fairly easy to replace -- you must fold the rear seats down and remove the trim panel between it the rear cargo compartment or third seat -- screws in about the middle, recessed into the carpet and some at the third seat hinge. Don't bend the panel!

From underneath, remove the hydraulic lines to the accumulators (use line wrenches, please!), then the three bolts holding them down. You will lose about a quart of hudraulic fluid. Messy, so have some pans ready to catch it.

Remove old accumulators out the top, then drop new ones in place -- don't tighten the hold down bolts yet.

Replace all the hydraulic lines -- thread the fittings in by hand, be carefull, they can be somewhat difficult to get started correctly. When the are all in and hand tightened, tighten the accumulator bolts and then finish tightening the hydraulic lines.

Takes less than an hour, vast improvement in the ride!

Use only the MB hydraulic fluid, and change the fluid if it is black, remember to put in a new filter.

Peter

Peter were is the filter?

Though your car is a W124 chassis, I am sure it was still the same as my '83 TD. My filter is located under the filler cap for the hyd. fluid reservoir. It is a small cylinder type and is held in place by a spring/clip.