95 S420, I have a slight center "slack feeling" that the dealer doesn't seem to be able to find. There is occasionally a small pop sound while turning. I notice it at slow speed while turning over uneven surfaces. Starmarked warr.'ed car. But they haven,t found it. I don't want to wait for it to get really bad before they repair it. ? Does this vehicle need the steering box bolts torqued frequently like the 300E 87 I had earlier?

DanielW

they do have VERY light steering..

worn damper? check all bushes etc. loose ball joints?

no idea about steering box torqueing tho'

guy

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C140 420 CL
W114 280CE pimpmobile
W114 250/8 Hillclimber with M110 and bike carbs - got any hot cams?

I'll bet the slack feeling is in the steering box itself. Not uncommon in the W140.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Do you know if those steering gear boxes can be adjusted like the earlier gearboxes in the 300E I mentioned. I never had to do that but I had read posts about center slack being able to be adjusted out on those old MB steering gear boxes. Two weeks ago I asked the MB dealer to check the wheel bearings ( I told service mgr. that I could move them by hand enough to hear and feel the free play simply by pushing and pulling on the tire while car was up on the jack). Apparently he did not relay that to mechanic or the mechanic thought that much free play was OK and did not do an adjustment of the WBs at that time. Anyway, a few days later I adjusted both front wheel bearings myself so that there was just barely NO decernable wheel movement even with a hard push-pull on the tire. Now the "highway wander" feeling is no longer noticable but the center slack feeling is still there. How do I know for sure what is normal. I do have a friend who drives a 93 420SE , would that car have the same power steering setup?

My car had new lower control bushings and steering damper installed before a purchased it. I saw the repair tickets that the previous owner had, and they made mention of the "wander" and dealer did a 4 wheel alignment.
Its apparent they did not find the real problem at that time. It's really not very bad---but I just want it to be perfect !!

There are a couple of styles of steering boxes on the W140. Some have an adjuster similar to the W126 steering box, some have a similar adjustment mechanism set coaxially with the pitman arm shaft. Maybe some aren't adjustable. I don't know.

The way I check for play is to remove the aluminum shield that covers the steering shaft coupling just aft of the steering box. Wiggle the steering shaft with one hand and feel for looseness in the pitman arm. I don't know how much play there should be but I imagine it should be as undiscernable as wheel bearing play when the weels are off the ground.

From what I've read in this forum, the steering box is the most common wear item.

You can probably discount the steering damper if there's play between the steering wheel and the wheels at a standstill. It might be bad, but it's not contributing to the play.

I don't know the differences in steering components between a 93 and 95.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD