I am about to replace the idle arm bushings in my 86 300E. According to the manual, it does not seem complicated. However, once you loosen the nut and bolt, it looks that there is not enough cleareance to remove the bolt and the exhaust may be on the way. Is there a easy way, tips or shortcuts to do this procedure, without removing the exhaust piping?
J.H.
P.S. The whole front end is new.

When doing ANY suspension work, you must do an algnment.

The bottom bushing comes out then I press the top one out with the bolt still in place. After that, you have enough room to r&r the bolt.

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
300E
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM
OWNER OF MB AUTOWERKS .COM

Thanks Benzmac! I will try to do it this weekend.


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J.H.
'86 300E

I just came back from replacing the idle arm bushing. I could not find the time before but, I am glad, I finally did.
I highly recommend the bushing replacement if you have a "loose" feel at the steering wheel. The steering feels "solid" now and probably will feel even better after an alignment. Keep in mind that I already replaced the whole front end, and the only reason I did not do it before was because of the low clearance from the exhaust.
Although, it was more complicated than Benzmac mentioned (maybe because I am just a DIY). After talking to a couple of more people, I ended up raising the passenger side of the engine after disconnecting the corresponding motor mount. That gave me enough room to take the bolt out and replace the bushings. The old ones fell off when I removed the bolt. The new ones had to be "persuaded" in.
If you are going to replace the motor mounts I recommend looking into replacing the idle arm bushing at the same time since you are already there. Plus, they are not expensive.
Sorry for the long post but, I am a happy camper tonight.

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J.H.
'86 300E

[This message has been edited by J.HIDALGO (edited 10-20-2000).]