1974 230 (W115) vibration

[dshaver2000]

I am the new owner of a 1974 Mercedes 230 sedan with only about 34000 miles on it. It was given to a woman from an old man she took care of and she wanted to sell it and give the proceeds as a donation to the wildlife center. I think it was a fairly decent price ($1700), and I didn't think it needed much work. Basically, the car vibrates pretty violently when it is going 25 mph or above, and most violently at 25 mph. The vibration seems to be coming from the front/engine area and still vibrates quite a bit at high speeds. I put four new tires on the car because I thought it might be an imbalanced tire (although I really doubted it). After trying my best to find the problem, I finally broke down and took it to the shop today. The mechanic isn't going to get to it until tomorrow, but he said it sounded like a driveshaft type problem, probably something like the center bearing maybe? Does anyone else know what it might be? And, if this is the problem, is it somehthing I should just let the mechanic take care of because it will be a pain or should I try to take care of myself? The mechanic said if it is the "center bearing" or whatever, I have to buy a whole new driveshaft and that would be about $600. Is there a cheaper way around it? And, would it be better for me to look for the parts on the internet (I think I saw a new driveshaft and everything for about $230 or so on a website)? Thanks in advance for any help for a newbie here. I've already learned how to fix the odometer thanks to this site!

David Shaver

[300SDog]

Center support bearing problem should be detectable from inside the car by putting your hand on drive shaft tunnel when vibration occurs...... its classic problem that's easy to fix - never heard of anybody replacing driveshaft on this account.

When you've got it on the lift, check flexdiscs too..... behind tranny and in front of differential.

Bolts worth tightening include engine mounts and sub-frame bushings, otherwise old rubber parts will shake themselves to bits.

[psfred]

At the age of this car, there could be lots of places where worn or damaged parts cause vibration, from warped rotors on down.

Most likely, though, it a bad driveshaft center bearing mount. This is supposed to be fairly hard, to absob vibration but keep the driveshaft in the correct place (only one universal, in the "center" -- actually about the rear of the front seats). If the mount is bad, the rubber is soft or worn, and the driveshaft will "orbit" around the center rather than simply spinning, and yes, it will rattle your teeth -- my 220D has a bad driveshaft, probably a combination of a bad mount and imbalance.

The u-joint is non-servicable (it's straked in place, not located with snap rings) so that while you CAN replace it, you will need to have it rebalanced after, and will have to find a way to hold the u-joint centered (I replaced mine, had the driveshaft shop weld washers in to hold it, but it vibrates badly).

If you feed the vibration beside the seat on the drive tunnel, it's the driveshaft. Cheap fix (hopefully) is the bearing and mount. If the u-joint is gone, see if you can find a good driveshaft in a junkyard. A rebuild is in fact $600.

If the vibration isn't at the drive tunnel, you can have warped rotors, broken engine mounts, etc to investigate.

Peter

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Even with low mieage, at that age, any rubber parts are suspect. Motor mounts, driveshaft flex-joints and the center bearing, all of which is replaceable without buying a new driveshaft. If the universal joint spider is bad the factory says it's not repairable but 10 years ago, I had a local driveline shop repair mine out of my '72 250, for $230. Basically, they cut off the factory u-joint and yoke assy and welded on one that uses a replaceable u-joint with grease fitting and retainer clips, ala 1972 Chevy Nova, then rebalanced the whole assy.

Other rubber parts (not vibration related) I would recommend replacing are all the rubber brake hoses.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[dshaver2000]

Well . . . now, instead of just having to replace the center carrier bearing, the mechanic told me that the u-joints are bad. All told, replacing the center carrier bearing and a rebuilt driveshaft including labor, I'm looking at $800. Is this just getting to be too much money to put into a fairly cheap Mercedes? With all of the repairs and putting new tires on the car, I will have $2700 invested in the car and it still needs a paint job, not to mention that the air doesn't blow cold. Even with the car running great, I don't know that I would pay over $2000 or so for the car. I guess it just comes down to how much I like the car and am willing to put into it. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks for all of the help so far.

[dieseldiehard]

dshaver2000,
It is too bad this isn't March (or was it May?) of this year as that is when I sold my 230.4 to the wrecking yard (or what was left of it after I scavenged it) for nada.
The drive shaft was OK and was mounted with a fairly new carrier bearing.
You may be able to find one in a wrecking yard.
They had a stack of them in an outfit in San Jose, CA but getting the right one means taking the old one along to compare carefully so you get the right part. The proprietors of these places usually don't allow returns.
There was (and probably still is) a huge Mercedes wrecking yard in Ft. Worth, TX - but that is still a long way to go for a driveshaft!
OTOH, a fone call might turn up something as these places use a series of 800- numbers and the Internet for searching out parts people are seeking.
My opinion is that a 230.4 is a good reliable >second car< after you get the bugs worked out of it (I had ignition problems, now solved by a Crane HI-6 and a optical points conversion) but fixing your A/C might be expensive. I did not fix mine because its really cool along the coast most of the year, and I do not use the 230 for driving long distances. Its not the finest example of a good road car, even though they handle well and they stop good, but the engine tends to use more fuel than it should, and is a bit cold natured with the pesky carburettor.

That aside, I am proud to say I love my 1971 230 (W115 chassis).
It now has the engine in it from my retired '75 230, and it really runs great with a stick shift (the automatic trans in the '75 had recently failed) plus I refused to go back down the road of the bi-annual SMOG CHECKs (pre-'73 cars are exempt) because I heard that the new >Smog Check II< was on the way to being implemented in Calif. I bailed out just in time.
That new Smog system was just made law here and the charges for smog checks doubled from about $29 to $50 or $60 and will triple sometime later when the shops have to install Dynos to take active (under load) emissions measurements. The rumor is $120 per check.
At that cost in about 6 years the savings over not having to Smog my "old" '75 car will have completely paid for my "new" '71 car! Taxpayers with new vehicles, ones that were exempt will suddenly be paying millions of $$ into the massive deficit budget here. Maybe that is why people are leaving this state at an increasing rate.
Oh, how are things in New Mexico? I love to drive thru there on I-10 - pedal to the metal!

I hope you can get your 230 fixed up ok.
Dieseldiehard
1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 104041 or is it 204041?
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 288975
1983 300D 237300
1985 300TD 205437