P'bert,

I have the page in a manual for the W115 chassis, not the W123 chassis. However, I think the procedure will be similar.

In the W115 chassis, the under dash cladding to hide the guts is not as elaborate as it is on the W123, so that will be a difference. I think on the W123 you have to remove the formed plastic covering first to get access to the steering spindle tube while this stuff was pretty much in plain view on a W115 if you got under the dash. The steering spindle is inside this tube and about half way from the steering wheel to the hole in the firewall where the spindle shaft assembly goes into the engine compartment, there is a small hole in the steering spindle tube. When the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position, a hole in the spindle will line up with the hole in the tube. It actually does it once per rev of the steering wheel so you have to put the wheel in the approximate straight ahead position, then line the holes up. If you miss it by a revolution, or, as someone on the board experienced, get the steering wheel a significant angle out of alignment and just remount the steering wheel a few splines off, the blinkers will not turn on and off as you expect. There is a special tool to be made by hand that fits in there, but it is unnecessarily overspecified in the drawing. In reality it is a small rod, about 6mm in diameter and a few inches long. If you have a selection of cotter pins I think you can find one that fits.

Anyway, with the steering wheel locked with the centering pin, you go about your business of aligning the front end (I believe toe-in is the parameter of greatest sensitivity, although on my old 1975 240D chasing caster and camber seemed interdependent and to affect toe-in too, or atleast the straight line performance). I believe this is not the case with the W123 though as the front suspension and steering geometry/set up is different - meaning the toe-in or straight line performance influence from the camber and caster adjustments.

Good luck and I hope this helps. If someone with a set of W123 manuals can confirm this I think it will make P'bert a little more comfortable. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)