clanging and grinding - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

nmucci · #1 08-14-2005, 03:07 AM

I've put a lot of miles on my 300SD lately, and recently I noticed that if I put people in the back seat or take a left turn too fast, I get a clanging/grinding sound from left-rear part of the car. I took a look underneath, and found something that looked broken. WARNING: I don't know much about axles. Anyway, the rubber part where the axleshaft connects to the differential was broken off and a metal ring was hanging on the axleshaft. If its just me in the car, it drives fine; absolutely perfectly, in fact. I guess its been about 2,500 miles since the noise started. I need to drive another 1,800 in the next ten days. So, I have four questions:

1) What has failed?
2) How bad is it?
3) How long can I drive on it?
4) How much will it cost me to fix?

Thanks in advance,

Nick

Tiredofagasser · #2 08-14-2005, 03:35 AM

Don't drive it on the beach!!

barry123400 · #3 08-14-2005, 10:54 AM

Smarter to repair it now rather than risk total failure . That avoids the flatbed towing charge and possibly having to wait and pay whatever some strange garage charges you to fix it far away from home. Sounds like an axel boot is in the process of loosing lubricant and if so that dry constant velocity joint is going to get noisy and totally fail at some point. People have had good results by just purchasing a used axel and installing it I believe. Although a new boot and lubricant may save the cv joint if the joint is not really damaged yet. Perhaps it just a failed clamp that has allowed the lubricant to escape. Information in archives regarding inspection of joint and boot change if that what it turns out to be. Have a friend or garage take a look if your not exactly sure. If you really look around the car you might find another place to use the money saved by repairing that particular problem sooner than later. Under a hundred dollars would probably do it as people have mentioned used axels are better than rebuilt ones and definatly cheaper. That of course means changing it yourself and it may be a lot cheaper if you just get away with a new boot.

nmucci · #4 08-17-2005, 05:49 AM

...and $600 later it was fixed. Left side half axle replacement, differential cover replacement. Apparently old axle was so damaged it wasn't good enough for a core refund. On the interesting side, the rear end is different on my car, according to the mechanic. The reman guys gave my mechanic three different axles for an 84 300SD, and none of them fit; all a little short. Mechanic ended up getting a rebuilt Mercedes axle (not for a 300SD, and he didn't know what it was for at the time, I have to ask him later) that he claimed looked new to him. I promptly hit the highways and drove from Chicago to KC without a problem.

#5 08-17-2005, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmucci

...and $600 later it was fixed. Left side half axle replacement, differential cover replacement. Apparently old axle was so damaged it wasn't good enough for a core refund. On the interesting side, the rear end is different on my car, according to the mechanic. The reman guys gave my mechanic three different axles for an 84 300SD, and none of them fit; all a little short. Mechanic ended up getting a rebuilt Mercedes axle (not for a 300SD, and he didn't know what it was for at the time, I have to ask him later) that he claimed looked new to him. I promptly hit the highways and drove from Chicago to KC without a problem.

Sounds about right, I just spent about $1000 to have both of mine replaced with rebuilt units.