Well I've tracked down my mystery noise to some old and worn CV joints. They are loud and clunk intermittently when they heat up on drives longer than about an hour.

I think my best bet is to replace the axles. I know that there are a variety of replacements on the market. My question: Besides the OEM Mercedes part, which brand of 'aftermarket' axle do you recommend? I know there has been some question about the quality of certain ones available from Auto Zone and the like.

Any input appreciated!

Thanks

Justin,

I have used a set of CVJ Axles out of Denver. They are very nice to work with and deal directly with consumers. I think all told, each axle is $147+50 core plus $8 shipping. They come with a three year unlimited mileage warranty.

Mine went on my '82 and have been good for 15k.

-dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

If the noise takes an hour driving to materialise you might get away with just lubricating them. There is nothing to lose as you can add some lube with the axles still installed. If they were truly shot or worn out the noise would be pretty constant.

They are just warming up from inadaquate lubrication in my opinion. If the old boots are not leaking or torn I would go for it. Then if the problem stops remove the axles drain and lube them properly and install them on the opposite sides to expose unworn bearing cage surfaces..

That way they may last as long as the originals did or close to it. Rebuilts are a bit of a crap shoot and the new chinese ones still have too many questions. New originals are of course the best from mercedes but your wallet will bite you pretty hard.

Barry,

I hear what you are saying. Could you explain the lubrication procedure? I would think I would need to slip the boots off, pour some heavy oil in (like 75-90W or something??) and then somehow reattach the boots. What would work best for sealing up the boots?

AND a very Specific amount of said GREASE to be Applied/Contained within
each Joint/Boot.

There are "Clips" (Think "Permanent Hose Clamps") that secure the Boot to each
portion of the "Joint"(whether "Can" or "Shaft")

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

No need to remove the boots if intact. Just remove the small end clamp. Take something like a turkey baster and put a small plastic line on it. Slide it between the axle and the boot. Push the plastic line well in and Inject about the recommended amount of lubricant or a small amount less. I try to simplify things myself. Not lazy just too many other things to do.

It will probably be an outer joint. But nothing is written in stone. You do not have two joints simultainiously acting up I think. The odds of that senario being possible are just a little on the high side.

Then just use a standard screw clamp to seal the small end of the boot to the axle again. If the problem stops then you can consider doing the second stage. With what I read of your description I think there is at least a ninety five percent chance it will satisfy you. As long as you do not procastinate before lubing them.

Much depends on the present overall condition of the car and your attitude. Draining,flushing and fresh relubrication of all the joints can basically be done on the car as well I would think. But requires unclamping of both boot ends and sliding the boot back. Plus by not changing the axels to the opposite sides will mean less overall lifespan.

Off the car draining flushing and a totally new charge of lubricant should be managable through the small end of the boot only.

There is no reason though an added amount of lubrication can not give you still tens of thousands of additional miles. I personally would like to see your results posted and how easy you found the initial proceedure. I think the results will be very positive.

As a general disclaimer I have no stock or holdings in any firm that produces or repairs mercedes rear axle assemblies.

Hello, I had the same problem with my 79 300d...

It would take a while to start making noise. It was hard for me to determine where the sound was coming from, but I knew it was the rear driveline somewhere and probably pass. side.

The axles and boots were the original and the pass. side axle was leaking a bit when I looked under there. I figured that was it... just a worn cv joint due to loss of oil... so I swapped in another axle (also old, but the boots were intact and not leaking )to the passenger side which was the side making the grumbling. It made no difference as far as that noise coming and going. It was still there??

It was the rear wheel bearing....changed that out and the car is doing..WAY better, it was like a new car..more power so it seems.
What is strange is that it did not pull to one side? just the grumbling noise.
I imagined the axle was getting tired of working against that dry wheel bearing. and that is why the oil started to leak out of the cv boots.

The Mercedes mech. here quoted $1000 for changing both rear wheel bearings including parts.

The special socket YOU NEED for this job costed $140 and bearing kits for each side $140/ea.
Doing the math that comes to 580$ labour to change 2 wheel bearings.
That seemed retarded at the time. I only paid a grand for the whole car....so I did it myself. I have 2 other cars like it so buying the socket seemed like a good tool to have. (It has the Mercedes logo laser etched onto it) Some others have reported this socket to be slightly hard to fit into the slots. Mine fit perfect and I wonder if they have a generic made socket if it won't quite fit? (another matter).

Also needed is a magnetic base dial indicator. Got mine on sale... Princess Auto for 30 bucks.(I love that store) I think the American equivalent of Harbour Freight. The magnet did not stick very well though..had to use a c-clamp.

I was very intimidated by this job after researching and considering that even this site lists it as a more involved duty for these cars. It felt good after the car drove so well.
I would not have succeded without the help of this site.

I remember when I picked up the special socket...that the mechanic told me to be careful of using an impact wrench with this socket as you can break off the tabs if it is not seated all the way.
After research on here I found out that using an impact with this socket is a no-no. The socket is used to hold the lock nut in place and you use a real big pipe on the lug nuts to loosen the assembly. Once I found that little piece of info. it was all down hill and the rest of the job was a lot easier.
Not easy but a lot easier.
I think my mechanic needs to learn that trick or at least if he knows it, he did not elude to that fact what with his impact wrench on the socket stories.
Hopefully you can get away with just the axle swap but I have three of these cars and the other two also need the pass side wheel bearings changed. I am not sure what the deal is with it being the pass. side on each of my cars? could be that side of the car has its grease washed out faster because that side of the car is exposed to more of the elements...snow rain etc.??

Which side axle is failing on your car? just curious.

I would like to refer you to the link of the article that I found so helpful and perhaps I would not have had to ramble to you about this axle bearing subject but I do not know how to post links and no one on here will tell me. Maybe someone else will chime in for that.

I guess if it is just your axle that is the problem then you will not need all of this info. I am starting to get the impression that people are unloading these cars for cheap when this axle bearing issue comes up. It is just not feasible for someone to drop a grand on 2 wheel bearings. It is actually not that great of a design in my opinion to have a routine part like wheel bearings as such a pain of a job or as such an expensive job.

On the other hand those are the original bearings and they have lasted almost thirty years on the same grease which is pretty good. Changing the front wheel bearing on my nissan stanza was just as much of a pain and it is far newer in design.

I guess in this long winded story I am trying to tell you to not forget to check the rear wheel bearings. I don't think it is mentioned enough when rear end noise is brought up, perhaps because the bearing job is far more involved than changing the axle. Do keep it in mind. Seized up wheel bearings scare me too.
Thanks for reading if you got this far.

A fellow Canadian with a good point. That is one of the reasons I quoted the chances at success at ninety five percent. He quotes a clunking sound after an hour on the road. If a rear bearing deteriorated to the stage it was actually clunking there would not be a temporary recovery I suspect. Till the end point of another say sixty mile or hour long drive. As I honestly feel nothing is writtten in stone plus people should keep an open mind your post is good.

The beauty of adding lubricant for the initial cv joint test is it is so easy to do. If I was faced with a rear bearing failure. Not owning or living where that special wrench is easily available. I would probably grab a bearing hub assembley from a low milage gas wreck. I have to admit that those rear bearings in these cars seem usually go a long ways milage wise before failure.

Hello, Barry123. I have some w126 parts cars (gassers). I wonder if any of the rear hub parts would fit on my w123 cars. Do You know? More specifically:
W126-I have a 1988 420sel and a 1987 420sel.
W123-1980 300TD, 1979 300D, 1985 300TD.

The intermittant problem with the 79 rear bearing. appeared over three months.... seemed to go away and come back depending on turns also depending on time driven, sometimes...eventually leading to a constant grumbling although still driveable,a bit noisy but only if you were inside the car.
I parked it for awhile after that happened and that's where I noticed the fluid leaking from the axle boot, although when I drove it around the block to get it into the garage I do not remember it making any noise.
When I got it into the garage though I pushed and pulled on the wheel and there was definetly slop.
When I removed the old bearing it was trashed on one side ( I can't remember which side?) I think the inside bearing.

I wonder if there is a connection between wear of the rear bearings and the axles or further up the line to the transmission (automatic)? I wonder if some sort of preventative maintenance of the rear bearings at a certain point would help extend the life of these other parts?

I do not know about the hub assemblies simularity if any. If you can source the part numbers for both cars and they are identical you are away.

I think but do not know about maintaining since the rear bearings are preloaded during installation. That a periodic repacking is even possible. I guess this is one part that should be replaced by an original quality bearing because of the difficulty of changing the bearing. You are more aware than me of what is possible though.

I too am sitting on a 380se 126 parts car off the road because of rust. It is still complete and it was aquired for the perfect interior and euro lights. I thought by now someone would have wanted the interior. You could let me know if you find out perhaps about the hub compatability.

Finally I saw some statistics on your province the other day. It appeared you were doing the best in Canada by a fair margin from an economic standpoint. Yet you are still not all driving new mercedes?

Yes, If I find out i'll share. I am not sure about our economics...I have not seen it. I have been in the same job for the last decade or so, maybe not a good person to ask about it. However, in a way I guess it is allright... the place that I work is getting a new location for the first time since being in our city for the last 35 years. That will be nice for everyone, even us blue collar guys...and we get a raise every 3 years so maybe next time around .

I will never be in a position to drive a new Mercedes, I nothing more than a labourer, it has never even crossed my mind actually. I think our province has been on the catchup as far as buisness or at least maintaining so long that it may take a while for the rest of us to notice anything .I don't hope to be ungrateful.. it could be worse.

I guess driving these era and style diesel vehicle is practicle more than anything. They are especially robust for the condition of the roads here. Lots of stuff to farmer fix on these too, I like that(mcguyver)

If you could measure the success of the economy in our province then I guess taking a drive on the roadways here would tell you otherwise.or to talk to a farmer. The highway that I frequent has one continuous pothole that stretches for more than thirty clicks right down the middle of the double lane where the divided line was painted...not sure why but you could almost fit a tire in it that is how wide it is. you really have to watch when changing lanes that you don't brake your wheel off. It is pathetic not to mention unsafe to drive on some of our roads. As far as I know this pothole stretches all the way to the Alta. border. Potholes are also seen everywhere in our major cities. These things take time to fix I guess.

I am curious what you saw that makes you think we have it so good here? I don't know very much about buisness is why I ask.
How is your economy doing in Nova Scotia?

Will personal message you to take this discussion off site. Basically your province has been reporting the most economic growth in Canada. If it impacts the average guys like us it takes time. Still much better than going in the other direction.

Yes , I agree, very well put with far less words....I look forward to hearing from a fellow Canadian.
Cheers.

MACDOE--- Here is a cross reference of trailing arms for W123 & W126

www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=229825

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Hello, Charmalu, Thank you for the charts.

I am looking at them and they look like they DO NOT interchange between a 126 and 123 car or maybe I am reading them wrong.
Is it the three digit number that represents the part# for one trailing arm?
...so for example the one that says 024 would fit both a 116 and a 107 car?


I think I have read these charts before and was wondering about that, also last time I looked into this the guys were talking about an aluminum version of trailing arm that fit from a 126 to a 123 car... so now I am confused since according to the chart it is not possible between these chassis.(126-123) I meant).
Thanks again.