'81 300TD Front End Noise
 

Hey Folks, just got a 300TD and have been driving it for a couple of months. Lately, I have noticed a grinding noise from the front end, possibly the right side, when making slow speed turn to the right. The noise is also present when backing up but again only noticeable at slow speed. The noise is not present during the complete turn but only towards the end of rotation.

I put the front end up on jacks and of course with no load there is no noise, so I am assuming the sterring box is OK. I did notice boots on the lower ball joints are torn, could one/both of them be causing the grind?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I did search previous messages but no luck.

PS. the 300TD just past 430,000km, whoohoo!:D

Hi Greg,

If its not a worn brake pad, my guess would be a worn wheel bearing. I've had to change one on my 80 TD, I did it in alittle less than an hours time.

At first, I just tried tightening both bearings alittle to see if it made a difference, it did on the side the grinding was coming from. I just did the one side, all was fine after that.

BTW, they are cheap parts, the wheel bearings, like $12-20.

~George~

If the balljoint boots are torn, then most likely the grease has worked it's way out and some dirt has gotten in there. What you are hearing is probably the joint grinding away. A new balljoint should run about $25

George-C, I did try to wiggle the wheel while the car was up on the jacks stands. All seemed to be very tight, no movement at all. I also spun the tire and didn't find any undue noise or grinding. Wouldn't a worn wheel bearing be noisy all the time? The noise only appears at a certain part of the total rotation of the steering wheel. I am going to try and inject some lubricant into the lower ball joint an see if I can get some temporary relief and hopefully pin point what is wrong.

Have you checked for lubricant in the steering box ?

The power steering fluid reservoir was a tad low on fluid so I have topped it off, just now. There is still some noise but seems better than before. I will drive it some more and and pay close attention to the amount of noise.

If it were"too low" would it not make noise when turing to the limit in either direction?

I still think that if you will take the wheel bearings apart you are going to find one dry and grinding.... I have never heard of a ball joint making noise... Greg

OK, I will now take the following plan of attack. First, drive around and see if the addition of power steering fluid helps.

Second, shoot some lubricant(any ideas here??) into the ruptured ball joint boot. This will have to get looked after soon regardless but for now I want to find the source.

Third, take a look at the wheel bearings and clean, inspect, re-pack/replace and retorque.

Good thing it's a long week-end coming up!!

I was not talking about power steering fluid... check and see if there is a lube hole for the steering box... It might have one... check your manual...

that shot of grease... if not under pressure and directed toward the proper surfaces has little chance of getting to where it would stop this noise if it is comeing from the ball joint.. so it would constitute a false negative if that does not stop the noise... ie, it could still be that because you really did not get lube to the important part.... but I am still betting on the wheel bearings... unless the steering gear is doing it.. good luck,,, Greg

Well according to my wife who was driving the car today, the noise is gone. The addition of power steering fluid appears to have done the trick, a bit wierd to me as it did not look all that low. As for lubing the steering gear box, there doesn't appear to be a separate lubrication point, I believe the power steering fluid is all there is for lubrication.

Sad to say but I do have a wheel bearing problem on my 300CD. Sharp turns to the left entice some low grinding noises from the front end. Oh well, drive 'em and fix 'em!:p