W123 Front Springs Green and Red Markings???
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Over the weekend a friend and I overhauled the front end suspension on my 79 W123 300TD wagon. We replaced the upper control arms, tie rods, center link, guide rod mount, shocks and springs and all the related bushings. After finishing, the front end ride height was considerably higher. After researching on the forums I thought that the problem could be that we tightened everything up while the car was still in the air, so I loosened the upper and lower control arms while the car was on the ground to see if it would settle a bit and lower, but no luck. I eventually took the wagon to my Mercedes diesel mechanic and he thought we installed the wrong springs. The new springs are genuine Mercedes springs with the part number 1233212704. Here's the important part, I think. The new springs had red and blue markings and I now realize that the original springs which I removed have red and green markings. Does anyone know the part number for the red and green marked springs?
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Be aware that it can take some time for everything to settle after doing front suspension work. Expect the front end to settle 1" if not more over the next 2 weeks or so. This applies even if reusing the same springs.
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I don't know what the color markings translate to. I'm sure one of the forum Oracles will come along and decode the paint markings at some point.
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Looking through the Factory Service Manual I can see that on 3.25-010/2 that both 123 321 36 04 and 123 321 27 04 are available for Touring (123.190). 123 321 36 04 is for "vehicles with additional special equipment." On another page (32.5-220/5) I see "adjustment of front springs" but for 123.190 it only has 123 321 36 04 for a front spring. For the height of the spring rubber mounts I'll duplicate the chart as best I can here. The special equipment listed is : sliding roof, power steering, automatic transmission, extra heater. Each is a point (sliding roof + power steering is = 2) For Special Equipment 2: -Blue coded spring 13 mm -Red coded spring 18mm For Special Equipment 3 -Blue coded spring 13 mm -Red coded spring 18 mm For Special Equipment 4: -Blue coded spring 18 mm -Red coded spring 23 mm Let me know if you have any of the above listed features. I'm guessing that you either need the other spring available or you need a different height spacer. |
When I was doing suspension work on my front end I noticed both my front springs were marked blue and green
https://i.ibb.co/MZSN9xN/IMG-20200428-192722-01.jpg |
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1) Did you verify that the new springs actually are stamped with the part number? If you did, you know where to find the P/N of the old springs. It is stamped on the inside diameter of the full coil end (not the ground-flat end). 2) A spring will bear either a blue, OR, a red code, not both. The blue and red codes determine the thickness of the rubber pad. The springs with red & green markings are red code springs. |
From what I understand, the markings in the center of the spring (usually 3-4 dots) were for inspection, and can be ignored.
As others have mentioned, the large red or blue dots at the bottom of the spring are important. The red is 5mm shorter than the blue. |
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http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/284679-paint-markings-springs.html |
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The real question remains though... is the 5mm in difference between the 13mm and 8mm shims going to make that big of a difference? Or should I just put my old spring back in to get back to respectable front end ride height?
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5mm is roughly 1/4". That difference will translate to roughly 3/8-1/2" difference in total ride height. If your springs are making the front end stick up 2-3" like you say, put the old springs back in. There's more wrong than just the spring rate.
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