hi im new on this forum and i have a 2002 c230 sports coupe with a 2.3l 6spd tranny. i have a little over 106,000 miles on it.

after driving on the highway from work i noticed a little grinding noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. as a drove for about another 20-30 miles the noise got worse. it wa happening at any gear and got worse around 2500 to 3500 rpms. third gear was teriable. i also noticed that if i drop the car in neutral, it was still making noise recardles of the rpm beaing at idel. as soon as i go under 10 mph on neutrol the noise disapears. the noise mad is soming grinding. no vibration or power lose. when in neutrol the prms a strong. clutch doesnt slip and everything is dry underneath the car.

i took the car to my mechanice. he put on the lift and took out the drive shaft. he told me that the middle x like goint was bad and had it rebuild. after reinstalling the driveshaft i took it for a spin and nothind changed.

i left the car in his shop and came back to him the next day on saturday morning. he took out the shaft again and said he wats to but it on the machine and spin it to see if its bent. if its ok than he is doing to drop the rear end. odviously my mechanice doesent now whats wrong and i dont want him to take everything apart. please help me with the solution of this problem and any recomindations on how to solve it or who to go to for help. im in the new york city area.

thanks

bump...

does the car have factory wheels or aftermarket?
Ray
mercedessd@cox.net

factory wheels

Sounds a lot like the CV joint on one of the rear axles is bad. Get the car up on a lift and examine the rubber boots on the axles. There are four of them, two on each axle. When the rubber fails due to age (not likely in your case) or due to being struck by debris on the road (more likely) the grease comes out and water makes its way in. Eventually the joint begins to fail and it makes some horrible noises as it goes. Crunching and cracking noises are not uncommon.

If this is the problem I would not use the same mechanic. He apparently knows nothing about the driveline of an MB.

On newer MB's changing the half shafts with the CV joints is pretty straight forward. You might consider doing it yourself. 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)

when he had the car on the lift i examended the rubber boots on the axles. they seem to be fine. not lose no cracks and no sighn of greace on them

what are some of the signs when a rear end goes?

Let your mechanic isolate the noise with the uses of a stethoscope with the car on the lift running in gear. If he thinks it’s the differential, remove the rear cover and do an inspection.

Glad to hear your car got repaired properly. Be sure and get your $250 back!

You might also contact the local Mercedes-Benz dealership and ask to speak to the District Service Manager. At this point they are under no obligation to do anything but .... it is an unusual failure (unless no maintenance) and they might help?

Haasman

__________________
'03 E320 Wagon-Sold
'95 E320 Wagon-Went to Ex
'93 190E 2.6-Wrecked
'91 300E-Went to Ex
'65 911 Coupe (#302580)

thanks for the reply, contacting my dealership is going to be a total waste of time. they are such ******* in New York.

get my 250 dolors back wont be posible because i paid the guy cash i took the reciept though. i wanted to pay the guy with a credit card and do a charge back but he dosent accept credit cards, so basicly im screwed.

out of this whole painful experiance i would sugest people on this forum would just take the car to the dealership or an indepentent shop that specializes in mercedes benz and have their car fixed with a profecional. what through me off about my local mechanic was the name Benzmotors. but odviously he nows nothing about benzs.