1986 300E steering Gear Box - trouble

[tino]

Almost a year to this day - on a super cold Canadian day - when I was backing out of my garage the seals on my gear box just blew. We are not talking about just a slow leak but the fluid just pours out. I disconnected and looped the lines from the power steering pump in order not to blow that also. At first a lot of effort on my part was needed to steer the car - parallel parking was out of the question. However slowly but surely my steering muscles got stronger to the point where now I don't even notice the lack of power assist. ---- The problem now is that nobody but me in my family can drive this car so i am stuck with this nice but older car while my wife now drives full time my newer car. Is there any way without changing the gear box that I can reduce the steering effort?

There are a couple of used steering boxes from a 1990 300E on Ebay- would they fit my 1986 300E ?

[germanltd]

power for your stearing box supplied from power stearing pump , there is power valve inside, just found other used power stearing box for replaced or get the valve it self.

[JEdwards]

This happened on my car too - pitman arm seal was toast. It shouldn't be a big deal to have that replaced, or if you can get another gearbox that isn't leaking at the junkyard, install that yourself. I believe the directions are in the DIY articles on how to do so.

If you do replace it, make sure that the wheel is dead centered when you take it out otherwise there will be problems when you put it back in if its not lined up.

[tino]

There are a couple of used steering boxes from a 1990 300E on Ebay- would they fit my 1986 300E ?

[donbryce]

Search the net for the suppliers/part numbers for the box for each car, and if they are the same, it'll probably fit. According to my Adsit catalog, they are different numbers. The W124 86 - 89 is different from the 89 - 95. What the difference is, though, will have to be addressed by someone who is familiar with the specific models. Good luck.

[tino]

Originally Posted by JEdwards

This happened on my car too - pitman arm seal was toast. It shouldn't be a big deal to have that replaced, or if you can get another gearbox that isn't leaking at the junkyard, install that yourself. I believe the directions are in the DIY articles on how to do so.

If you do replace it, make sure that the wheel is dead centered when you take it out otherwise there will be problems when you put it back in if its not lined up.

Could not find directions in the DIY - can somebody please give me the link?

[donbryce]

http://www.davidpetryk.net/Mercedes/Steering.htm