This past 3 day weekend was spent replacing the tie rods and center link on my '86 420 SEL. What a nightmare! Every bolt was absolutely frozen in place, it was if they were welded in place. Eventually I had to hacksaw and Dremel cut 6 bolts off then drill 4 new holes. I had to step drill starting with 1/4", then 3/8", then 1/2" until I was able to massage out the remaining previously existing bolts. Then I enlarged each hole about 1/32" with the Dremel to avoid this condition in the future. As an extra bit of insurance I shrink wrapped the new bolts and coated them with antiseize before putting the whole assembly back together. Now comes the interesting part. My new center link is about 3" longer then the old one and the cross shock absorber will not fit the new center link. Instead of performing more modifications I will order a center link from the PartsShop. But for now it does drive much better than before and my right tire does not feel as if it will wiggle off over each bump in the road. What purpose does the center link shock absorber serve? Is it to return the steering wheel to center when the steering wheel is released?

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

Am I reading this correctly? What you are saying is that all the tapers on your tie-rod ends and drag link ends were difficult to remove. This is pretty normal and there are special tools available (eg. ball joint pullers) to deal with this. You are then saying you drilled the old ones out and enlarged the holes and and wrapped something over the tapers so the new ones will not get stuck like the old ones??? If this is the case this is not good!!! Those tapers are designed to get stuck like that so that they don't all fall apart while you are driving the car (with obviously undesirable consequences!). Might I suggest that if this is what you have done you get it all fixed correctly as soon as possible. If what you have done is not as I have understood it to be, please excuse my concerns. In answer to your other question, the "shock absorber" you refer to does just that and is actually known as the steering damper. It prevents the shock of striking something on the road (eg. pot-hole) from being transfered through the steering box to the steering wheel and assists to prevent "shimmy" due to slight wheel imbalance. I agree that it is a good idea to get the correct parts so everything fits. Please don't modify anything else. I also suggest that after getting all this sorted out you invest in a front wheel alignment.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

Thank you Greg in Oz , that is what makes this forum great. I will definitely order a new center link, pittman and intermediate steering arm tonight.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

For the next time you do this, the way to remove tie rod ends is to rememeber that they are a tapered stud. By striking the arm through which the tapered stud passes at a right angle to the stud with a LARGE hammer, you will momentarily shrink the hole, which will pop the stud loose. You do this after removing the nut, of course.

This is hard to describe. Just imagine a snow cone. If you squeeze the cone, the ice will come out the top. By striking the side perpendicular to the direction of the tapered stud, you will force the stud out.

Failing the hammer method, you can buy a tie rod end tool that looks like a pickle fork and is typically referred to a as a pickle fork. After removing the nut, you put the pickle fork between the tie rod end and the member through which it passes.

Good luck,

use one of these


or


to separate this:-



to be left with



here you can clearly see the taper of the end doofer

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C140 420 CL
W114 280CE pimpmobile
W114 250/8 Hillclimber with M110 and bike carbs - got any hot cams?

I beat on the end of my tie rod till I was blue in the face. Once I did as LarryBible instructed, it came free with just a couple of blows.

I've just befriended a can of Liquid Wrench too. Don't know why I have gone so long without it. I had trouble removing the rusted on rotors of my wife's car. A few shots of LW in the bolt holes and about 5 minutes later, they came right off.

Thank you, LarryBible,guydewdney, andQ for your responses, concerns, advice and photos. I ordered a center link from Phil last night and picked up the Pittman and Intermediate arms from the local junkyard after work today. They both have fresh scratches on them that appear to be made from the pickle fork tool. That makes it official; I am the only person that did not know about that tool. I plan to redo the job this weekend as Phil usually "teleports" parts. This has been an interesting learning experience for me and I plan to learn more when I drop the transmission in a couple of weeks, tear it apart and fix that constant leak.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

I just pulled the tranny out of my Euro 500 SE to put in front and rear seals ,it's a good time to check flex plates and tranny mount and change them if the look bad. Over tightening the 6 bolts that hold the tranny pan on is a very common reason for
for leaks.I would make sure it not the pan leaking or the O ring on the end of the dip stick tube before I pulled the tranny it's a big job.If the front seal is leaking the leak will be out the bottom slots in the bell housing.You can do the rear seal with tranny in car..........

William Rogers.........

O ring at the end of the dip stick tube? Sounds interesting....how do I check that first. The pan is fine and the rear is also good. The biggest indication of the leak other than the pool of red tranny fluid at each stop is the plume of white smoke that I sometimes get when the car is at rest after a long drive from the fluid dripping onto the center muffler. If I could find a reasonable repair shop in the area I would pay for a rebuild or replacement but no one here wants to warranty their work for over a year.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

HUH?

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

I've been thinking about working on the suspensions in my car, but have been a little hesitant because of the likely difficulty of loosening suspension bolt and nuts. Are there problems with using an electric impact wrench to loosen tight nuts and bolts?

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Riadh
'89 560SL Rauchsilber
And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good -- Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?

hammer
The nuts on my MB were easily removed with a socket. Clearance was a major concern and I could scarcely get a mallet into position much less get a power stroke. But with the tools pictured earlier in this post and the advice and warnings offered I would not hesitate to attempt this again in about 20 years

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

am i the one one who is concerned that (no offence) someone who doesnt know how to R&R a steering arm is going to strip an auto box from a mercedes????

i count myself as a competant mechanic - been mucking about fixing bikes from 14 or 15, cars fro the last 5 years, degree in engineering, and I don't want to strip a merc autobox.. fix a leaky seal, yes - but not strip it!

try cleaning the box (when on a ramp / pit) and try to identify the exact location of the leak first?

go buy a cheap digital camera, and take pics of bits and ask before doing stuff - its no bad thing to ask first, we all have to learn sometime...(incidently - get one with an lcd screen - i have used my camera as a sort of endoscope - take a 'blind' picture of what you are trying to see, then review picture on screen - this allows you to see round corners)

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C140 420 CL
W114 280CE pimpmobile
W114 250/8 Hillclimber with M110 and bike carbs - got any hot cams?

No, you're not, and I can hardly wait for the next installment....but I'm going to give him an A+ for determination. BTW, an air hammer with a dull-ended ram works great in close quarters for applying side-force to those tapered joints. And, don't use a torch to heat a ball joint lined with that plastic stuff Mercedes uses (tecalon?)...the ball can shoot out of the socket like a bullet when the liner gets hot enough!

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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus

I haven't had to use impact tools on my Mercedes, but on my Dodge truck they were almost mandatory. On my Dodge, an impact wrench alone wouldn't free the lower ball joint castle nut. Nor did spraying it days before with penetrating oil. I had to use the impact, then penetrating oil, then impact, ... I would suggest using impact tools for REMOVAL only. If it goes on THAT tight then either something is incorrect or it probably should be torqued accurately.

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Brian Toscano