1999 MB E300-TD - I'd be extremely grateful for any suggestions to the following problem! I recently had my tires replaced at a local Firestone where they successfully put on three tires, however, when they arrived at the front left tire only one lug nut would come off. They used penetrating oil, a breaker bar, and a 3/4" impact wrench (incidentally a 3/4 inch is used on big trucks, crank shaft bolts and the like). The only success they had was to break off one of bolts... Not wanting to do any more damage they suggested I take it to the dealer where they would probably have a "special tool" for dealing with this. Apparently the Firestone does have a tool that can grab at the back of the nut, but will not work on the MB designed wheel. Not knowing whether the lugs are seized to the rim or to the bolts, the only this I can think of is to drill small holes in the heads of the lug nuts and squirt some PB-Blaster or similar product to break down the corrosion.

Since the car is fairly new to me I have no history of who over tightened it. I'm guessing the last time the wheel was off was during state inspection, which was a new when I bought the car.

Thanks, Diesel99

 

Spray the PB blaster on the hub of the wheel from the back. and spray it into the holes. Then get as long of a pipe as u can find and just jump on it. Thats what i do when i have those problems.

 

Thanks mbz300sdl, I'll try it this evening and hope it works. What gets me though is the Firestone guys deal with this all the time, but said they had "never" "ever" seen anything like this. Go figure... Being number one isn't always a good thing.

 

Transmission fluid is a good penetrating oil. You may need to lube it up and let it sit for a day or so then lube it again and give it a try.

 

I have driven Toyotas, Hondas, and Detroit junks. None of them had as bad wheel bolts/nuts as MB. Wheel bolts and nuts on other brands DO NOT CORRODE as badly as the ones on Mercedes. That's my experience.

Coating on alloy rims pealing off? It only happens in MB. Even Chevy Cavalier does not suffer from this problem.

 

Even though MB wheel bolts are strong, you can round off the bolt heads with too much torque or a aging socket. Before you roundoff the bolt heads, another idea is take car to a place that they can heat the bolts/bolt heads, with care as not to damage wheel. This may help.
Bill Mercer

 

Try:

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...en+wheel+bolts

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...en+wheel+bolts

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...en+wheel+bolts

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...en+wheel+bolts

 

Update of wheel bolt quandary and in reply to all who posted to this thread,

Mixed results after trying a variety of methods to get the remaining wheel bolts loose. I managed to get another one off and break another bolt head off. This brings the tally to two bolts removed two bolt heads broken off and one still stuck and will probably break off. For those familiar with the particular type of bolts I have on my '99 E300, after a bolt head breaks off you are left with the acorn section of the bolt still holding the wheel on which will have to be either drilled out or disintegrated using one of those precise arc units. Has anyone ever tried to drill out the remaining wheel bolt after the head breaks off? I'm going to try it this weekend on my own, but imagining that it will be quite a difficult job with just a hand held drill... Any advice on this procedure would be appreciated. I'd rather not take it into the pros for this unless I have to...

Incidentally, I talked to the MB dealer to see about getting replacement bolts which I definitely need and they said the newer ones have a shorter profile from the acorn section to the bolt head. This means the bolt appearance is recessed on the wheel, but they are much less likely to break off when they get seized. I may replace all of them if I ever get this wheel off so I don't have to relive this again, especially if I'm stuck on the side of the road with a flat.

Thanks

 

There's a product called "never-seize". When you put the new ones in, give them a coat of never seize. It may help but if the last person who put those bolts in over-torqued them, there's not much you can do except check the torque EVERY time after the wheel has been removed.

 

Thanks aharley1,

Sure thing, I do use "never seize" quite often and will put a small bit on the bolts when I replace them. I haven't had a reason to take the wheels off my MB since I just bought it this summer, but I do use it on my other vehicles lugs.

I did hear that applying products like that may change the torque threshold by having dry versus lubricated threads. Can't imagine it to be that much of a difference though, but I've heard folks say it may void some warrenties because you've changed the torque specs. Who knows?