Good morning!

I have a 2006 C230 that I am very very happy with. The car loves the Texas heat and runs well in the warm weather. When it gets colder - that's another story

Question for you all - I have been into the shop three times this year to work through suspension issues from the left front. The first time the knock and slight tramline were corrected by replacing the thrust link bushings on both sides. The problem came back and the second time the dealership replaced the sway bar links and BAM! the car was running like a champ again. Recently the same sensations have come back and they replaced the inner tie rod. Now - that worked to tighten the stering but there is still an audible cluck/rattle and a rebound issue especially over smaller bumps. When at highway speed it seems to thump like an unbalnaced tire - yet I just balanced them with this latest repair this week.

Anybody up for a diagnois? Its going back to the dealer in two days but would like to get some research done to go in there armed with information.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

I have a 2002 C230 Sport Coupe that had all of the symptoms you described. It was especially evident at low speeds over teeny little bumps. Other than extremely annoying it didn't affect the driveability of the car.
Like you I had all of the parts that you mentioned replaced under warrantee. Parts included stabilizer bar connecting link (both sides), front stabilizer bar rubber bushings (both sides), tie rods (both), wheel alignment, toe angle adjustment, and front torsion bar links (both).
Like you each repair solved the problem temporarily.
The bizarre problem for my car was a small amount of rust on the brake disc edges that was rubbing. On the hoist with no weight on the wheels there was no sound. It only occurred when the tires had a load on them.
The solution was new front rotors. Even more bizarre a noise from the rear of the car also disappeared when the front rotors were replaced.
It took three years to solve but has been trouble free for two years.

 

Upper ball joint, strut assembly, or for some strange reason the spring became unseated or shiftedin the strut purch?

 

It has been a bit annoying I have to admit. The car and I have been through an interesting year since I purchased it and I will say the work I have done on it has created a better running machine. Now I have to get this licked!

Thats interesting about the rotors.....I had to replace my front brakes with my service B about 7000 miles ago and even now they make a big noise when I back the car up - the rotor "tings" upon activation in reverse. Interesting too is the fact that the mechanics couldn't find the tie rod issue -it took a week of investigation to find that issue. And the work was required but we still haven't gotten to the root of the issue!

I will have them look through all of the above....now: anybody have any tips on how to explain the issue to the service advisor. I started this last time telling him that it was especially apparent when turing the car at tight radius (audible clunk) and that it seemed to "hop" an sway/tramline at highway speed. I don't think I got through to him as they only looked to the loads on turning and recommneded a tire balancing to clear up the straightline issue.

Finally - anyone: will driving on this for the next two days prior to dealer visit affect it further?

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!

 

Well the clunk noise occurs when you lock out the sterring to one side. This is a suspension issue but again could be many things. It seems you have had most already addressed and fixed with the exception of the upper ball joint. If this goes bad the car will make a slight thud thud noise sorta like a lop sided tire would make. Most mistake it for a unbalanced tire noise. Just tell the service rep to look over the upper ball joints to insure they are not worn then tell him the steering makes a clunk when you lock out to one side or the other. Now if your strut is bad you can get wheel hop as well so keep this in mind.

 

Hey guys! Thanks for the advice. The car went into the dealership one day early and I took the mechanics out for a test drive with me. They are actually stumped and unsure of what to do. They were hesitant to say but they think it may be the strut - well really its all they haven't addressed and they have fixed/replaced a lot already.

I am going to ask them to ensure that the following things are looked at and hopefully I'll have some resolution: ball joints, ball joint boot, Hold Down Nut for the front strut area, Thrust Link bushings (again - as when they weres wapped last time it corrected the issue), Sway Bar Link joints and even the caster bushings (if different - a past thread noted these can cause the same symptoms I am experiencing).

Thanks for the help.....I really appreciate it.

 

Alright.....I think we got this figured out. My mechanic who worked on the car was stumped as to what I was feeling in the car. All of the parts they have put into the car over the last year are sound and not causing the issue as far as they are concerned - so Friday they swapped out the current strut for a new one. While doing that they noticed that the wheel has a "bow" in it and swapped the wheel to the passenger side.

So.....it seems I must have hot a bump, and caused not only the strut to break but the wheel to be damaged - at least that's the theory. The car had been running perfectly up to a recent trip I took out of town, so somewhere on the way to the airport we must have hit something to cause some damage! They worked on the wheel today and we'll see what happens once the car is ready Sunday.

Thanks for all of your help.

JR