1999 C230K with about 140k miles.

At speeds between 30 and 70 the front end feels very "touchy" and prone to small amounts of wandering. It just doesn't want to track exactly straight like it should. It kind of "floats" along and needs constant adjustment to stay on the road. It tracks straight under acceleration and deceleration, but when idling along at 50mph it wants to dodge a little left and right.

I have recently replaced: Front struts, entire tie rod, drag link bushing, front lower ball joints, outer stabilizer bar bushings, front wheel bearings and all 4 tires. I also had it aligned and have set the tire pressure with a digital gauge to the specified pressures, cold.

When I do further diagnoses I can move the steering wheel a little less than 1 inch at the rim without moving the pitman arm, maybe 2/3 inch. So I want to tighten up the steering box.

I did the steering box adjustment described at 1999 C230 Adjusted Steering Gear Box - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum It was a great resource, though if you take off one 10mm plastic bolt the washer fluid tank lifts up on my car and give you *nearly* enough access to get at the lock nut and adjustment bolt. I got the lock nut broken free, but turning the adjustment bolt is very, very difficult. It took all of my strength in one hand to turn the 6mm hex inside the lock nut, squeezing the two wrenches together. Obviously I'll never be able to "feel" the adjustment this way.

Will there be a problem if I take the whole adjustment screw and lock bolt out of the steering box? Then I can clean the threads up on the wire wheel and then reassemble so I can actually feel how the adjustment bolt interfaces with the steering gear. ie: Will something break or pop out if I take it all the way out? (Ideally if you really *know*, not just *heard*, I would appreciate knowing...)

Unfortunately, because it was so hard to turn, a few times my 6mm hex slipped out and I forgot to mark the adjustment screw, so I don't know if it's been turned 1/8th or 1/2 turn CCW. I tested the turning of the wheels and there was no binding and I drove it 80 miles today, but I would like to adjust the box right and to do that I need to turn the screw correctly. So can I take it out of the box without hurting anything? Can can someone confirm that the center screw is turned Counter Clockwise (CCW) to tighten the steering? I can't really see the threads to verify.

 

I can now confirm that the center 6mm allen bolt is indeed turned CCW to tighten the steering.