jkowtko

Your description of the noise when turning sounds like bearing, but on the freeway when you are not turning? I would normally think of control arm ball joints, but you said you just replaced those.

Can you get under the car while someone turns the wheel? If you don't trust ramps, then drive the one tire onto a tall a curb to create some room underneath.

Cruel-Merc

car runs fine on free way , i went to an indy today and he said its the steering rack but as far as i know the rack doesnt go bad on one side only , correct me if im wrong please.I will have to go underneath it just like you said before starting taking the whole suspension down.

jkowtko

Okay I see -- you said the noise is equivalent to if something kicks up under the car on the freeway. I can envision a bunch of different noises ... a video clip woul really help here

Fyi, the rack bushings do wear. I replaced mine last year -- actually a pretty easy job -- I posted my DIY in another thread.

In my case there was side-to-side slop in the steering, i.e. it would drift heavily in whatever direction the crown of the road was sloped. Others have reporting their rack bushings worn so badly that they got metal-on-metal clunk from the bushing core hitting the mounting tab of the rack. Definitely worth checking this out and replacing them if you see any play in the rack mounts.

Cruel-Merc

, maybe this will help :p

jkowtko

Boy that engine is loud! Are you inside a metal storage locker?

It's really hard to hear the noise ... I think I could barely make it out but it's being drowned out pretty well by the engine noise.

Can you hear this noise from inside the car with the door closed?

Any way you can get a louder recording of the sound? Hold your camera right on the mount -- no need for a clear photo ... just need to get your microphone right up to it so the strut noise will come in louder than the engine noise.

Also if you have any large shop towels or blankets, use them to blanket the sound around the shock mount ... believe it or not it will help (I'm a sound guy on the side).

Thanks. John

Cruel-Merc

I couldnt take a better shot without turning the car on , ill take a new video tomorrow with the tips you gave me, weell i can hear the tick tack sound inside the car and i havr no idea wheres that coming from and somehow the engine aswell but itd be pretty low, them I4 engines are pretty loud, one the negative sides about this car I guess my phone has a pretty loud mic too idk lol

TYUS

HEY GUYS; HAPPY EASTER.
I HAVE A 2006 C280 4MATIC AND AM WONDERING IF THE FRONT SWAYBAR BUSHINGS ARE ATTACHED TO THE BAR OR NOT. IM GETTING AN INTERMITTENT CLUNK IN THE FRONT AND HAVE CHANGED THE END LINKS TO NO AVAIL. I BELIEVE THE BAR IS SWIMMING AROUND THE BUSHINGS AND WANT TO CHANGE THEM.
~88K MILES. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Stappmus

I have a very irritating problem and would love if any1 knew how to fix it.
I have a c200k w203, that has gone 148k km.i bought it about 3 weeks ago. Just switched to summer tyres and now that i can hear almost every sound the car makes (and its not many) i notice that one of my wheels are doing e very weird thing. Before i start explaining i can will just say that while on winter tyres there was a lot of sound around 120km/h (the wobwobwobwob sound) I thiught i just had to adjust the wheels at a workshop, but now i think it might be the suspension.

The problem i have is kinda hard to explain, but its very noticable in a 25 degree turn (to the left and only to the left) at 80-120 km/h. When i turn a little bit the right, the front wheel starts vibrating, if i turn harder it stops vibrating (and it does not vibrate if i drive straight unless at speeds around 140-160 km/h)

jkowtko

If you can post your VIN it will help to look it up on EPC-net.

jkowtko

I thought that wheel noises that are turning dependent were generally wheel bearings?

Stappmus

The weird thing is that the sound is not there if i turn hard, only if its light turning. i dont get it...

Stappmus

Also i could mention that the breakes are uneven on the front right wheel. if i take the wheel off and try to spin the axle around it only goes halfway before i have to use force to turn it more.

jkowtko

Normally that is a sign of warped rotors.

Does the left wheel not do this at all?

Does the wheel pulse at all while braking lightly at highway speeds?

If this is an audible noise, can you post and audio clip for us to listen to?

Thanks. John

Stappmus

The wheel vibrates when i break hard, and the steering feels kinda floaty. I dont feel like i can steer accuartly.

TYUS

MY VIN IS WDBRF92H26F786272.

-THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

Stappmus

i have only heard noices on the right side, sorry for double posting im very tired.

jkowtko

It sounds like you have at least a rotor problem. Pads and rotors are easy to replace on these cars, so I suggest you do that first.

When you do the brake job you should also check the calipers carefully to make sure the piston moves fluidly and the dust boot rubber is still intact. You should be able to confirm this when you push the pistons back into the caliper housing to reset for the new pads.

Possibly your control arm bushings are shot as well -- when you brake to a stop sign do you hear some knocking around in the front suspension, and the steering gets a bit squeamish? Thats usually the control arm bushings.

Stappmus

i feel like the steering angle changes a bit when i break (even though the steering wheel is at the same place). I will try to fix the rotor at work, as i work in a milling machine. All i need to do is to make the surface even without ruining the threads right?

jkowtko

I would think you need a lathe more than a milling machine.

The issue may not be whether the thickness of the rotor varies, but that the entire platter is warped, in which case it's going to be a lot hard to true everything up. Spinning it on a lathe should tell you that pretty quickly.

If it turns out that you can cut it enough with a lathe to straighten it out, maybe it will work. Keep in mind there are minimum thicknesses you should comply with ... you don't want this thing to crack under hard braking.

Please post pics of the lathe if you do this.

TYUS

HELLO JOHN.
I BELIEVE THAT, AFTER A SERIES OF RESEARCH ARTICLES, I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT W203 BRAKE ROTORS AND PADS DO ACT UP PREMATURELY. THAT INFO (I FORGET WHERE I FOUND IT) PROMPTED ME TO CHANGE OUT BOTH MY ROTORS AND PADS TO A HIGHER QUALITY. THE BRAKE FLUID IS ALSO FINNICKY AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED EVERY TWO YEARS.

jkowtko

It looks like the bushing isn't sold separately, and the torsion bar description says "with rubber mount".

Unfortunate that it will cost more, but on the flip side the noise problem is better handled by the molded on bushings. And, for what it's worth, you get a brand new torsion bar.

jkowtko

When I did my brakes three years ago, from what i could tell the OEM rotors were Balo, which were fairly cheap online. I ended up getting Zimmerman coated and (rear also) drilled for a bit more, but they have held up very well.

I haven't touched the brake fluid since I did the brakes, but I did flush the fluid at that time.

TYUS

OK;
CHANGING THAT FLUID IS REGULARLY STATED IN THE FORUM. I'LL TRY TO CHANGE MINE EVERY COUPLE YEARS OR SO. I'VE EVEN MADE THE PRESSURE TOOL TO EASE THE PROCESS.
BE WELL SIR

jkowtko

I am certainly not against changing these fluids at frequent intervals. I have changed the tranny and PS fluid on all of our cars, and at ~100k miles each they run as if they were new.

Keeping fluids in the car fresher and cleaner than the stated maintenance intervals require will certainly not hurt your engine, PS or braking system ... and in my opinion they will help marginally at a minimum.

TYUS

-THANK YOU SIR.
I WASN'T SHURE.
BE WELL