mtnman82

I was hoping it was just the tie rod ends, but not...

I'm hearing a 'clunking' like something is a little loose when I go over a slightly rough road or make a turn going thru a drainage gutter. Seems to be coming from the driver's side. I was grabbing and manhandling everything I could under the car but can't find anything loose. I replaced the tie rod ends hoping one was the culprit, but I still hear the clunking.

Any ideas on what else it could/might be?

johnand

Swaybar endlinks.

Glyn M Ruck

+1^ Greg - Sway links or castor bushes.

Boom vang

Lower ball joints on the control arm will cause this as well. 02-04 C230 are notorious for front suspension ills. I have replaced every single part on the front since the car was new to stop clunking. Luckily everything was replaced under warranty other than the 2 tie rods which I did last summer.

the front suspension parts were under engineered and the majority have been superseded by a A204 XXX XX XX number rather than the original A203 XXX XX XX which only proves that this car had significant suspension issues

Jack up the front and support on jack stands and grab the tire at 12 and 6 and feel if there is any play.

Don't worry that you replaced the tie rods as they need replacement by 60,000mi or 100K km anyhow.

As Johnand said the bushings in the torque strut are also a weak item and that could be the cause

samaritrey

Or even a loose bolt. When I changed the lower control arms I left the bolt on the inside (engine side going through bushings) Loose and it made a horrible clunk.

mtnman82

Guess I was up too late then up too early as I mis-typed earlier...

I replaced the sway bar end links (NOT the tie rod ends) yesterday hoping that would take care of things, but not. Guess I'm on the hunt. I'll try manhandling the tires while jacked up and see if I can detect play that way.

So the castor bushes (bushings?) would be the next likely thing to suspect?

Also, can I assume the car is all right to drive as-is until we find the problem?

LILBENZ230

Front end clunks are not typically indicative of a problem that would make the car unsafe. Could be strut mounts?

samaritrey

ball joints, castor bushings, sway bar end link, tire rod ends,
am I missing anything that can cause clunks?

Boom vang

not sure if I would agree, a very loose ball joint will make a lot of clunks going over bumps and I would say that is anything but safe.

If it is clunking, there is a problem somewhere as the engineer did not design it to be loose and noisy

Boom vang

worn wheel bearings with lots of play
loose wheel bolts
bad struts
broken spring
steering rack

splinter

^ No doubt each aforementioned piece of hardware can manifest untoward noises when their useful service life has been exceeded.
Seems I’ve replaced every suspension consumable (most more than once) over the course of ~102,000 miles in search of solid steering feel and/or improved performance.

IIRC, you’ve also an H&R anti-roll bar fitted up front. My bar’s bushings headed south within a year of initial installation. A horrible ‘clunk’ was the unfortunate result.
A friendly call to H&R’s U.S. importer [(888) 827-8881] netted a gratis pair shipped overnight without any proof of purchase shenanigans.

mtnman82

Thanks for the replies guys! Yep, I have the H&R sways front and rear, along with the Bilstien sports. I did double check the sway bar bushings and they looked good (both the mounts and the bushings themselves). I had to get the proper mounts and new bushings when I put them on about 1.5 years ago now. I put new hats/bushings/bearings in at that time too, so I could just pop out the old strut assy and pop in the new one.

It seems like the beginnings of something, as I can only feel/hear it over the small rough stuff (i.e. small roacky road surface) and not the bigger stuff. I just really hate the car not being 'right'. I should have a chance to jack it up and manhandle the wheels tomorrow.

Benzonator

It's your front struts, most likely. I had to have both replaced on my 2010 C 300 Sport roughly three months after purchasing it new. The clunks were a dead giveaway.