C300Sport

I got both of my front torque arm bearings replaced at about 3K. Now at 6K, the left side is at it again. I know this has been a common problem on the W204 and was curious if anyone else had to have the repair done twice.

Glyn M Ruck

Are you talking about the Castor arm bushes/bearings (Thrust arm)?

C300Sport

Yeah, the thrust arm bearings. My service order lists them as torque arm bearings but you are correct.

Glyn M Ruck

I did not know that this problem had raised it's head again. Our 204 is OK but it plagued the W203s. They were redesigned but are still a weak spot.

C300Sport

It seems several of us have had the grinding/popping issues while backing with the wheels turned. I had this for a while then got it repaired. Now it seems the left side is grinding and popping a bit again. Hopefully this time around will be a permanent fix. Did the W203 ever get this sorted out?

m!ck3y

What is this problem that you guys are talking about? I don't know much about cars but I would love to avoid any unnecessary problems.

Carsy

I recently had loud crack or bang noises from the steering rack area. It turned out being pieces of road gravel locked between steering arms & steel sump stone guard. The MB workshop also found gravel between steering arm & chassis. Removal solved the problem.

Glyn M Ruck

This has been the 203 problem. I think it's fair to say improved but never completely sorted - The bushes or bearings as Benz calls them are silicone fluid filled & crack & leak - become noisy - & ultimately lead to alignment issues causing cupping of the outer tread on the front tyres if not repaced. They were redesigned & made softer - less crack prone - but in reality have a life of about 30,000 miles before noticeable cracking develops. Very service dependent of course. They require 3 position fluted bolts on the 203 for greater alignment flexibility - not supplied new. Cracks open up wide when loaded.





Here is factory bulletin - Ignore VINs - applies to all W203s.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...h-bulletin.pdf

Here is the redesign detail.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...on-changes.pdf

I was hoping the 204 would have this problem licked - the E Class never gave this problem with a similar design.

tanktube67

That sucks.

JFOUR

Hi everyone,

My car started to make a creaking noise when traveling over certain grades i.e., pulling into my driveway, turning up a hill, etc. It will also make the noise if the car is parked and I turn the wheel left and right. Do you think it has any relation to this mentioned issue?

It's funny because it doesn’t do it all the time, maybe every three days or so.

Carsy

The MB advertisers said that the 204 had done 'trillions' of testing miles.!!. I wonder what they did not take into account ? Natural aging,different compounds from suppliers?
I have had the 405 Peugeot for 15 years & 300,000 km & have not changed out any steering / suspension items. The Deutsh need to take a lesson from the Frogs.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes, this castor bush issue has been disappointing. Those photographed above were mine at 45,000Km/28,000 miles. Replaced FOC under warranty. My car has never been on a bad road. I'm disgusted that 204s are having the same problem.

angeloxnet

So I too had a popping noise when turning slowly (ie. into driveways) and brought it to the dealer and they determined the thrust arm bushings. I had it replaced under warranty.

all is well, NOPE!
My car was lowered on eibach springs (not too aggressive) but now my car sits VERY high, like an SUV! Why the heck? Im just thinking if i actually put the stock springs, i'd look like one of those trucks with raised suspensions.

Does the suspension have multiple settings, bolt locations to raise the car? I verified my springs are in fact still there. Replacement of these bushing raise the car? What gives.....

Glyn M Ruck

Replacing the bushings will not effect ride height - You are only talking front - Yes? To replace the bushes/bearings you don't have to touch the springs

angeloxnet

Yes only front, so the front is sitting higher then the back now, well its obvious that the ride height is completely different and higher,
and as i said, i did verify my eibach springs are there!

Glyn M Ruck

You had better get hold of the dealer & ask them what they have disturbed. They should not have required to touch anything that could effect ride height. Most dealers will release the sway bar when putting in castor arm bushes plus the castor arm at the front where the bush is and that's it. To change ride height they would have to pull both struts out & release the springs - Only then could they mess up reinstalling the springs. Do the Eibach springs introduce a spring perch pad or something they could have installed incorrectly? Did they mess with the strut mount hats? Caster bushes & their 3 position fluted bolts can't effect ride height so you are going to have to investigate further. Maybe they did more than you realise trying to get rid of the noise.

angeloxnet

thx for ur response it helps, according to the service order they didnt do anything other then "push out bushings" and replaced with new ones, so ya they have some explaining to do i guess

rb23lb

i took my car in for this same issue today! always happens when pulling into slight inclined driveways from a main street

i mentioned the popping bushing strut arm thing above to the service guy, hope they will fix it!

i know this defect has been covered before in these forums and there is an official service bulletin which i showed the service manager, but i guess this issue is extremely prevalent as he was already aware of the problem and said it was a "known" issue

Petje

I also have a little tikking sound when wheels are turned and i drive backwards... so this isn't good??

Next time im gonna ask my dealer about it...

C300Sport

My left bushing didn't get to terrible until about 1000 miles ago and then the right started grinding away. I have the car at the dealer now getting both replaced, yet again...

whiteongrey

I thought had to get mine done again but the shop foreman said they are replacing sway bar linkages that are a ball joint of sort.

The existing ones have a plastic cup between the ball and the joint that fails causing clunking.

keith100

Between the frost heaved roads around Toronto and low profile tires, how do you tell the difference between worn bushes and the general suspension thumping and crashing?

whiteongrey

Probably going to take 6 + visits for the 3 possibilities because they will never fix all known problem areas in one shot and it is usually diagnostic vist + repair visit each issue.

Blazeitup123

my car has been doing this since i got the car a few months ago. cpo with 75,000 kms. i'm getting this fixed before i put in the super sports.

albert101

I got the same problem on my car at 26k km. My car's at 39k km and it's at it again. Though granted the roads here are really poor, but I find that too soon. My BMW E46 at least lasted till 40k km before the bushings started to break on me.