AMGTTV8

Recently I've noticed and intermittent knocking noise coming from the front of my car...usually happens when the car articulates up and down with acceleration and deceleration..

tonight and today, it makes tons of knocking noise, and is even pronounced when going over bumps...

kind of scary any ideas?

RLE

Probably a sway bar bushing or similar. Is the suspension factory stock or have you been messing with it?

AMGTTV8

Nope, completely stock...It's really annoying though - even my girlfriend noticed...

You can actually feel it in the floor and steering column when your paying attention...

eminnet

Check for bulges on tires.

AMGTTV8

What???

I dont have bulges on any of my tires - but if I did, how would that have anything to do with front end noises????

dfordham

Sounds similar to this known problem:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ing-again.html

got_thang?

I have the same noise but I have aftermarket suspension

my mercedes tech said it's most likely the sway bar linkage.

AMGTTV8

Alright guys - the epiphany came this morning!

As my girlfriend and I were driving to breakfast, the knocking became progressively worse and was no longer just when braking, turning or accelerating - it was every time the wheel spun...

So, pulled over, couldn't see anything (mind you the car was shaking like a bat out of hell) Checked suspension, brake pads (as I had them replaced tuesday)

Kept on driving and got even worse...Pulled over again, and checked the same things out...This time, went to my trunk, pulled out the golf clubs, and took out the tire iron...

GUESS WHAT??? I ONLY HAD ONE LUG NUT SCREWED INTO THE FRONT LEFT WHEEL, AND ONLY TWO ON THE RIGHT FRONT...

LESSON: NEVER GO TO GURLEY LEEP MERCEDES IN SOUTH BEND

I ended up screwing the other 7 lug nuts securely in place and guess what, NO MORE NOISE!!!

I can not believe that they failed to replace the bolts under factory spec - ie using a torque wrench...All of the bolts were completely loose and no force was holding the wheel on the axle...WOW

Let's for a second imagine what could have happened had I not caught this : i was on the highway doing 80 yesterday, and was driving past 100's if not 1000's of Notre Dame fans on the way to breakfast this morning...what if a 40-50lb wheel and tire had flown off and struck someone...??

imboom

I would call MBUSA and lodge a pretty big complaint. That could have been a huge lawsuit for dealer or even MB if you got into an accident.

AMGTTV8

Already called the CAC - The customer service rep said "I will escalate this for you" - the last time I called about this dealership was because my rear seat-belts and seats weren't reinstalled correctly.

I'll be interested to see what is said on the call I am supposed to get from the corporate rep by 3 on Monday....

RLE

...

It would be well worth your time to examine the wheel bolt threads for damage and also the wheels themselves for any deformation of the bolt holes. All that banging might have damaged something and the dealer is on the hook for any repairs. Actually, the tech will be responsible.

AMGTTV8

Your heading was spot-on - that's exactly what it did...MADE MY BLOOD BOIL

Nonetheless, you raise good points above, some of which I had thought of before...I guarantee bolts are stressed, as well as probably the wheel hubs...knocking around cant be good for the strength of metal.

This was one hugely averted disaster...Thank God that I was given the thought of checking the lug nuts...

Thanks for your input!

Petje

wow what a story, i would also do my complain by the dealer self.... mtfers

tanktube67

The least they can do is to give you an oil change for free.

JimPap

After that screwup, I wouldn't take a chance on them destroying something else.

He might not be this lucky next time.

joshg1001

honestly, even if that particular MB is the only place that has touched your car, you have no way of proving that they forgot to tighten up the bolts.

the harsh reality is that once you leave the dealership, you can blame them anymore. for all they know, you could have loosened them yourself or gone to another tire place. really gotta check the whole car when you get it back...

AMGTTV8

I respectfully disagree with your opinion - it is their duty to re-torque the bolts to 90lbs...if they had done that, they wouldn't have come loose. It's very simple.

So you are saying that I should also some how be expected to inspect the brakes to see if the pads were installed correctly??? I don't know what to look for - that's why I took the car there. If I knew how to change the brakes, I would have done it myself.

As if I'm going to go buy a torque wrench to make sure the dealer put my wheels back on correctly after I just paid him $300 to do just that...

AMGTTV8

I agree...I'm going back there to complain and borrow a torque wrench...

If I get in an accident between now and when I have time to get back to Indy to get my car checked out by a proper store because my brakes go out on me whoever is a lawyer please be ready to call.

joshg1001

yes, I know you cant check everything about the car. I know nothing when it comes to cars mechanically, but I am saying that, yes, we put a lot of trust in those who service our cars, but they will make mistakes.

I am not justifying what they did, but I am saying you would not have a case because you cannot prove that the bolts were loose when you left the dealership. Once you leave, the blame cannot be put on them because who knows what you do to your car once you leave? just reality.

AMGTTV8

You are right - on Friday night I came home and loosened all of the lug nuts on both of my front wheels to the point that they were literally no more than a quarter of a mile away from falling off my car.

joshg1001

if you dont have wheel locks, anybody could have done it.

imboom

What exactly did you go into the dealership for though? Was it for something that could have required them to remove the wheels? It happened only in the front so it means that it could have been a rotation or something they did to get to the wheelwell?

We're all glad you didn't get into an accident from this and let this be something that we remember next time we pick our cars up from anything like dealerships. We be sure we check our lugnuts when we inspect our tire pressures! :lol:

alexlev

Certain situations your idea would hold true but at this point I doubt he would be making up a story.

The dealership is probably going to investigate who worked on your car, issue an apology to you, possibly compensate for the mishap, and the tech is going to get screamed at.

JimPap

How soon was it from the time you had the brake work done that you began noticing the noise?

AMGTTV8

Got brake work done on Tuesday, started noticing noise on Wed and Thurs (thought it was the torsion bar or whatever) and the noise and clanking became progressively worse leading up to Saturday when I discovered what the real issue was...