£ C43 £ AMG £

Hi has anyone else exsperienced what I have tried to explain? this might be normal?

I bought the car a year ago and had a few problems with it but one that really bothered me was the steering and put this down to wear and tear due to the heavy front end. The car really followed the shape contour of the road I have 19" wheels but under certain conditions it was really bad!!!

I found about an inch of play (approx 5 degrees turn) in the steering when I turned the steering wheel left or right 180 degrees or more..........turn the steering wheel but wheels don't move..................................... but when the wheels pionted straight there was no play?

Right then..................I fitted a NEW steering box (£300 off ebay), a new steering damper and new complete drag link, got the tracking done and it now drives much much better.

BUT I still have the play that I mentioned, its not as much but it still there stil no play when wheels are pointed in a straight line? I checked the column and steering coupling and they seemed fine. My E class did not do this?

svt ricco

how's your alignment?

£ C43 £ AMG £

do you mean tracking? that has nothing to do with play in the steering when the car is standing still with the engine off or on.

I think the play is something built into the steering box and might be normal.

NitrogenBalance

I actually have noticed the same thing. My tech has gone through the front end and says things seem to be fine. It still puzzles me though. Is your car lowered?

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Glad to hear, no my car is not lowered I want to but the roads where I live in London are embarassing.

It is a bit strange, its the only car I have had that does this......and I have had some old cars................. If their is not any play in straight line then I am sure it is fine, but why is their play when you turn the wheels out?

fstshrk

My 95 C36 (lowered with Eibach springs & Bilstein sports) also does follow road curvature especially under braking.

The recirculating ball type steering compounds this problem since one does not get the normal feedback that one would expect through the rack (as in a BMW or a Porsche).

FLYNAVY

This is definitely the culprit. You will never get as direct a feel from recirc ball as you will w/ rack.

SeeKlasse

what about lower control arm bushings or tie rods? i know there are 2 areas on each side where bushings get worn and allow some play to occur. both of my c280's eventually developed this problem, my last c43 was nice and crisp which was surprising, but this new c43 i got does the same ****. theres a few degress of free travel in the steering wheel, and when i had my car at the mech on the lift, i grabbed each front wheel to find the slightest amount of play... please someone solve this issue i hate the clunking noise that comes with it!

svt ricco

my steering wheel doesn't have play so i think this isn't normal. are you running staggered wheels? mine did follow the road curves when i had a staggered setup. currently, i have the same width all around which fixed my problem

e30t387

+1

MBHustla858

my car has never followed curvature of the road, but i do have that play when the wheel is turned, but going sgtraight is always tight.... i haven't found any issues even w/ my newer components. i think this is possibly normal on cars w/ a steering box setup

svt ricco

how can it be normal when some of us don't have this problem?

£ C43 £ AMG £

Your right and because most of us probably have not had our cars from new, its difficult to say what is 'normal'.

Play in the steering normally means its worn but like I said there is not any play in the steering wheel side to side when pointed in a straight line.
Only when the wheels are pointed out a bit there is play in the steering wheel?

When a car tramlines it follows the road shape like a train on train tracks.
Tyres that are wide and have low profiles increase this happening (I have 235/35/19 all round)

e34m20

What size? 245's all around?

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SeeKlasse Please explain more, do you have the same play in the steering wheel ? Remember I have changed everything that conects the steering wheel to the wheels apart from the steering coupling, but when my friend and me did all the work we saw that the play was in the steering box and we changed this, I actually feel that I wasted alot of time and money.

m a x i m u s

i bought my C43 back in 2003. i also noticed this steering wheel play at full lock (both directions) and asked my MB dealership shop foreman, and at that time he told me that this free play was the nature of a steering box versus a rack. of course, that's one man's word, but it's just some more info for you to weigh in your quest for an answer.

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Yes I am afraid it is turning into a quest so I will put it down to the disadvantage of having a box instead of a rack and yes your spot on, at full lock its the worst.

svt ricco

maybe a steering dampener might help but i'm not sure buddy

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PLEASE READ ALL THE THREAD, I said that I changed everything which cost over £500 in total and thats cheap because if I bought a new steering box from the dealership it would have been £1200 on its own.

svt ricco

reread the posts, i see you already have the dampener, my bad. if you find a solution, keep us posted.
btw, any pics of your car?

SeeKlasse

dont feel like re-reading. did you replace the lower control arm bushings, tie rods (which have a bushing pressed in which you can replace on its own but is easier to replace the entire rod) and ball joints?

yes i know EXACTLY what youre talking about im going on my FOURTH w202 i am unfortunately too familiar with the play in the steering, and the clunk when turning the wheel while backing the car up or tapping the brakes while in reverse and then putting the car into drive and tapping them again. im going to get everything but the steering box replaced. you should really consider purchasing polyurethane LCA bushings... theres a vendor that hangs out on club202 that sells em... someone here probably knows can they please list the site?

svt ricco

LPD autoparts=got mine for 80

96AMG

"we saw that the play was in the steering box and we changed this,"

WOW!..so what you say is that MB steering boxes don't have the locknut n screw droved regulator that adjust the free ply that come with time like most other cars? (americans, japs)..is located on the top of the box

MBHustla858

they do

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yes they do, but don't touch it if there isn't any play when you centre the wheels straight, it could strip the internals of the box if its over tightened.

play in the steering on full lock will have to be considered as normal on steering boxes.