Another airmatic strut failure. Help please.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 421
Likes: 14
From: Bay Area
2004 E500 CLK320
Another airmatic strut failure. Help please.
My 04 E500 has 91k mi and the front left airmatic strut has just failed. (BTW, the right one had failed at 66k mi and it was replaced at the dealer.) I bought the new airmatic shock from partsgeek.com for ~$780.
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200..._assembly.html
The old shock was easily removed from the car since it was blown and uncompressed. However, the new one is fully extended and I can't get it to clear the lower control arm. I can't seem to compress it by disconneting the battery a few times or applying 5V to the connector that's located on top of the strut (between the center pin and the bottom pin --ground), as some people have suggested in the following post.
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...tic-shock.html
Does anyone have any more advice in releasing the air in this new strut?
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200..._assembly.html
The old shock was easily removed from the car since it was blown and uncompressed. However, the new one is fully extended and I can't get it to clear the lower control arm. I can't seem to compress it by disconneting the battery a few times or applying 5V to the connector that's located on top of the strut (between the center pin and the bottom pin --ground), as some people have suggested in the following post.
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...tic-shock.html
Does anyone have any more advice in releasing the air in this new strut?
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,084
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From: Athens, GA USA
2011 E63, 2011 Hyundai Genesis 4.6 v8, 2013 GMC Denali XL, 1965 Ford Mustang, 2005 Merc. E500
Take the bolts out of the sway bar on both sides and that should give you enough room along with the other shock disconnected at the bottom bolt. Its best to always replace the shocks in pairs. I use Arnotts which have a lifetime warranty so I don't have the expense again. The upper ball joint also has to be taken loose.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 421
Likes: 14
From: Bay Area
2004 E500 CLK320
Thanks for the reply. I did loosen the upper ball joint, but didn't want to pop out the lower ball joint since that may damage it. I'll take up your advice and see. Maybe I should try to use a jack to compress the the strut -- not sure if that'll work or break the strut in the process.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 421
Likes: 14
From: Bay Area
2004 E500 CLK320
I've just got the new strut install finally. Not too hard at all. There's no need to compress the strut ( but I've tried and couldn't compress it either manually or electrically). No need to detach the lower control arm or sway bars. Here's my procedure for installing the new fully extended strut.
1. remove the 3 bolts holding the upper control arm (at top of fender) and detach the upper control arm.
2. use the whole body weight and push down on the knuckle and at the same time move the fully extended strut over the lower control arm.
3. Use a hammer and slowly hammer the H bar at the bottom of the strut into alignment with the mounting holes while pressing down on the knuckle. It may take a few tries of hammering to get the mounting holes to line up.
1. remove the 3 bolts holding the upper control arm (at top of fender) and detach the upper control arm.
2. use the whole body weight and push down on the knuckle and at the same time move the fully extended strut over the lower control arm.
3. Use a hammer and slowly hammer the H bar at the bottom of the strut into alignment with the mounting holes while pressing down on the knuckle. It may take a few tries of hammering to get the mounting holes to line up.
