My wife went to have my front end aligned and the shop said they had to replace the steering rack first because it was worn out. They offered to put a rebuilt rack in for $500. Thanks, but I'll look into the problem further myself.

I looked into the source of the problem by having my son turn the wheel back and forth quickly, I could hear a "clunking" noise. According to MB, this sound is NOT a sign of a worn rack and pinion. However the steering wheel was beyond the allowable range.

Using a 17 mm socket, I gave the nut shown in the photo about a 1/4 turn clockwise until the sound went away. Now I can see the tires just start to move with a small (+/- 12 mm) back and forth turn of the wheel according to the factory spec.

Back to the shop for that alignment tomorrow and we'll see what they say.

 

They probably were going to tighten the same bolt and charge you $500

I'd use a different shop

 

Well, perhaps. That looks like the adjustment that holds the rack in proper contact with the pinion gear. If so, that is not something that normally requires adjusting, nor is it something that normally loosens in service. I suggest that you at least get the car onto an unpaved area and, with the engine idling, slowly turn the steering wheel fully from stop to stop. If there is a noticeable difference in effort during the travel, it would be a matter of serious concern.


Steering is not an area where it is safe to guess what to do.

 

thanks for this thread. i've replaced every ball joint and control arm on the front end of my w215, now i will try this adjustment, as well as replacing the wheel bearings. everytime i seem to solve a bad control arm or ball joint, soon after it seems like another part fails. the car is around 130k miles now, so it's not abnormal in my opinion for most of these things to need changed, let alone after installing a stiffer suspension

 

how was your alightment? is the problem solved?

 

I finally narrowed the problem down to a bad lower ball joint on one side, the steering is much improved now