hotel_calif

While driving my SL500 with the top off, I've noticed a "chirp" or "squeak" sound when traveling at low speed over uneven roads. I was sure this was coming from the Michelin Pilot Sports I have on the car, but on our Highway 1 vacation, we passed through some narrow canyons and the sound changed enough to convince me the noise was coming from the chassis. Last weekend, I put my pano top back on just for fun, and surprise - no more chirps or squeaks at all. The pano top is fairly heavy, so perhaps it is keeping the frame from flexing and causing the chirp/squeak.

Does anyone else have this chirp/squeak? Can it be eliminated?

Bigdot

go to the back of your car and kick yopur exghaust pipe. see if it moves a lot. happend to me, rubbed on the rear sway bar thing.

Mark

hotel_calif

Thanks for the suggestion, Mark. There isn't much play in the exhaust pipe or muffler, and I couldn't reproduce any chirping or squeaking. The SL is going in for a service tomorrow anyway, so I'll check with dealer and see if they have any suggestions (but I'll bet it will be an expensive suggestion!)

Will

tipds

Hotel,

I also have a chirp when I'm going over rough spots. It has been driving me nuts, as I want to preserve the car. I asked a local MB tech to look into greasing the chassis, but he told me there were not grease points on this car?! He suggested it wasn't a big deal. If you learn anything, I'd be thankful for your pointer(s). I also have ALOT of break squeal when I'm breaking in reverse. I've been told that it's because of the "high performance breaks" used in the SL600 when subjected to salty air. I don't know if that's bull either, but I've been told that by two techs from two different shops. I guess the breaks are off topic, but both noises are driving me nuts and very embarrassing.

Tip DS

tsikos

Try lubricating the two engine hood latches and hooks.

hotel_calif

The dealer (who has treated me fairly in the past) wrote the following about the chirp:

They put my pano top back on, so I haven't been able to confirm that the chirp is gone - I could hear the squeak only when the hard top was off. I'll take a few photos to remind me how beautiful the pano top is, take it off and confirm the chirp is gone.

Hope this helps some of the other folks plagued by strange noises.

Will

HLG600

Yeah, my rears squeal too! It makes me insane. I tried accelerating in reverse and following that with a series of gradually hard braking. Sometimes it temporarily clears it up, but I will get a little bit more several days later.

hotel_calif

Pano top is off and the chirp/squeak is gone. The dealership (Escondido Mercedes) did a great job diagnosing and fixing this problem for me.

Bigdot

OMG i have the chirp now! AHHH u gave it to me!!!

hotel_calif

LOL - The chirp sounds like such a little thing now, but it drove me bonkers listening to it for months on end.

Just flick the chirp switch to "off" and you should be fine.

lynns

Do yourself a favor and don't try to think so hard on diagnosing the CHIRP sound.

I did this on my Y2K SL500 and it fixed the CHIRP sound.

tipds

OK, guys. I couldn't take it anymore. I finally gave in and took mine to the dealership. A mere $2,000.00 US and it's firm again. They took care of all of it. Something to do with a bar and a bolt somewhere under the car. Anyhow, it was attributed to my wife's fast ride over a dip into the mall. I won't tell her that the real cost of that repair was the $2,000, as she would feel like crap over it all, and it really doesn't matter. Anyhow, it's back to the way it should be, and I love driving the car again, even over rough-ish roading. I love that car.

Tip DS

lynns

I am glad you happy with the outcome but when the chirp comes back and it will. Be sure and lube the hood latches.

hotel_calif

Sorry to hear it cost so much to fix the noise. I imagine the squeak can be caused by a number of different issues. The four new under body cross braces cost me $168. But when the noise returns, I'll try lynns' suggestion and lube the hood latches first.

Will

ChrisB

1) For several years there has been a medium pitched, medium duration , groan / squeak that comes from somewhere under the car behind the driver's seat when twisting the car over a steep sidewalk crossing. It only happens when the leading front tire in the turning motion is carrying say 40% of the cars weight (not the normal 25%). This noise is not that frequent and I accept it as a sign of the strength of the car in torsion. Is this the sound you guys are fixing with sway brace connection reworking?

2) We went on a long road trip a couple of months ago which involved driving on about 100 miles of gravel roads with lots of curves, washboards and pot holes. Note I can confirm that ESP works on loose gravel as well as wet and icy roads! Ever since there has been a second high pitch, short duration, squeak / knock that seems to come from the drivers side door near the lock plunger or window track. This happens when driving over wash board / pot hole roads. This one is annoying in that it means there is something loose in there! At least it does not happen very often. Has any one fixed that noise?

3) I am very sensitive to noises in a car. A loose plastic bag fluttering in the wind will drive me crazy and must be adjusted right away!

agentMurdoc

the "chirp" is most likely the control arm struts. There are like 4 of them on each side of the rear wheels. They are like 30 bucks a piece from Mercedes, problem is that it's a ***** to get to if the proper tools aren't available. Or a particular attachment. The 2grand was a total rip off. Let's say 250 in parts for both sides plus about 3ish hours of labor (75 an hour) yielding a estimated total of 500-600 dollars.

I wish I woulda been able to get to this thread before you took it to the dealership to save you some money.

If you replace one strut, I recommend replacing all of them, it's not that much more anyways. That way the new one doesn't get an uneven wear and cause the sqeeking to come back (me = had one replaced and it went away for a few months but came back, so gotta do it all over again).

akbro93704

one of my relatives has an '01 SL500 that does both of those noises. Both of the doors creak when turning into a driveway(when the car twists), as well as the rear of the hardtop. There's also an odd groan from the rear as well. It's never been taken to the dealer for the noises though. It's definitely because of the lack of structural rigidity, from being a convertible as well as the chassis/body having virtually no reworking(ie additional bracing) from it's intro in 1990 to the final year.

lynns

lube the hood latches

This is one of the easiest of fixes but no one seems to want to listen.

lube the hood latches and if necessary replace the door check straps. Do not try to lube it will not fix a check strap.

Then let me know if I'm right or wrong.