Is any of this Dangerous?

[d215yq]

Finally finished my house renovations after 9 monts so decided to give the old bus some attention for the first time after 14 months/22k miles (I know it should be serviced more than that). Before service I've done an inspection of eevrythign I can and need advice as to what to do regarding some issues that might be dangerous. Note it is very unlikely to fail an MOT over here on anything as it has passed with worst when I first got it so I want to know if any of this is properly danegrous/maybe unreliable e.g. I should think twice about the 2k miles I 'll need the car for in the next month.

1) Front wheels have play in all directions

Front wheels have play L-R T-B diagonal etc with a metal clunking from inside the wheel when jacked up. I understand this coudl be ball joint (replaced with FEBI 50k miles/2.5 yrs ago) but more liekly wheel bearings as when car is jacked up the ball joints in theory don't show play and they should last 150k miles anyway?

Can anyone give me a test to check for sure it's wheel bearings and/or instructions of how to tighten them (there is a bearing cap so imagine it can be done quite easily?). There are no clunks or humming sounds when driving to indicate warn bearings, and car has felt progressively wandery in wind etc of lately.

2) Steering wheel rod ball joints don't look uniform (see pictures).

I coudln't find any play in these though as I was on my own didn't test properly. Here are two pictures of the steering joints with (atleast the rubbers) not looking as new. Is this a problem or just quite normal for oldish joints

3) There is a greeny type substance in the tray mixed in with the old oil residue (see picture).

The coolant is that colour so maybe it's coolant although couldn't find any traces of coolant anywhere other than in the tray and level is normal so maybe it's diesel? I did do 500 miles in it yesterday some up mountains in 30 degree plus heat so maybe it just through a bit of coolant out? Is there anyway to test (I tried to use paper towel but it is just clear liquid or black residue I see

4) Jacking Points/Jack

I don't go under the car but imagine that a jacking point/jack failing near me could still be dangerous. I notice the jack has a bit of a bulge (always has - see pic) and the jacking points are rusty (see pic). They've always been like this but are they a serious problem. As I say there is no corrosion inspection on MOT here as cars don't rust very much and this rust ahs not really got worse in my 3.5 years of ownership.

5) Glowplugs (poorish cold starting)

The glowplugs 1-5 all show 0,1 on my multimeter at 200Ohm, so I guess that means 20ohm?? Glowplug 6 showed 0,8 (160Ohm?). The relay gives 11V to all of them so that is working correctly. I'm assuming that 5 are good and one is bad but don't know why that would make it poor start at 25 degrees C (like needs a press of accelerator for a second or two to get it to idle properly?). I read these were good to start with 3 glowplugs in summer temps.

6) Brakes

How do I test if discs are true - not touched brakes (other than fluid) in 70k miles of my ownership and they weren't knew when I bought it. They seem to pass the MOT test each year swhich tests the N for each wheel but would that test show if they were warped. Other than it sometimes feels a little twitchy under braking (though maybe that's just caused by issues 1/2

7) Rear Wheels

I might have felt a very slight play top to bottom in one wheel but very hard to tell. Certainly nothing side to side and nothing like as bad as the fronts so for the time being I'll ignore these

Appreciate all your comments regarding what to do with these points. Once I know what to do I'll be also doing oil, filter, air filter, fuel filter, osram nightbreakers, injector cleaner and siliconing all moving parts on top. It doesn't have to drive like new and properly true but I do use it a lot and so I don't want it to be dangerous/unreliable.

ETA in my ownership (70k miles) the only suspension parts done are RH tie rod/tighten front Right Wheel Bearing (when bought) and steering wheel damper; 2x front ball joints (50k miles ago). Tyres are all wearing completely evenly and at 50k miles still have good tread.

 

[L John]

"5) Glowplugs (poorish cold starting)

The glowplugs 1-5 all show 0,1 on my multimeter at 200Ohm, so I guess that means 20ohm?? Glowplug 6 showed 0,8 (160Ohm?)."

The ohm scale you select allows a reading from zero (no measured resistance) to the setting for the scale such as 200 ohms.
So any reading will be in ohms from zero to 200 ohms.
e.g. 0.8 would be 0.8 ohms.

Not being funny but you would be better off using a self ranging meter.

 

[LostKiwi]

1. Check movement of disc relative to calipers. If the disc doesn't move relative to calipers it ball joints are tired. If it does its wheel bearing needs adjusting. A small amount of movement is desirable to prevent wheel bearings overheating.
2. As long as the covers are complete and not split and the ball joints have no play there's no problem.
3. No idea.
4. Rust around jacking points is dangerous and an MOT fail in the UK.
5. As above
6. You need a dial gauge to check run out. Technically you should us one to set wheel bearings as well.

 

[d215yq]

"5) Glowplugs (poorish cold starting)

The glowplugs 1-5 all show 0,1 on my multimeter at 200Ohm, so I guess that means 20ohm?? Glowplug 6 showed 0,8 (160Ohm?)."

The ohm scale you select allows a reading from zero (no measured resistance) to the setting for the scale such as 200 ohms.
So any reading will be in ohms from zero to 200 ohms.
e.g. 0.8 would be 0.8 ohms.

Not being funny but you would be better off using a self ranging meter.

Thanks for the explanation of how it works; the 200Ohm is the smallest range it has so I guess I did get the correct one. So are 0.1 and 0.8 ohms in spec? Or just 0.1 ohms?

 

[d215yq]

1. Check movement of disc relative to calipers. If the disc doesn't move relative to calipers it ball joints are tired. If it does its wheel bearing needs adjusting. A small amount of movement is desirable to prevent wheel bearings overheating.
2. As long as the covers are complete and not split and the ball joints have no play there's no problem.
3. No idea.
4. Rust around jacking points is dangerous and an MOT fail in the UK.
5. As above
6. You need a dial gauge to check run out. Technically you should us one to set wheel bearings as well.

Thanks as ever for concise and useful input. I will check 1 as you say but if it is the wheel bearings I assume they shouldn't be so loose as to physically clunk when pulled from top to bottom? There seems to be a lot out there on youtube on adjusting the wheel bearings without a dial gauge in about 5 minutes by having it as tight as possible without any spinning resistance. If I do it I will do so on the side of caution i.e. tighten it a little but making sure there is no extra resistance.

Regarding 4, certainly compared to the google image search mine doesn't look so bad and should not rust much more in this climate, but putting the jack in was a little bit difficult as inside the tube there was surface rust? I suppose I don't know what it's like in the sills but had comments from UK mechanics that it was all very solid. I'm a bit more worried about the slightly bent jack...do these fail? Is it OK to be doing something like tightening the wheel bearing/checking for play with just the mercedes jack (and spare wheel under the sill) - I'd obviously never go underneath the car on this set up (such work always goes to a mechanic) but have always changed wheels/checked for play, etc with just this jack.

 

[LostKiwi]

To tighten wheel bearings without a dial gauge tighten till the nut goes tight, then back it off so there is a minimal amount of play.
If you do it too tight you risk the bearing overheating, seizing and welding itself to the stub axle. If that happens it's a world of pain to sort.
As for jacking with the MB jack then using the spare as an axle stand yes you could but I would never recommend it, especially if you have any doubts at all about the jack.

 

[L John]

Thanks for the explanation of how it works; the 200Ohm is the smallest range it has so I guess I did get the correct one. So are 0.1 and 0.8 ohms in spec? Or just 0.1 ohms?

I've no idea but if that reading was with a good probe contact it's 8 times higher than the others so it would have 8 times lower current to get it heated.
If it is bad then it could fail more (be a higher resistance) as it heats up. you should always move both contacts and scratch if necessary to ensure you are getting a good reading.

 

[Westheath]

Finally finished my house renovations after 9 months so decided to give the old bus some attention for the first time after 14 months/22k miles (I know it should be serviced more than that). Before service I've done an inspection of everything I can and need advice as to what to do regarding some issues that might be dangerous. Note it is very unlikely to fail an MOT over here on anything as it has passed with worst when I first got it so I want to know if any of this is properly dangerous/maybe unreliable e.g. I should think twice about the 2k miles I 'll need the car for in the next month.

The ITV test has changed and in my opinion isn't much different from UK MOT and in fact does a bit more in certain areas like wheel alignment, and depending on the age of the vehicle the frequency of testing increases.
If you take it for testing you are involved in the process performing certain tasks when asked.
You can pay for someone to take it (local garage) and let them handle the ITV testing requirements.

Also

From 2018 ITV centres will also be equipped with diagnostic reading equipment,
which will connect to the vehicles on board computer system.
The system will then check to see if any malicious software has been installed within the vehicles computer system,
that may be used to affect the operation of the air bags, catalysts or particle filter system.

 

[d215yq]

I know the ITV in theory is supposed to check these things but as it's mainly computer tests and very little of it actually people inspecting it mine passed just after i bought it with much more play in it and a dangerous tie rod. I've never seen anyone look at corrosion depsite the rustyish jack points (though maybe it's surface rust so is OK) and there's a hole in the battery bulkhead which has never been commented on. I'm sure when underneath if there was a hole in the floor or the sill was rusted through they'd fail it but there certainly isn't the obsession with anything 12 inches from a structural point like in the UK. Also they always comment it's an old car and seem to go a bit easy on it e.g. when it was borderline failing emissions the guy told me to just press the accelerator a tiny bit for the last two tests so that it would pass. Obviously it sailed through at 1500rpm when you're meant to rev it to 4,000!

Hence whereas in UK when I had doubts about something I'd take it to an MOT and if it passed I'd assume it was safe for a year here I don't make such an assumption and feel I need to be more proactive.

Atleast re. your last point as my car has no computer that's one thing I don't have to worry about!

 

[Westheath]

The same MOT stations exist in the UK where so long as it steers as its supposed to
and the brakes stop it as they should do, the rest can be up to opinion and interpretation.

ITV centres can be the same, good n bad depending what side of the test your on.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Wheel bearings -I’d want to take them out , inspect and clean, if ok, repack with grease and tighten, if you can’t tighten, time for new bearings,

 

[Flyinspanner]

That jacking point (chassis rail?) is rotten, it needs the rot cut out and new metal properly welded in. I wouldn’t try jacking car up anywhere near that point - it it fails with you under it, it will get very painful very quickly!

I imagine that level of rot in the chassis would be a ‘fail’.

As would the play in the bearings/steering.

 

[d215yq]

So I jacked it up again and (without going underneath it) I checked the play and almost all is from left to right and not up and down so I think it's just tie rods so will get a mechanic to look at it and hope he doesn't just say "it's OK" as they usually do.

I have put my hand over every component/down the engine looking/feeling for leaks and it's all greasy but nothing fresh except for a little on top of the diesel pump. Can diesel really come across as a bright green colour if mixed with oil?

 

[d215yq]

That jacking point (chassis rail?) is rotten, it needs the rot cut out and new metal properly welded in. I wouldn’t try jacking car up anywhere near that point - it it fails with you under it, it will get very painful very quickly!

I imagine that level of rot in the chassis would be a ‘fail’.

As would the play in the bearings/steering.

Thanks. As I won't be doing any jacking on it any more is it otherwise dangerous when car is not being jacked up? I've sprayed it with dinitrol inside and out after getting off rust flakes as best as I can which seemed to mainly be surface rust except for the bit where the lower part of the tube joins the sill where there is a small hole rusted through as you state. The other side is better with no hole just surface rust and the rear ones are like new.

I know you think I'm probably being obtuse but I don't know a welder and mechanics don't do welding here and sorting out the steering rods will be enough bother. I've had a 5" hole under the battery tray that hasn't got bigger for the last 4 years and despite that being "structural" and an MOT fail it hasn't caused me any problems. I understand it may be a bit weaker in a crash but if I was bothered about how I would come off in a crash I wouldn't choose a 1987 car without safety structures/airbags/etc in the first place.

 

[Flyinspanner]

How close is that rot to where the suspension mounts to it?

Wheels falling off will make you wish you had the airbags

I’d imagine that your local garage will know someone who can do welding?

Good luck fixing it up

 

[d215yq]

How close is that rot to where the suspension mounts to it?

Wheels falling off will make you wish you had the airbags

I’d imagine that your local garage will know someone who can do welding?

Good luck fixing it up

I can't disagree re. wheels falling off which is why I'm quite proactive with tie rods, ball joints etc. The ones I've replaced so far were straight after MOT passes with no advisories.

I first noticed the battery bulkhead in this thread 2.5 years ago http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/is-this-panel-structural.149305/ . I dinitrol it every 6 months and the nice climate here seems to mean it doesn't spread (no road salt). I assume it is quite a specific area because a battery in the past leaked onto it and so it is rusty and everything around it is not. The area isn't that near the suspension mounting but I take your point. The only other area is the sills which also have not got any worse in 2.5 years, I found another photo taken then and it looks the same as the one I just took...it's just I haven't jacked up the car for a long time so sort of forgot about it.

I've asked at the local mechanics before and they don't know anyone who welds, it's not common here, without the battery leak and if it had been in Valencia all it's life and not in the pyrenees where it was originally bought it would not have any corrosion at all even at this age. Even the panels where it's been scraped and has exposed bare metal for the last three years just tarnish but do not rust the panel.

I'll ask when it goes in for tierods to see what is said abut sills. I suppose it's a question of if it will rust so slowly out here that it will last years then it'll likely be scrapped before then on something else anyway, whereas tie rods are cheap and could endanger life immediately. Much as I sort of like it and intend to keep it as long as possible as cheap and reliable transport it has dents in every panel, the interior is falling to pieces, the A/C doesn't work, the anti judder doesn't work, it's used as a builders car so has plaster dust marks all over the seats...and is a taxi spec manual so unlikely to ever be worth anything. If I start spending 1,000s a year on unnesecary preventative stuff I might as well get something nice in the first place...