R230SL Front Ball Joint Repair

c270 cdi

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Evening all,

I've had the dreaded front ball joint failure on the MOT, so when I finally stopped laughing down the phone at the cost of replacing the strut I thought I'd look at my options.
And, thanks to the brilliant info and advice on this forum I came across the thread about having the guy at 4wheelalignment in Liverpool do them for me. So I called him today and all sounds good - hopefully I can get a day off work next week and run them over to him, apart from (unless I got the wrong end of the stick somehow) he said the ball joint needs to be separated from the strut before he can do the repair. Have I got my lines crossed here, or can I separate it and if so do I need any special tools (I like to think I'm a pretty competent home mechanic - or pretengineer as my mate calls it - so I'm not daunted by doing the job).

Also, does anyone have the part number for the ball joint nuts, what torque do they need doing up to, and where's the best place to get fluid from for the post replacement top-up.

I'm going to call the guy back tomorrow just to check that what I think I heard is what he actually said, but I'd thought I'd just ask on here first.

Thanks.
 

star

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We do that repair in situ. :) no need to remove strut.
 

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Depends if they're doing the resin injection method or they're replacing the balljoint.
No way to replace the ball joint without strut removal.
 

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Evening all,

I've had the dreaded front ball joint failure on the MOT, so when I finally stopped laughing down the phone at the cost of replacing the strut I thought I'd look at my options.
And, thanks to the brilliant info and advice on this forum I came across the thread about having the guy at 4wheelalignment in Liverpool do them for me. So I called him today and all sounds good - hopefully I can get a day off work next week and run them over to him, apart from (unless I got the wrong end of the stick somehow) he said the ball joint needs to be separated from the strut before he can do the repair. Have I got my lines crossed here, or can I separate it and if so do I need any special tools (I like to think I'm a pretty competent home mechanic - or pretengineer as my mate calls it - so I'm not daunted by doing the job).

Also, does anyone have the part number for the ball joint nuts, what torque do they need doing up to, and where's the best place to get fluid from for the post replacement top-up.

I'm going to call the guy back tomorrow just to check that what I think I heard is what he actually said, but I'd thought I'd just ask on here first.

Thanks.
If its anything like my R215 i.e. hydralic ABC suspension then be careful .....there are alan/grub screws in the base which are loctited in and will require a fair amount of heat to free off ...otherwise they will round off and require drilling out .. get proper fluid from MBenz .. there is another mentioned regularly on forum CH11 ??F sorry can't remember exactly...

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CHF111S - pentosin. It's ABC fluid.
Pentosin developed and the CHF111S is the spec (also made by other companies).
thanks LK ... see you soon?


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LostKiwi

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thanks LK ... see you soon?


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Luxembourg? Maybe... But looking reasonably likely. Were waiting till much closer to time to see what the weather will look like. It's not exactly high season....
 
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c270 cdi

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Thanks for the replies. Its the resin injection (according to the post I found on here) and I'm quite happy to take the struts to him. There's also a mention of drilling and tapping in to the back of the balljoint and then heat applied to get all the old crud out of it.
Here's a link to the post I read, you've probably seen it before but it goes into detail about what the process is with the repair:
forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/abc-shock-absorbers-removal-refitting-and-ball-joint-repair.91864/
 

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Depends if they're doing the resin injection method or they're replacing the balljoint.
No way to replace the ball joint without strut removal.

The place in Liverpool carry out the same re resin repair that we do and the op is talking about.
 

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If its anything like my R215 i.e. hydralic ABC suspension then be careful .....there are alan/grub screws in the base which are loctited in and will require a fair amount of heat to free off ...otherwise they will round off and require drilling out .. get proper fluid from MBenz .. there is another mentioned regularly on forum CH11 ??F sorry can't remember exactly...

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No the same set up.
 
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c270 cdi

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Thanks Star, so I obviously got my wires crossed and don't have to get the ball joint off the strut then? Seems pretty straightforward getting the struts out, just splitting the ball joint could be tricky as I've got the wheels off and I don't like the look of the angle of the joint through the control arm/wishbone - much easier when the thread's vertical not horizontal.
 

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We do not remove the strut, although easily enough, the abc pipe connection can be troublesome. Can be done while you wait.
 
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c270 cdi

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Yeah that's the only thing I'm a bit concerned about but I've put some penetrating spray on it so by the time I get to do the job on Saturday it should have done its job. You're in Reading, a long way down the road from me - I'll take 'er indoors car over to Liverpool with the struts in the boot, diesel cars have their uses from time to time!!!
 

John Laidlaw

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Yeah that's the only thing I'm a bit concerned about but I've put some penetrating spray on it so by the time I get to do the job on Saturday it should have done its job. You're in Reading, a long way down the road from me - I'll take 'er indoors car over to Liverpool with the struts in the boot, diesel cars have their uses from time to time!!!
Yip they need the struts off the car but ball joints in situ
They did mine a couple years back and did a great job, dropped off in the morning, collected next day. Biggest problem I had was seperating the QR couplings which were seized solid at first - soaked the beggars in pen oil and smacked them about a bit and they gave eventually !
 
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c270 cdi

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Cheers John, hoping to get over there Thursday or Friday next week if I can get the day off work - I'll post up how it goes. Hopefully the penetrating fluid will have done the job on the QR couplings.
Anyone got any ideas on the ball joint nut torque, and also the 3 nuts on the top of each strut?
 

John Laidlaw

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Just seen you are in Grimsby
Before finally deciding on the resin route you might want to give Richard Hollings a shout
https://www.rhautoservices.co.uk/
They are in York and have a press to remove and replace the ball joints now which might be another option to you, saving your time etc...just a thought
 
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c270 cdi

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Thanks John, I've had to give up on the job as I can't get the balljoint separated and the QR coupling just doesn't want to know. I'm at the point where I can't be bothered with it any more today so I'll call RH Monday morning and see when they can get it in. I wanted both doing but I can't even undo the bleed nipple on the offside so for now I'll just get the one done. I'm hoping he can get me in for a drive in drive out job but we'll see.
 

John Laidlaw

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Thanks John, I've had to give up on the job as I can't get the balljoint separated and the QR coupling just doesn't want to know. I'm at the point where I can't be bothered with it any more today so I'll call RH Monday morning and see when they can get it in. I wanted both doing but I can't even undo the bleed nipple on the offside so for now I'll just get the one done. I'm hoping he can get me in for a drive in drive out job but we'll see.
Wise move, good luck hope Richard can fit you in
 
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c270 cdi

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Yeah hopefully. John, it's Sunday - what the hell are you doing up at 6am?!?!
 

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