Creaky Steering on my 190e

[Mustardmit]

Aaagh! I've just done two f***-awful journeys into London and returned to find a dry-sounding creak coming from my steering suddenly.
The steering is fine and feels normal, but this creak worries me. It's definitely coming from outside, down between the wheels -it sounds expensive!
I checked the steering pump oil level and it's fine.
Any ideas?
It's only really evident a low speeds (eg. when parking).
Cheers
MM

 

[tom7035]

Prime contenders for this is bottom balljoints IMO, but of course could be (more unusually) any of the balljoint steering links.
Try to replicate the noise while stationary with the help of friend, and have a close listen.

 

[teddybear]

steering creak

I had a similar problem on previous Merc, I was told by my MB specialist Garage it was the nylon seats in the ball joints. He managed to get some oil past the rubber seals and it was OK for a few weeks. In the end I had them replaced as it sounded so awful.

 

[flyingtech55]

steering creak

Snap...my 190 suddenly started creaking. Steering OK but slightly heavier than before. Soon became graunching noise. Took the weight off the joint and spraying oil into joint and noise stopped for a short time then came back.

Renewed wishbone and that cured it. Be aware that 190s etc. can pop their ball joints while being driven so don't leave it too long.

HTH

Gliderman

 

[veedweeb]

I had a similar problem with my W202 C class...

It turned out to be the steering damper, and fitting a new one only takes about 5 minutes.

I don't know if your car has a damper, but it might be worth checking, and if it has, try disconnecting it briefly to see if the noise goes away.

New dampers (for mine at least) are about £20 from GSF

 

[Mustardmit]

Thanks for the info...was it an expensive/involved job having the ball-joints replaced?
Cheers
MM

 

[Mustardmit]

Aaagh, scared!

When you say "pop their ball joints" could that mean; BANG ! ...No steering (at 70 MPH)...SCREEEECH! Death?
MM :-o

 

[flagstaff]

not really. just keep a hold of the steering wheel. a tight hold. which could, when you think about it, trigger that obscure chemical that the (insert foreign intelligence agency) placed in the steering wheel rim, activated by knuckle pressure. so yes, like you say ... death.

 

[flyingtech55]

Hi Mustardmit

Yes the joints come apart...the ball bit pulls out of the socket on the end of the wishbone. The wheel is then unrestrained and goes up into the wing. Potentially quite a lot of damage can be done. Also what happens to the car depends of what speed etc. it is travelling at the time. Like I say don't leave it too long.

I renewed the whole wishbone on both sides of the car. The ball joints are pressed into the wishbones and I always think that if the component is pressed in it is not intended to be renewed separately. Others may disagree of course. I bought the wishbones from Autocarparts for about £70 each plus VAT. I also bought new cam bolts assemblies and pinch bolts from the dealer. The bolts were seized into the aluminium bushes of the original wishbones. This took surgery with my disc cutter to remove them. Once it was all cleaned up the new ones fitted easily. Obviously the alignment had to be done properly...caster, camber etc. afterwards.

The changing of the wishbones took a weekend...one per day. All the time taken was to remove the bolts from the rear bush without damaging the rest of the car plus I'm getting older and don't have the same puff as I used to. The actual job isn't difficult but do be careful with the spring which is lethal if it escapes.