Help- advice jumpy erratic CLK

[simbad]

Help needed hopefully before the morning (long shot

I bought a 2000 CLK55 AMG a couple of weeks ago. (privatley)
I love it but i have 1 problem and wanted advice before i go to either Mb dealer tomorrow or a specialist.

The car struggles to stay in a straight line when there is any bumps or grooves in the road, it tends to jump in and out of lorry wheel channels on the motorway. it pulls to the left, but then seems fine and then is doing it again. If i have it on lock and reverse the wheels seem to move around slightly you can feel something moving. The car almost feels like it skittles a little to one side momentarily.

But here is the wierd thing, i took it to a local performance specialist. AMD in Bicester. They did a four wheel alignment and found nothing, i told them to put it on the ramp as they had not checked all bushes, sterring rack etc, depsite asking, again, nothing. they gave it the all clear but there is definaltely something WRONG.

one final thing is if i have it on half lock i can move the steering wheel about 2 cm's each way before the actual wheels move. i am sure this is too much play?

So do i go to Mercedes and pay a fortune for diagnosis, or do i go to a specialist.
I don't want to waste more money so i cam thinking dealer, unless someone says...I know what it is or you need to go to XXX place becasue they are pros and will fix for less the MS dealer?
I'm based in Oxfrordshire, work in Reading for any specialist reccomendations.

Any thoughts ?

Simeon

 

[television]

the rear track rods can wear, lift back wheel and check any movement.

worth checking

Malcolm

 

[jberks]

I'd go to another fitter and get them to drive it. There's no point paying the dealer £90 per hour to have a look. They don't know any more than the back street guy and charge upwards of £200 for a wheel alignment. It does sound odd though. If, as your fitter says, everything matches up, all bushes are ok and the tyres are ok too, then what do you know of the history of this car? Private purchase, high performance motor etc... are all the shut lines ok? May be worth getting a full optiflex laser check done.

 

[simbad]

Been in Osbournes in Maidenhead today and they can find nothing wrong with it, guess it's just the tyres profile grabbing the road?

 

[simbad]

Advice Please

Ok i'm a few weeks on now and i have the same problem.
Despite to garage's telling me there is nothing wrong i know there is. I guess it has to be hidden and not as simple as bushes etc.

Having taken to 2 garages i don't want to roll up Mercedes and get billed a fortune for them guessing or just changing things for the sake of it.

Full Symptoms again:

Cold in the morning- reverse out of drive on lock, as i pull off on full lock it feels like the front wheels are dragging and sounds like it too. If the car is warm it seems not to happen ?

Grooves and bumps in roads, suffers from tramlining pretty bad.. but the worst...

Driving along in a staight line and suddenly feel the car pulling to the left quite hard, almost feels as if the wheels suddenly turned 3-4 degrees to the left without the steering wheel moving. correct it and it does the same but pulling to the right by a few degrees (hands off the wheel and i'd be in the oncoming lane!) Correct it and it's happy again. This happens periodicly but not all the time but i do feel like i'm continualy applying light pressure to the wheel to keep it straight. (again seems less frequent but does happen when car has been drive a while.)

Maybe related- If i'm on say 3/4 lock and i play the wheel from left to right about an inch each way it's not moving the wheels- in other words there is play there.

The wierd part is handling wise, outside of the wandering, it's spot on and you could throw it into corners hard if you like.

My thoughts are that it's steering box related- but i have no technical knowledge- Can anyone help?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I have a Capri 2.8i and when it was fitted with Pirelli P7's the car seemed to have a mind of its own. There was something about the tread which affected the wheel geometry and created very similar effects to what you are experiencing.

Have you tried a different tyre type on the front, you may find this solves the problem. Before you start throwing money at it it might be worth buying a new set for the front. If this is not the problem they will be there as replacements for the future.

If you decide to try this ask for advice, on the forum, from owners of similar cars for tyre recomendations.

Hope this helps!

 

[simbad]

was thinking about that

Thanks..
I might just go and do it, i think the problems are too severe to be tyres alone but i guess it is worth a try.

Any advice on tyres on the stock 17'' AMG alloys on CLK 55?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Mine was dreadful with the P7's. It wasn't even consistent, it tramlined, pulled to the left and generally felt like it wanted to offroad at any time.

Sorry I can't make any recommendations on tyre types but it might be a good idea to put up a specific post.

 

[QUOMAN]

a question noone has asked yet.....what colour is the fluid in the resovoir? it should be either nice and pink or clean and green

 

[simbad]

a question noone has asked yet.....what colour is the fluid in the resovoir? it should be either nice and pink or clean and green

I presume you mean the Power Steering- hmmm i'll check tomorrow.

 

[QUOMAN]

let me know.....020 8853 3343 (power steering services)

 

[simbad]

checked it

actually looks like an orange colour, but appears pretty clean.

 

[television]

The actual check of play may only be made with the engine running with the wheels straight ahead.

The steering gear is fastened to the front axle carrier using rubber bushes, if these are worn the steering can move excessively at the attachment points, resulting in spongy handling.

If you have speed sensitive steering any faults will be recorded.

The above may be of some use.

Malcolm

 

[simbad]

The actual check of play may only be made with the engine running with the wheels straight ahead.

The steering gear is fastened to the front axle carrier using rubber bushes, if these are worn the steering can move excessively at the attachment points, resulting in spongy handling.

If you have speed sensitive steering any faults will be recorded.

The above may be of some use.

Malcolm

Thanks though i presume the 2 garages that have checked out the front end should have picked this up, i'll make sure they look for any fault codes next time it is in.

 

[lameraven]

Thanks..
I might just go and do it, i think the problems are too severe to be tyres alone but i guess it is worth a try.

Any advice on tyres on the stock 17'' AMG alloys on CLK 55?

I've got the CLK 3.2 (AMG body kit) so I'm guessing the alloys are the same,
225/45ZR17 front 245/40ZR17 rear - so much for being able to rotate the wheels to get even ware!

I've been using the Michelin Pilot Sport, good grip, look good and not too expensive.

Mark

 

[MMACD]

Steering Movement

Hi Sinbad.
As well as a 300SL 107, I run a Porsche Carrera 996, which has the sport pack option, ie wide wheels & ultra low profile tyres.

I too was convinced that something was wrong with the car, particularly when reversing on full lock. the car would seem to skip and bounce.
Apparently this is completely natural. When you steer on full lock the front wheels are pointing in slightly different directions. Because the tyres are so wide and stiff, they can't flex to accommodate and will tend to skip. This is even more noticeable on cold days and if there are any stones on the road. So no worries on this front.

Also when driving on open roads the 996 will always follow any cambers/deviations etc. I think that you will find that this is again a nature of the tyres, sticky low profiles just do this.

Hope this helps.

rgds

MMACD

 

[simbad]

thanks all, i'm going to hang in for a little longer on my tyres and then change to PS2's they seem to have had the best right up.
i'm convinving myself it's the cold and the tyres

i've even taken to F1 style snaking to get some warmth in them when i leave in the morning. i do check to make sure there's noone around and guess what- it seems to help !!:grin: