help, i'm out of my leauge!

[elizabeth]

I have just bought a 230TE estate 1983 and have been told the shock absorbers have gone and it will cost £450 to fix it. For a start I dont have £450 to fix it and even if I did, I have a sneeking suspison from the things i've read on this site that it wont solve the problem. I believe it has self- levelling suspension and it is sitting very low at the back and it dosent go up at all. Also it seems like it is affecting the steering. Can anyone help me
dignose the problem. I only bought it because it was red and shiney and now
I just want to cry.

MOTHER.

 

[ArtistsRifles]

£450 - why??????
German, Swedish & Fench car parts are listing the shock absorbers as £125 each :

M55040 - SHOCK ABS BQ S/LEVEL RE - 124 Estate +Self-Levelling Susp. - £125.00

That makes £250 and you can fit them yourself (or hubby/boyfriend/partner can....)

 

[190D]

£450 - why??????
German, Swedish & Fench car parts are listing the shock absorbers as £125 each :

M55040 - SHOCK ABS BQ S/LEVEL RE - 124 Estate +Self-Levelling Susp. - £125.00

That makes £250 and you can fit them yourself (or hubby/boyfriend/partner can....)

Plus vat = £295.73 + 127.27+ vat for labour is roughly 3hrs @ £40 per hour doesn’t seen that expensive compared to main Stealer prices @ £90per hour

 

[Bolide]

230TE "Shock Absorbers"

If I had £1 for every time I've heard this story...


Assuming the car has self-levelling (not sure if all the W123s did or not) you need someone expert to diagnose & sort the problem. Anyone who says "the shock absorbers have gone" does not fall into this category

Assuming, again, that the rear suspension is the same as a W124 it has a pair of self-levelling struts, a pair of suspension spheres, a pair of springs, a height corrector, a pump and a reservoir of fluid in the engine bay and a bunch of pipework. Lots of bits, but no "shock absorbers"

This system will be very familiar to anyone who works on hydraulic Citroens or to any Mercedes specialist. I think you should find a local specialis, ask them to diagnose it, then decide how to proceed

Normally the problem is a siezed linkage for the height corrector, bad corrector or bad spheres. It may cost £450 - you won't know till it's been diagnosed correctly

There are lots of specialists around - if you let us know where you are in the country people will chime in with local specialists


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[television]

I have just bought a 230TE estate 1983 and have been told the shock absorbers have gone and it will cost £450 to fix it. For a start I dont have £450 to fix it and even if I did, I have a sneeking suspison from the things i've read on this site that it wont solve the problem. I believe it has self- levelling suspension and it is sitting very low at the back and it dosent go up at all. Also it seems like it is affecting the steering. Can anyone help me
dignose the problem. I only bought it because it was red and shiney and now
I just want to cry.

MOTHER.

No point in going to far if you do not have the money. Why not get hold of two inflatable spring assisters, people use them when towing caravans. just shove them underneath and blow them up.Not sure though if they make red ones

Malcolm

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Alternately it should be possible to source 2 new heavy duty shock absorbers and uprated springs, a kit might be available for this particular vehicle from Sachs or Koni, its probably worth making enquiries. The fitting of which will mean that the hydraulic self levelling system will become obsolete, and with an old car this will be the most cost effective solution.

I owned a Rover 3500 SD1 some years ago which was fitted with self levelling shock absorbers. When they needed replacing I employed the solution described above and saved hundres of pounds, much to the disgust of the Rover soares department who assured me that it was not safe to do so (what a load of rubbish that was). Well we all know where Rover ended up!
Don't wish to be unpatriotic, I would buy a British car if I could find an equivalent to the Merc.

 

[television]

Alternately it should be possible to source 2 new heavy duty shock absorbers and uprated springs, a kit might be available for this particular vehicle from Sachs or Koni, its probably worth making enquiries. The fitting of which will mean that the hydraulic self levelling system will become obsolete, and with an old car this will be the most cost effective solution


.

Shock obsorbers do nothing to alter the height of the car. If it is possible to change the springs to normal, that woul be the cheapest option.

Malcolm

 

[TimN]

If the shock absorbers have perished then assuming there's been some fluid in the reservoir it (the fluid) will be all over the rear springs, training arms and the leakage will be obvious from below or when the wheel is removed.

Even with knackered shocks and spheres the car should still attemp to level. I suspect that you have either of the following;

No fluid
A faulty or disabled pump
A self levelling valve which has become detached from the torsion bar.

 

[clive williams]

Elizabeth,

Who gave you the judgement that the shockers were shot? If they are not reliable then I would go to someone knowledegable on MBs (say an indie) and from there on you have two basic alternatives
1) Repair the existing system
2) Replace it with a different system
Either way £450 is not a bad start budget if you/your friends can't do the work.
Good Luck

Clive
500E
320CDIT210

 

[locket]

Shock heights

Just a quick comment, good gas shock absorbers such as Bilstein will give the car a small lift when new, due to the very high pressures involved.

Try and compress one with your hands.

 

[Veryfruity]

I am facing a similar problem at the moment. I have a 124 230TE with a hell of a bounce. There are plenty of excellent diagnoses and advice when it comes to replacing the spheres, and £450 would seem about right to do this.

But does anyone have any experience of changing the shock absorbers to those of a saloon.

I was told that I could disconnect piping to the 'shocks' drain the oil by starting engine, then fit shockers from a 230 E saloon. And looking in my Haynes manual it looks like the mountings are the same. This sounds simple and if the fresh shox were sourced from a breakers Elizabeth could do this and have change from £150

But I havn't first hand knowledge, anyone else

Jim

 

[Bolide]

Diagnosis

There are plenty of excellent diagnoses, yes, and one of them may even be correct. Why not have the car diagnosed by an expert then base your repair strategy on what he says? If you're in France I would imagine your nearest hydraulic suspension expert is just a short baguette-throw away

You can, of course, replace the hydraulic suspension with mechanical. But if you were driving a Citroen BX with a hydraulic leak would you replace the suspension with coil springs? No

So why do it on a Mercedes?


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[clive williams]

Replace Estate with Saloon Parts

I would not consider using saloon parts in the estate even if they were the same fit. The suspension components must suit the use and the estate has the potential of being more heavily loaded notwithstanding that its already tail heavy.

Clive

500E
E320CDIT210