Newbie after advice on lose front subframe!!

Articpaz

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Your Mercedes
SL500
Hi,
Im hoping to get some advice on a rattle Ive had on the front of my 03 SL500 after taking it to my Merc garage they advised getting the front thrust bearings changed which I did but the rattle was still there. so I have been having a look underneath and I found that the front bolts which hold the alloy subframe/cross member to which the thrust bearings are fixed to were both loose, the passenger side was not even finger tight and the drivers side is seized or rusted half undone!

I know this was nothing to do with the bearings being fitted as the rattle was there before and so it may have been loose for years, I have tightened the pass side and the rattle has gone but I dont know what to do about the drivers side and am worried if i try to tighten it the bolt may sheer and there seems no way to get to the nut which is within the chassis, either welded in or captive?

So I am after some advice on what to do next, can I replace the nut and bolt if it sheers off? or would it be best to drill out the old bolt and re thread it? Is there any way to get to the nut? I have tried spraying pentrating oil in the chassis hole where the nut is and hitting the bolt to loosen it etc..

Many thanks
 

television

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2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Maybe there is some info for this cross member, and I will take a look, Welcome to the forum
 

type49

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Never heard of this one!! You could buy the correct new bolt & then get a mobile thread doctor to remove the faulty one - wont be cheap though, probably £60-100. At least if it breaks, he will have all the equiptment to deal with it.
 
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Articpaz

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SL500
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Thanks for your advice, thankfully its all sorted now, I was thinking that the air guns that garages use would rattle it free and so I took it to a local garage and after trying to manually undo it they used an airgun and it worked!! and best bit it only cost a tenner.
 
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Articpaz

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Your Mercedes
SL500
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Hi Malcolm,

I do have one other little problem, the rear of my SL does seem to wobble very slightly from side to side it was worse when I went away for the weekend and so had more weight in the boot.

My local MB garage said I needed two new rear control arms as the bushes were worn part numbers on the quote are MA230 350 11 06 010302, but after them not spotting my loose bolts on the front I have lost confidence in them and so wanted to check if this seemed correct? and they want £490 to change them. Another MB specialist said the play in the bushes was not that much to worry about.

Could something else cause the wobbly feeling?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
Paul
 


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