Newbie Help (please)

[david.macintyre]

Hi All,

Just bought a W124 200TE petrol manual (1992) and am a convert from BMW (had to drive one - company car!!).

I would really appreciate a bit of advice regarding the only issue with my new car. There is a (low level) grinding sound from the engine at all times which disappears when I turn a sharp left corner. Any ideas what could be causing it?

Also, which Haynes manual should I order from the MBOA shop? Would the 200E one be OK for my TE?

Finally, someone has put a cheap aftermarket wooden steering wheel on it. The interior is blue check with blue vinyl dash and trim. What colour would the original vinyl/leather wheel be? Blue or black? And where could I source the original?

Thanks for any and all assistance.

Regards

David.

 

[mike65]

That sound is'nt the engine if it dissapears when turning, more likely to be wear in wheel bearings or some such....thats a guess btw!

Mike.

 

[Spike]

The standard wheels do crop up on ebay now and again.

I might be interested in swapping for your wooden one - how bad is it? Do you have a picture?

 

[david.macintyre]

Spike,

It's all wooden with a Mercedes logo in the middle. It looks like it was fitted recently, but it's not to my taste. I can try to get a picture of it if you are interested. Is yours the standard one?

David

 

[kid-jensen]

Dave,

It sounds like one of the engine ancilliaries is making the noise, there's not many engine internals that move about when you turn a corner.

Will the engine run with the drive belt off? If it will, and the noise disappears, you can then set about checking the health of the alternator, tensioner, water pump, air pump, aircon compressor etc.

If it's not one of the ancilliaries, try to localise the noise further, could it be coming from the torque converter?

 

[Spike]

Yep, mines the standard one.... still looks like new.

I *am* interested in your wheel for sure.

I must say I am a bit concerned about the advice about removing the belt and running the engine... What about the water pump or rather lack of it. How long do you think you can run the car for with the water pump disconnected? I would imagine that its a pretty short timeframe before general meltdown.

 

[barrie]

Engine will be fine without the belt connected.
I once had a fan belt snap and I drove for 4-5 miles not probs.
I even ran my old Mini with no water in it whilst checking the tappets.
Just do it long enough to rule out the pump etc



Bazza

 

[david.macintyre]

Spike,

I don't have a digital camera, but I noticed the same wheel on Eurocarparts.com. It is listed as a "WOODEN STEERING WHEEL ORION 37cm 37cm DIAMETER FOUR SPOKE" and is by OBA (listed at £115!!). Mine is in good condition. If you are interested in swapping for the original wheel, please let me know. BTW, does anyone know if the original steering wheel colour could have matched my navy blue vinyl dash, or might it have been the standard black?

Thanks and regards

David[/img]

 

[david.macintyre]

Sorry, forgot to mention : I tried turning the engine off when coasting downhill and the noise is still there. A friend reckoned it is likely to be a dodgy wheel bearing and said he believed that if the noise disappeared when turning left, the right bearings were faulty and vice versa.

Could anyone give me a second opinion, please?

Thanks

David

 

[Rog_E]

Hmmm.

I would have said the opposite!

Turning left increases the load on the right and visa versa.
A wheel bearing that is breaking up could make a noise like this.

Try jacking the car up and rotating each front wheel - how does it 'feel'.
Grasp the wheel at the bottom and top and push/pull to see if there is play.

Make sure you have chocked the car and applied handbrake first!

The Haynes Manual covers this and, in answer to your question, it covers the E and TE!

 

[barrie]

I have a blue dash in my 190E and the standard wheel was black.
I have also seen a 1994 W124 with a blue interior and the wheel was black.
Never seen a blue wheel



Bazza

 

[mike65]

That sound is'nt the engine if it dissapears when turning, more likely to be wear in wheel bearings Mike.

I'll repeat what I said earlier and yes, wear on the left shows when turning right and the other way round.

Mike.

 

[Spike]

@david.macintyre

Yep, I know the wheel you mention...still interested, where are you based, perhaps we could compare - & you can make your mind up which way you want to go?

On the noise, it could also just be the brake pads need chamfering, either way, best thing is to get the car up on stands (£15 from motor factor) and have a good poke around, once you have the wheels off the ground I recon you should be able to track the noise down pretty fast.

 

[Richard.Wilson]

Mike 65's right about the wheel bearings, in my experience they tend to make the worst noise when turning "away" from the side that's gone.
You can check the endfloat for starters, (see the Haynes manual #3253 Chapter 10 section 2)
I generally find that the left ones take more of a hammering; the road camber , roundabouts , and people twatting the kerb seem to do them no good at all....so long as you have the tools they are not too difficult.

You will need an appropriate drift, a metal tube, not too hard, the size of the OD of the bearing outer race, to put them back in. Buy the new bearings- Measure up the bearing race- and get the drift before you strip it down is my advice.

However, remember you have a rubber mounted engine with all kinds of bits hanging of it, anything which is attached to the engine and the chassis can make changeable rattles. Exhausts have a tendancy to make different rattles when turning corners for this reason, try to check these out before going too far.

I'm pretty sure the steeringwheels are all black, and plenty of breakers will have them, in case your swap doesn't work out
Good luck

 

[dieselman]

I agree about the wheel bearings becoming louder when you turn away from the bearing in question. In other words as you turn right the left bearing becomes more loaded and so noisier if worn, and vice versa.

The noise could also be the brake backplate rubbing on the disk which only seperats when there is sufficient axial force created by turning sharply.

 

[david.macintyre]

Thanks all for your helpful comments. I'll take your advice and let you know how I get on.

Regards

David.

 

[david.macintyre]

Spike,

I have emailed you re the steering wheel swap. Let me know if you are interested - if not, I'll just put it on eBay and buy another one.

Thanks

David.