Sleigh bells in my w124 rear suspension??!!

[biglips]

Hi,

I have a curious noise coming from the drivers side rear suspension on my 94 E320 estate. Every time I go over a bump in the road I hear a noise like sleigh bells! In addition there is a bit of a dull thump from the rear over bumps. I cant see anything loose, and the handling is predictable enough.

Can anyone throw any light on this?

thanks,

Tom

 

[Gazzaj]

not sure but have you checked the spring ? It could it be broken

 

[biglips]

I cant see any obvious problem there, but I will take another look.

However, it seems to drive too well for that. Wouldnt a broken spring affect the handling and ride significantly? I am no expert, so happy to take advice!

Tom

 

[roofless]

springs or heat shield for the exhaust & have a look at the linkage for the self leveling suspension it may have come off at one end

 

[biglips]

Heat shield seems OK.

I think this may be a bit beyond my expertise - not sure where to begin looking for the linkage you mention!! Exploded diagram anyone? I have the Brooklands w124 workshop manual, but it is useless.

Could be a trip to the garage is needed- I am driving to France later in the month and need to get it sorted, but thanks for the tips guys.

 

[roofless]

you would need to use ramps to see the linkage so prob best use a garage

 

[biglips]

I think I'll take your advice roofless.

Cheers

 

[BravoEchoUniform]

Hi, did you ever resolve this? My car sounds like it has a metal box of coins in the boot (it hasn't - I checked). Dealer has checked and said it isn't suspension or exhaust, but is plastic body trim. Doesn't sound like plastic to me but haven't investigated any further.

 

[teddycatkin]

Check shocks are tight---the large -usually brass coloured top washer can rattle and ring like a bell if loose ?

 

[meanie]

Don't laugh but the handbrake retaining springs (the 'pig tail' ones) loose their tension causing the shoes to rattle over bumps.

Top shock mounts perish leading to a thump.

 

[jp williams]

I cant see any obvious problem there, but I will take another look.

However, it seems to drive too well for that. Wouldnt a broken spring affect the handling and ride significantly? I am no expert, so happy to take advice!

Tom

I`d check the rear springs as I had the same sleighbells noise for months and could not locate it..
I then drove all the way from Spain to Wirral ,fully loaded,with a broken rear offside spring and didn`t even notice anything untoward with either handling or ride. Fortunately Olly discovered it when giving my car a "healthcheck"

Good luck

Regards
John

 

[Bolide]

If you were fully loaded the SLS was supporting the back end as well as providing damping

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk