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OT/Story: Vapor Lock again today (D-Jet) Just embarrasing, that's all.

3K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  Fonzi 
#1 ·
It's cold, about to snow tonight, the roads are coated in liquid salt. I was driving on the shoulder to avoid the liquid salt. I was out running a few errands and thought I should drive the SL to test my tightening of the heater core hose connection (which seems to be holding... man does this car have a lot of hose clamps that need tightening!). I stopped into two boutique stores for some gifts for my wife in the swanky part of town. The low black and chrome SL was looking good int eh dark. :) After about probably 20-25 minutes of shopping I get in the car forgetting about the vapor lock conditions. I turn the key, and the car shakes like an old jalopy. There's a lady with her ~4 year old kid that looks over the walkway railing just above and in front of my car, and says, "Do you need help?" I shook my head and gave her a thumbs up with the facial expression of "Oh nah. I'm fine." So I turn the key a few more times in hopes of building some fuel pressure in the fuel lines I just completely drained with my last attempt to start the car. Then as the lady and her kid are walking away, I try to start the car again. Same jumpy no go. The lady and her kid are looking back at me and stop walking (obviously to make sure I'm going to be OK). I finally get the car past the jumpy part, with steam coming out the exhaust, and finally start driving away slowly.

As I turn the wheel bearing that desperately needs replacing let's out an incredibly loud grinding sound.

I avoided the salt the rest of the way to the gas station where I topped off to see what kind of gas mileage I've gotten over the 19.5 miles since I last filled up. 4.1 gallons, a little over $12. At least I'm under a buck a mile! (Well, there has been a lot of idling in the driveway while trying to make sure I find the coolant leak.) Get back in the car, avoid the liquid salt, and park the car back in the garage until at least Monday when my mechanic is back and might be able to replace the wheel bearing (or both fronts while at it).

I'm getting there. On the bright side, I knew why my car wasn't starting, and knew I'd get through it with patience... and I think I may have fixed my coolant leak, and my front rubber has all been replaced (no knocks when I turn anymore). The car is street legal, and I know it's going to be fun to drive it on the highway after:
- The front wheel bearings are replaced
- The rear shocks are installed

Is that it? After that, am I really down to just waterproofing the car?
- Seal the dryed out top.
- Install the new trunk seal I bought.
- Maybe work on the couple of surface rust spots I have.

Oh, maybe go vacuum leak hunting, and charge up the AC with Freeze12 (or convert to r134).

... and if I ever get the lights I paid for from another BW member, I'll install those too. (fogs, heads, tails).

Oh... detailing... I have yet to do anything other than vacuum. So here's a question: Any suggestions on how to get the grime/dirt out of the deep groves in the MBTex or Naugahyde (dash, consoles, etc)? Just get some cleaner and a scrub brush?
 
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#3 ·
The car is parked until it goes back in for the wheel bearing.

If I drive very slowly through left turns I can get through the turn without the grind. I think it's the extra pressure on the bearing that causes the grind.

I asked my mechanic. He said it should be fine until the wheel seizes up, and not to take it out on the freeway. (Now I know better. Thank you.) Maybe he needs work. :) I wanted to check out the coolant leak, and let the car really warm up a bit. I was never more than walking distance from home or over 40 mph.

So the car is definitely parked until it goes back to the shop. I feel better knowing the coolant leak seems fixed.

I need a faster mechanic that takes less vacation. I've considered asking the MB Dealer what they'd charge to replace the wheel bearing. Any idea what that would run?
 
#7 ·
I thought it looked like there were a couple of specialty tools that were needed (could be wrong).
Not really. But popping the races in and out can be fun.

Stop driving your frigging car until it is safe and serviceable.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Take a gander at the dwg below, and imagine what is grinding and being damaged... bearing races and rollers, spindle races, hub races, seal surfaces and seal...

Section 33-300 in the service/repair manual (which may not be included in the online manual)
 

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#11 ·
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From the way you quantify the number of turns made and grinding noises heard as opposed to straight line driving with no noise discernible it sounds as though you think progressive damage is limited to the prior. That would be incorrect. Every time you drive that car you increase the risk of a spun bearing, and the possibility of the inner race welding itself to the spindle.

You'll know you got a problem then.
 
#13 ·
Just jack the front end of the car up, pull the front tires and pull the bearing caps and take a look at what is going on in there. If the car has bad tie rods or an out of alignment front end you can get rubbing around turn which manifests itself as a grinding noise.

The first thing to do is pull the bearing caps and see what is happening in there. I found the grease in my hubs had turned to some kind of gum or soap as someone informed me. I also had the radio supression springs brake in the hubs which would cause a ticking sound around curves as the spring interfered with the front bearings.

You are getting there a couple of shakedowns and you'll be good to go!
 
#14 · (Edited)
Just jack the front end of the car up, pull the front tires and pull the bearing caps and take a look at what is going on in there. If the car has bad tie rods or an out of alignment front end you can get rubbing around turn which manifests itself as a grinding noise.
That was my initial thought, until I realized that the grinding did not depend on the degree of the turn, but rather what I believe is the turning pressure on that front wheel. If I coast very slowly through a sharp turn... no grind. A slight left turn at speed: Grind. I know the wheel bearing is bad because I can move the top of the wheel while the car is sitting on the ground. I can pull the top of the wheel out. This is exactly what I believe is happening to the right front wheel when I go through a left turn, the inward force from the ground on the bottom of the wheel is causing it to tilt, resulting in the grinding sound as the loose, bad bearing rides in an unfamiliar fashion.

If the bearing is welded to the spindle, I would not guess it would be due to my ~13 miles of driving on a grinding bearing. I would guess it would be much more likely to be from "the night of the glowing rotor", the night I drove the car over two miles home on a seized up right front brake. That cooked up the caliper rubber and I had to rebuild the caliper, but didn't have to put on new pads or rotors. (The braking is now smooth and straight.)

So yes, I guess I've put this car through a little abuse while trying to get it back on the road. Oh the things I've learned in the last 6 months.

The more that goes wrong, the more I learn. But yes, I'm ready to be done.
 
#16 ·
Worst comes to worse(spun the bearing) you buy a good used front hub and install. You could probably get the whole assembly with a good bearing from a donor car if you have to go that way.

Just check the front steering linkage, tie rods, coupler, and idler arm bushing. I'd probably replace the whole mess and be done with it. Get an alignment and ride on. On the car you bought I'd inspect everything and if it hasn't been replaced plan on replacing it. I know you had the rear suspension torn down so you'll want to go through the front now.
 
#17 ·
Actually, the front suspension has been all torn down and replaced:
- motor mounts
- Subframe mounts
- Control arm bushings
- Control arm universal joints
- Tierods
- Cetnerlink
- Steering damper
- Bilstein shocks

Can you believe they didn't do the wheel bearing while the front axle was laying on the floor? I wonder if they dropped the axle on the floor and that caused the extended bearing damage. :)

I also replaced the rear stabilizer links myself.

The rear shocks are sitting in the trunk of the car.

So maybe you'd mixed me up with another fella.
 
#23 ·
Before I bought the car, eh said he wouldn't take me on as a new customer with that car. The shop I use is basically family. Isaac's Garage, not MB or even Euro specialists. The price for me is right though.


Jeese Ears. You guys are giving me hell for abusing my car like it's a child, and you are going to take it into protective custody. I promise not to drive the car anywhere anymore. I promise. I really do!
 
#26 ·
two and a half months later, after too many trips to the shop waiting for my mechanic, I decided to try the wheel bearings myself.
A) noticed that I could just tighten up the loose wheel bearing and tried it. - NO LUCK (but did seem quieter)
B) Tried the same on the driver side (since I'm not really sure which side the grind comes from) - NO LUCK
C) Replaced front passenger wheel bearing (but not the part that fits tight inside the rotor because it looked OK) - NO LUCK
D) Replaced passenger side the same way - NO LUCK
E) Removed passenger side dust shield because I saw some scrapes on the inside of it. - NO LUCK

So all I believe I have left to check is the brake calipers and the driver dust shield, none of which seem to make any sense to me, especially not from the way the car drives and scrapes.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike
 
#27 · (Edited)
So all I believe I have left to check is the brake calipers and the driver dust shield, none of which seem to make any sense to me, especially not from the way the car drives and scrapes.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike
I once had a scraping noise from the front of our 300D. Replaced front brakes and wheel bearings, but noise was still there.

Finally checked rear wheel and sure enough a rear caliper was stuck and scraped intermittently. So, one idea may be to jack rear wheels up, put car in gear and listen.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Thanks MBG. I decided to just say F-it and drive the car, thinking I'll either determine the cause, or maybe even wear down the culprit (rotors or pads?). I've had several friends listen to the noise and tell me what they think (which of course included: "There's got to be a stick stuck under your car somewhere.") But everyone one seems to say they think it comes from the right front wheel.

Tonight I experienced the e-brake light coming on lots of times, sometimes with hard straight braking, and other times while turning hard to the left. I was really starting to think it was my e-brake, until I got the text from my mechanic to try driving with the e-brake on. No difference. With everyone thinking it's coming from the passenger front, I think I'm willing to start to focus purely on that wheel.

BTW. I did remove both disc dust shields. Neither are on the car right now.

Here are some other fact/opinions:

(a) I don't think the rim or tire is rubbing anywhere, not only because (a1) the scraping doesn't seem to depend on the degree I turn the wheel, just the pressure on that right front wheel, but also because (a2) the scraping also occurs when starting from a stop and turning to the left, and the rear of the car sinks and the front seems to pop-up. "a2" seems important because I think it helps rule out the possibility of a sunken wheel well causing some rubbing somewhere.

(b) I removed the dust shields, and don't see signs of scrapes on the inside of the wheels. The wheel bearings are tight (maybe too tight?).

(c) The driver side wheel hasn't ever given me any problems. The bearing slid right off the axle ont hat side.

(d) the passenger side is the side that experienced the "night of the glowing rotor", and it is difficult to get the inner bearing off the axle. I wonder if there was heat damage to the axle or something. Nonetheless, the car was running fine after that with no grinding at all.

(e) the grinding began when I got the car out of the shop after the front subframe was taken out (dropped?) with the full axle on the shop floor. All control arm bushings, motor mounts, shocks, everything rubber... was replaced. (Ironically, I left a wheel bearing in the car because they told me I needed one, so I bought it, but they didn't get to replacing the wheel bearing.) So maybe the axle - caliper relationship got out-of-whack and the pads are not tracing on the rotor in the same location any more. Possible?

Thoughts?

Does anyone want to place any bets on the culprit of the nasty grinding noise?


My personal, "Me Know Nothing" opinion is that it must be either the front right brake or wheel bearing.

I can't believe how much time I've spent on this today.
 
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