I jacked up the car yesterday, and I couldn't find a thing wrong with it, I thought I was going to see atleast the hub setup as the front wheels, Im thinking I would have to remove the entire caliper and rotor??
I just found a mpeg video I had purchased when I first purchased the car on brakes, and it has a nice tutorial on rotors, pads, and repacking the front bearing(s), the guy switches over to the rear pads/rotors, and doesn't say how to repack them, just says "the rear ones are easier".....
Replacing the rear rotors is easier because you don't have to deal with the wheel bearings like you do for the front rotors. The rear wheel bearings require multiple special tools and you definitely want to use a gauge for seating new wheel bearings squarely.
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Chad
[Oo{=|=}oO] 1985 300TD - "Red Dragon"
369,XXX miles - (540) Borolo Red - (154) Java MB-Tex Chassis 1231931F050455 / Engine 617952 12 106600 / Trans 722315 02 638091 1985 300CD - "Gladys"
208,XXX miles - (702) Smoke Silver Metallic - (154) Java MB-Tex Chassis 1231531A226271 / Engine 617952 12 094266 / Trans 722416 02 162489 OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
Replacing the rear rotors is easier because you don't have to deal with the wheel bearings like you do for the front rotors. The rear wheel bearings require multiple special tools and you definitely want to use a gauge for seating new wheel bearings squarely.
Is there a shopping list of special tools, or is this something I definately should leave to a shop?
I like to stray away from shops until I know exactly whats wrong, since they'll say "this is whats its causing the problem", go ahead with the repair, noise continues, then say it might be something else...
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'84 300DT 314k (w123);
'80 300SD (w116), two-tank fuel system
Is there a shopping list of special tools, or is this something I definately should leave to a shop?
I like to stray away from shops until I know exactly whats wrong, since they'll say "this is whats its causing the problem", go ahead with the repair, noise continues, then say it might be something else...
The instructions and list of tools are in this link:
Just got off with a local (highly praised) mechanic, told me to bring it in tomorrow morning, I tried to explain to him my observations, and he ruled out axles for the moment, saying I should only hear something after an extensive amount of driving, and about the bearings, that I would always hear something, not off and on like I do, so he said its probably the sway bar link? I told him I would first only hear it with a large load (2+ rear passengers, or a good amount of weight in the trunk, or both).
Anyone know if this could be the problem, before I look like a noob that wont even change his own oil tomorrow?
It could be the problem if the rattle comes when going over rough roads.
You can check the sway bar links yourself. They need replacing if they are completely broken or if the rubber boots are torn at all.
They only cost about $12 each and take about 20 minutes to replace both. They are easier to replace with the rear wheels off.
Here's a pic of one of my new sway bar links installed. I took this pic before I put the second "locking" nut on. My old ones had tears in all the rubber boots and had no grease left in the sockets.
The bottom of the bar screws into a threaded hole and doesn't use any nuts. The top of the bar connects to the end of the sway bar with 2 nuts. The second nut acts as a locking nut. My pic only shows the first nut threaded on.
Here's a link that shows how they look before installation and they are cheaper than I remembered.
Finally stopped raining, and I was able to check it out, seems the sway bar links are intact, and amazingly, the ONLY white thing under the car, I took the caliper and rotor off to see if any of the parking brake was maybe hanging in the way, and nothing, dont know what else it could be....
The only other possibility that wasn't mentioned is subframe bushings or the bushings on the sway bar itself. But again, they would be when the car is driving over roads that would make the worn parts bump. I don't think it would make a noise on a smooth, bump-free road and wouldn't sound rhythmic unless you're driving over expansion joints in the road.
Nope, but like I said, it comes and goes, and comes back when I hit a good bump in the road, or have a good load in the back, could the noise be coming from the rear shocks??
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