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Front end stiff and bouncy on a 1983 euro W126

2K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  wooky_chew_bacca 
#1 ·
It has the self leveling suspension and the height is normal at all 4 corners, but the front bounces too much when going over bumps. Fluid level is fine and there are no abnormal noises. Does this car have accumulators on the front? When I press down on a front corner, I don't get any movement.
 
#7 ·
Sounds like a job for Kim, IIRC he owns a rare 4 corner hydro car
 
#8 ·
The OP needs to fill out their profile so we know what kind of car they're talking about....

That being said, I believe it's an 85 500, which would make it have hydropneumatic suspension on all four corners. If that is the case, they have a bad accumulator on the front.

It's just like the W123 and W124 wagons - when the accumulators (nitrogen spheres) go bad, you're strictly on hydraulics, which don't respond well to changes in pressure in the system, the reason why there are accumulators to absorb shocks or rapid changes in pressure.

Dan
 
#11 ·
I hear ya. But, Sometimes you just have to "fill out your profile" to make it so all your threads aren't full of posts from people telling you to fill out your profile. If you look at mine, you can see it's useless in identifying my car in question, but I never have people telling me to fill out my profile anymore. It also shows a level of commitment and compliance. You are asking for help, so playing by the "rules" is smart and doesn't take too much time.
 
#10 ·
It helps to at least put the specifics in the profile, so we can look at your name and location with a car or cars listed. It is assumed you are not talking about a w201 in a W126 forum so nobody is going to scroll all over to find your car. It just conditioned eyeballs, so most just skip the questions and move on to the next thread, searching on all new and clicking next, regardless of title.
 
#12 ·
Your car does not have SLS, but has the Euro-only hydropneumatic suspension. You will notice you do not have springs on any 4 corners, but a hydraulic strut. Th

You do in fact have a nitrogen sphere up front. You will find a total of *5* nitrogen accumulators in this system and you'll have to replace all 5.

The Gen I's hydropneumatic suspension was very close to what was available on the W116 6.9's. The later Gen II 500's and 560's had a slightly updated set up.


 
#14 · (Edited)
Hi there atikovi,

I see you've been a BW member for going on 13 years now and I imagine you have gotten MB value over this time...

Fellow members LWB250, 281lxm & Fonzi are making good points about filling out some profile details for the rest of us.. I agree with them too, as its easier to see what car we are discussing / where the poster lives etc. when the information is displayed up front.

Please help us help you, will you?

I agree about the accumulator spheres as well. Your stated symptoms are classic.

Just recently, I got a pair of Corteco accumulator/spheres off eBay from a seller oemparthaus2. As I recall, they are priced about $75 each with FREE Shipping included. As they are somewhat heavy, the free shipping seemed a bonus to me. The seller shipped em out PDQ too..

As yours is different than our self leveling system, I wonder if these are the same configuration as what is fitted on yours.

Hope that's of help,

MBL
 
#16 ·
Excellent. Thank you.

Finding the spheres is one thing... Finding them at a vendor that will ship them is another. One of my favorite vendors out there had the units in stock (rr for 560SEL), but would not ship them. I found two others as well, but one of them would not ship either.

When you find them and the vendor will ship, do business.
 
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