i have a 96 s500 just found out that it has self leveling in the rear!!!! im pissed anyways i was preparing to change my rear shocks because they make that stupid creaking noise, over bumps and stuff the smallest bump or rock you go over you hear this sick fucking noise! i thought it was the shocks but now i find out they are self leveling and they appear to have no leaks! so is there a way to bleed them out and a way to see if the accumilator works???
also read that it could be my bushings? also the upper shock mount???
any ideas?
i have unpaved driveway and every time i back out or drive up it i can always hear this creaking /hucking?? noise! its driving me insane and now i find out one of those shocks is 620 bucks!!! not too happy
so what should i do to eleminate this problem?? prcedures to diagnose if it is my shocks? accumilators? or something else?
the rear end is kind of sagging but power steering feels great nice and easy.... and as far as i know the rear end works of the power steering right???
Check the oil level in the sls reservoir. If the oil level is below the "min" mark then the rear end could sag, at least mine did. For the noises: crank the sound system!
Yes, it's enought to make a person crazy. When did this symptom begin?
If the car is sagging a bit and it makes these disturbing sounds on every little bump, the cause is probably the accumulators or nitrogen spheres, but if it is just the creaking noise, that could be caused by the bump stops(upper strut mounts) at the top of the struts which you might lubricate with WD-40(you would have to remove the nuts and TRY to work the lubricant downward from an opening under the nut into the neck of the bump stop).Also check to see if the struts are properly torqued. You can look at the the top nuts by pulling back the cladding in the trunk. The easiest is the driver's side.
The struts rarely fail.
No need to bleed your struts. If your struts are shot which is very unlikely, you would not be able to bounce the back at all, or very little, and the rear would sag to where you would have a hard time driving. There are a lot of things that could be wrong or worn. Start with the simple first. Find out where the noise is actually coming from.
Replacing the spheres is fairly simple and inexpensive for the part (less than $150.00 each), but very messy, smelly and dangerous unless you know exactly what you are doing. Do some research on this. There is lots of information about this. Click on the knowledge base in this forum and scroll until you come to the self-leveling section--it may be in the second section--I don't remember. It will help you to understand your system and the way to go about replacing your accumulators. You must understand the system before you can really conclude anything about the possible causes of the problems.
Check the color of the hydraulic fluid in the reservoir. If it is black or dark then your spheres are probably shot, but if the fluid is clear your spheres are PROBABLY good.
You should also check the filter in the reservoir to see if there is any black shit in there. Black indicates deteriorated spheres, rubber feed lines and PERHAPS an inner deterioration of the strut/s. Yes, the power steering pump is the pump for the SL suspension.
"creaking" is caused by stress and metal on metal contact, but where who knows. It's like finding the cause of a creaking bed spring or mattress.
Tracing the source of of creaking in the rear suspension is a PIA. Good luck.
Drink Bud Light!
Last edited by drcharlesatlas : 07-13-2008 at 06:50 AM.
Reason: add
The early cars had a bleed screw on the control valve, the system constantly circulates, so it should bleed itself. The hydraulic struts rarely fail, and should develop leaks. The accumulators do wear out, the nitrogen escapes and is displaced by the oil, spongey ride is the first symptom, and then hard as the sphere is filled. It is a messy job, especially the fittings, drain the oil change the filter and refill with MB stuff, It is usually 1.5 hrs, mine was $350 from a good indy, expect more from MB due to labor! V12 Uber Alles, Replacing Accumulators (aka Spring Actuators, Nitrogen Spheres) in a W140 Mercedes Benz
well i started off by buying some new lower control arm bushings ill try to replace those and see if anything changes...
for the hell of it i tried just bouncing the back and seeing if it makes a noise and it does....
it makes the creeking noise.... like a spring bed mattress!
and thing is i cant drop the shock low enough for me to see the upper mount and how would i know if it went bad or not?????????
also when your driving say about 30-45 and you go over bumps you wont hear the noise at all feels like good shocks its usually at slow speeds.
Yea its your sphers.I just changed mine out on my 97 model both sides i had that sound of clunk and hard road feel when driving over bumps.Make sure you get the correct fluid to refill with because the later models 00-up changed to a mineral oil.The 94-98 used a pre mixed fluid thats in a grey bottle and says hydraluic fluid on it.Once you changed them out dont tripp because the car will look low still wait 24hrs or over night and your car will raise up properly again.While you at it change your front shocks out to the bilstiens hd. The stock shocks up front are sachs not as tite as the bilstiens.
I had a creaking noise, and it turned out to be one of my struts. Bad nitrogen spheres do not make noises. They do cause a very rough ride though. Here is an article that may help you. The car is a S600, but the system is the same.
To know if the problem is with the struts, crawl under the car and put your hand around the strut while an assistant bounces the rear end. If it is the strut gone bad, you will feel it with your fingers or hand.
Sounds like your strut/struts are shot and you will have to replace them.
There are no rubber seals in the struts, so what you have is a very slight uneven metal on metal contact when they wear out. They still work and will continue to work unless they leak, but the creaking will drive you crazy.
I have been down that road so I know the symptoms of struts gone bad. The upper mount rod can become loose and that would give you a thumping noise as you go over uneven road crevices, but probably not cause the creaking noise.
Keep us informed.
Last edited by drcharlesatlas : 07-16-2008 at 11:47 AM.
Reason: add word
yeah i guess its more of a clunking noise but ONLY at slow speeds at normal driving speeds 40+ you wont hear the noise i would say more like a rough ride even though it still feels pretty good.... its mostly when you start driving say on a dirt road you will hear a clunking noise here and there not as i said earlier over every bump..... just felt like it! but yeah thanks for the site man!! i learned alot and thanks for your responses guys!! i appreciate it! i ordered some bushings from mercedes and tomorrow ill order some spheres..... does the oil have to be from mercedes??? or regular auto parts store?
Use only MB hydraulic fluid. The capacity of the system is 2.1 quarts, but if you are going to flush the system, you should get another quart at least.
The only "failure mode" of a strut is a leak. But the tolerance of the inner damper can be off jut a bit from wear to cause disturbing and enbarassing creakings. The upper rod that connects to the bump stop can become loose just a bit to cause the thumping. Your spheres may be the cause of part of this trouble especially if they are more than 10 years old.
Good luck.
Keep us informed.
Last edited by drcharlesatlas : 07-17-2008 at 09:30 AM.
Reason: add
Linear Mode
