[lesm]

Hi ! Can anyone help me come up with a real solution. My wagon started to ride like I was riding a horse... real bumpy, The immediate solution was (as anyone would recommend) to change/replace both accumulators. After having them removed, one of them was actually damaged... made evident by the fact that a screw driver will completely slide in into the hole (that's what my merc mechanic told me as a quick testing method for accumulators) . It then gave me all the reason to get new air cells. After fitting the car with new ones, it still had a hard and bouncy ride.

I would refuse to take the excuse that the new accumulators I bought (febi brand) are defective. What other tests can I do to check if the problem is because of other things ?? I was told to change the shocks but I am taking that option as my last resort for two reasons (1) they don't seem to be damaged as there are no signs of leaks whatsover, and (2) they're very expensive to consider right now and it may not really be the cause of my woes. I would like to check all possibilities before opening up my wallet.

The ultimate question right now is: Is it accurate to say that the only reason for a bumpy ride is a worn or damaged air cell and nothing else ? If that's the case, then can i conclude that I bought malfunctioning air cells.

If anyone among you had this sort of nightmare and solved it, PLEASE HELP !!! I terribly miss that benz ride like anything.

Les

 

[augapfel]

I have 2 1988 300TEs. The accumulators have been replaced on #2 to fix the harsh ride that you talk about. I've never heard of any other fix for the problem. I *have* heard that the only reason to replace a hydraulic cylinder is leaking.
The bellows seals around those cylinders on both my cars are shot so you can see the polished rod inside and both cars ride fine. The bellows are not sold separately so there isn't much I can do to solve that problem.
My initial thought for your situation is that there's air in the system but I think that would cause a soft springy ride, not a harsh one.
As hard as it is to believe, it sounds like you got bad parts. Or maybe they're counterfeit parts that look good on the outside but don't have all the proper guts?
When I installed new front struts and associated parts on TE#2 last weekend I was disappointed to see that the febi strut mounts were made in China. This was not at all reassuring to me...

 

[lesm]

Thanks for the feedback. That's reassuring that it isn't the rear shocks. Let me bleed it tomorrow to get rid of air in the system. Or better still, let me flush out the oil to make sure its clean. I'll let you know if it improves.

I was also thinking of having some heavyweight friends sit at the rear seats and in the baggage compartment to check if it levels by itself. I haven't loaded up the car in a long time anyway so let me check it out too. In the event it sags without leveling back to its normal height, that means the leveling valve is worn out. Will that give me a rough ride ? I hear "thud" sounds from my rear end every time I get over speed bumps on the road you know.

Have a great day !!!

 

[124via126]

hey lesm, did you find out the problem?

 

[miekie]

Definitely the air cells

 

[netrun]

The manual suggests putting 200Kg in the trunk area and drive around for a week to get the air out of a system with new accumulators. I put four tires (with rims) in there and called it good.