[diesel_mercedes] Clink , Thump , OH ~ SH*T ! [2 Attachments]

 
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Shirley and I were driving up the I-405 freeway this morning when I heard something go 'tink' as it fell loose then it bumped the bottom of the car as it went under neath , then the steering wanted to make a sharp left turn .

Good thing we were in the slow lane going  50 or so ! .

The left end of the sway bar is attached to the upper control arm (Mercedes don't use ' A-Frame' suspensions) by two hard rubber donuts , two washers and one bolt ~ apparently the bolt had worked loose and fell out , the sway bar was only in the control arm 1/2" Max. , had it popped all the way out things would have been very bad indeed .

I was able to take the next exit and stopped in a petrol station , grabbed my flashlight and looked under the car and saw what you see in the photos except it was further apart ~ it slipped back into position @ home when I jacked up the car , blocked it and took off the wheel .

I was far from some , drove *very* slowly to Shirley's house , let her off and called good old Tom Hansen (my white knight in shining armor) and left him a message I needed all six sway bar bushings , I plan to change the two on the firewall as long as I'm in there .

This is a heavy job and I'd planned to let Victor struggle with it but as I was pre cleaning I thought about it and might tackle it my ownself , I have the tools (coil spring compressor etc.) and have so far done all the front suspension repairs on my old Metropolitan Nash that has ' killer ' coil springs , this Mercedes looks less dangerous .

(Mets have super long and strong coil springs , if they slip off the compressor , they'll simply rip you head off , not good)

I think I'll sleep on it and decide to - morrow or next week when my new parts arrive .

I want to shampoo the entire under car as I haven't for a year or more , plus I noticed the front brake pads are getting thin so I asked Tom to toss new pads in the box along with bushings , washers and bolts .

Maybe I can find the Mercedes E.P.C. again and get it to work on this computer , anyone have a link to it ? .

-Nate


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[diesel_mercedes] ! BOING ! [1 Attachment]

 
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That was the sound I heard when I rolled up the window on the '82 240D .

The regulator let go , the swadjed pin that holds the coiled tension spring ripped out .

I ordered in a new one from Eckler's and it's not very good quality , cheaper , thinner metal and redesigned to reduce manufacturing costs .

One of the threaded 6MM holes looked O.K. but stripped as I attempted to tighten them all down , not a insurmountable problem , I simply added a 6 MM nut to the bolt where it stuck through .

The entire job start to finish only took about two hours , maybe less .

Normally I dislike internal door repairs as they're always so fiddly but either Mercedes makes easier to work on doors or after 50 years of practice I'm getting the hang of it *;) winking .

Photo attached to show the new and old lifts , you can see the spring pivot pin is off set on the old one from ripping out .

399,8XX miles on this car , I guess it was time but I'll prolly go looking for a new German made original one , maybe at The Classic Center or on E-Bay DE .

-Nate

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