steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

Sun 26 Jan 2003 15:41

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - CountryCousin

I have just had an MoT at 47k miles and have been cautioned that there is excess play in the front wheels which though not yet an MoT failure will require the lower ball joints to be replaced within 5k miles. I have never had this before in any previous (cheaper) vehicle despite running to much higher mileages. Does anyone know if this represents an expected failure due to wear and tear or is there a quality issue here? What sort of bill should I anticipate?

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Sun 26 Jan 2003 16:33

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - Phil I

If you are not the first owner I should suspect the mileage on this 4/5 year old motor.

Happy Motoring Phil I

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Sun 26 Jan 2003 16:39

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - CountryCousin

thanks Phil I - but I know mileage is genuine. Has always been utterly reliable and enjoyable so far with no big bills.

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Sun 26 Jan 2003 18:38

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - lauriew

Wear in lower ball joints is a common problem in most cars. Sometimes easier(and quicker) to change lower wishbone arm complete.
PS You havn`t fit alloy wheels by any chance?

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Mon 27 Jan 2003 14:57

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - Cliff Pope

I'd get a second opinion before doing anything. MOT testers are not infallible, and I have several times had the wrong component highlighted.

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Mon 27 Jan 2003 17:47

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - Dizzy {P}

Agreed, Cliff.

So far as I can recall, the only time I've had a car actually fail the test on a lower ball joint was over 30 years ago on a Sunbeam Tiger. Back home, I couldn't detect any play in the ball joint so I simply cleaned the area around it and took the car for a retest. The tester checked the ball joint and pronounced it OK!

That's not to say I've never known lower ball joints to wear. I renewed them on the Triumph 2500 as a matter of course during the restoration and one of the old ones had a bit of play in it, though not enough for an MoT failure. I also used to routinely replace or shim the lower ball joints on the Morris 1100s that I bought and sold for pocket money - they were very prone to wear.

I certainly wouldn't expect to find wear on a five year old MB with only 47k on the clock. Or maybe I would, seeing how the once great MB reliability has taken a plunge in recent years.

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Mon 27 Jan 2003 20:26

steering ball joints on 98 Merc E300TD - Simon Templar

It is not unknown on modern M-B cars for ball joints to fail as early as 30k(Exeptions rather than the rule).
Mine failed at 56K, I put my case to Milton Keynes,in a reasonable & practical manner & they responded with a goodwill sum that took the sting out of the cost.
I have no knowledge of the cause, i.e, defective manufacture, poor materials etc. but I have my suspicions.
Simon T.

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