[W126 Coupe] RE:Front Left Noise

[Sam Sisic]

Jack,
I had a similar issue... 
What it turned out to be was the shock absorber lower bolts were loose
and one sheared off, hence the shock absorber was clanking against the
swing arm.
I had just had the shocks and springs replaced by a reputable shop,
however the mechanic did not torque the two bolts properly. It can
happen to the best of them especially when they use those stupid air
wrenches, they have no "feel" for proper torque and if the bolt is
cross-threaded in there or not.
The infuriating thing was that the mechanic accused me of making his job
more difficult because I tried to cut a slot in the sheared stud so I
can extract it to replace the bolt.
I couldn't do it, so I rigged a couple of muffler clamps around the
shock absorber base and the swing arm so I can drive it from Chicago to
Detroit where I had the work done.
It worked very well as a temporary fix... Needless to say, very
disappointing!!
As the group mentioned, it could also be any number of things down
there.
You just need to get under there and poke around.
Chances are, it's one of the things you had recently replaced or a bad
bushing...
Let us know what you find.
Sam


Message: 1
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:38:52 EDT
From: XKEOTS at aol.com
Subject: [W126 Coupe] Front Left Noise
To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com
Message-ID: <3bf.73b7b67.31f7b12c at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi SEC Heads!

I need a little input please.
My 1989 560 SEC is making a loose noise in the front left when hitting a

decent size pot hole.
It almost sounds like one of my shocks has a loose bushing but it is a
brand 
new shock or something has worn or wearing out.
I feel it in the steering wheel too. My wife tells me that I have a
problem 
as she can't hear it (but that's a woman with no car knowledge) but I
do.
I recently changed the wheel bearings, all of the tie rods & ends, the
center 
link and the center shock.
It doesn't happen on a normal smooth road or small bumps.
Where should I look?

Thanks
Jack
1989 560 SEC
1980 450 SL