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6.9 Position of rear leveling valve arm

Started by daantjie, 24 October 2019, 08:14 PM

daantjie

Hi guys

In the interest of not leaving well enough alone ;D  Was checking out the 6.9 today and noticed that the rear leveling valve arm is not @ 0 degrees in the "ready to drive" orientation, which struck me as odd, seeing as the front valve has the arm at precisely 0 degree orientation to the ground. 
Eyeballing the rear arm I would say it is about @ 20-30 degrees from the horizontal pointing towards the ground level.

I would have thought that both arms should be halfway between the "F" and "L" points, thus halfway between emptying and filling, no ????  Unless I am overthinking this as I usually am, but it does seem odd to me at least.

Also while I was down there I looked at the bracket holding the connecting rod to the sway bar, and it is mighty rusty and cruddy, so I was wondering if the bracket could have shifted orientation over the years?

Any folks care to weigh in?

Cheers
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

TJ 450

It should be yes, should being the key word. 😉 I'm assuming this is with the engine running. A few thoughts, is the arm aligned properly? If so, this would suggest the valve might be faulty or the system is not operating at the right pressure (bypassing valves?)

Is the rear drops and doesn't rise again you will know there is definitely a problem.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

daantjie

Thanks Tim. Valve operates perfectly in all the dash knob settings and holds pressure too so on the face of it I think the valve is good. Just the arm position that seems weird.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

TJ 450

See if you can take a pic next time you're under there for comparison.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

daantjie

#4
Thanks Tim.  I was able to take a hard look at all the linkages.  The bracket connecting the push rod to the sway bar was slightly bent, so I took it off and straightened it out on the bench.  Still not 100%, and of course these brackets are NLA :'(

But I cleaned it all up and repositioned the bracket on the sway bar, and now it is almost @ 0 degrees, much better ;D  It always amazes me how these seemingly rudimentary solutions have quite fine adjustments and can actually effect quite a large change if all is not lined up properly.

Cheers
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber