Got screwed, now I need your help

[hans moleman]

I was suggesting that unless you are prepared to spend Real money on lets say a "re-manufactured" box with either carefully re-machined internal components or new internals(which would be very costly indeed), then the only other option would seem to be a resealed unit with perhaps some new needle bearings. The seal kit from Autohausaz is about $20 right now so with labor and perhaps some bearings I still feel anything over $500 dollars is an awful lot of money. I think that a "re-manufactured" unit would be a consideration for only a relative minority since the cost is nearly as much (or more) than some rebuilt trannys and at least here in the states the value of a w116 even in very good condition is not especially high.

I ended up salvaging the bottom bearing retainer replete with 3 new seals and seemingly good needle bearings from my "re-man" and popped them into my original box. A small adjustment to the allen yielded ~2x the effort approaching center from either side(choosing to err on the side of loose). I don't have super high hopes for this box but the car will not be covering much mileage each year and I don't have the money to spare for a more expensive fix right now. Since I have a worn box for comparisson I can see that anything with that much ware is not servicable.

[Squiggle Dog]

Not good news... though the rebuilders say that all worn parts are replaced. Either they are lying, or they only reuse parts that have little wear, or perhaps they remachine them, or there is a source for replacement parts besides the dealer for less money. I guess I need to start pulling boxes from low-mileage cars when I see them!

[jbrasile]

Hans, to have a trully rebuilt box you have to spend a lot of money, no questions there.

Re-sealing of course will fix any leaks and replacing the bearings will definitely be a good idea since the box will be apart anyway and the original kit is not that expensive.

I am not even sure the so called "rebuilders" know that you can actually replace the gear and sector. As far as I know there is no alternate source other than MB to get the proper parts so I wouldn't say they are lying but no question that saying " ALL WORN PARTS"  are replaced is not entirely accurate...

Tks,

Joe

[hans moleman]

I remember reading the same thing about "...all worn parts are replaced", I think since we are all adults here we suspect that only the consumables are rejuvenated and not any of the core hardware otherwise there couldn't possibly be any profit in it. For my $220 I figured the guy was grabbing reasonably good cores and doing a reseal with bearings. Squiggle, if I could get my hands on some junk yard boxes I would grab them and reseal the pick of the liter, there is a fantastic tutorial on the procedure here. If I bough another refurbished unit then I would ( as others have suggested) go with a C&M from autohausAZ or a local vendor ($$$).
http://www.davidpetryk.net/Mercedes/Steering.htm
I only have 100k on my car so I really should have just removed my old box and re-sealed it, I made a poor decision and it cost me.

[s class]

In my experience, used boxes have pretty poor odds of being OK.  I once did an excercise at my local specialist MB breakers, and examined 50 (pretty sure it was 50 without exaggeration) steering boxes from W116, W123 and W107.  I attempted to adjust all of them with allen key and 19mm spanner.  Out of all of those, only one appeared to have useful life in it, and a second one was a 'maybe'.  The rest were all bascially scrap metal. 

W126's seem to fare much better because their boxes are an upgraded version with spring loaded wear compensation.  This means that they are always correctly adjusted, and don't suffer fron 'chatter' (which seems to be a major culprit for wear).  I have resealed a few high mileage W126 units and found that in all cases, a central high point could still be identified. 

[WGB]

I adjusted my 450 box (186,000 miles)and could only get at the adjuster by physically removing the box from the car.

The 19mm locking nut was so tight that even with the box removed from the car I had to use considerable force to loosen it - so my offset spanners were a total waste of time with the box in the car.

It adjusted up fine and I have a possible positive theory about V8 steering boxes

- Although the V8  is heavier and the box probably has to work harder the fact that it is almost impossible to adjust on the car might preserve it from heavy handed "Mechanics" who may overadjust and cause premature wear.

?Is it possible to fit a 126 box to a 116?

Bill

[Big_Richard]

How does one tell if their box is worn ?

Ive had mine resealed at great expense but as far as im aware all metal parts are original.

When driving at 110km/h its a little bit vague in the dead ahead position, not so much as to be dangerous but enough to make you aware its a 30+ year old car compared to my daily driver.

I just ticked over my first 10,000ks in 8 years yesterday. The odo now shows 330400k's so id assume there must be some wear.

[koan]

When driving at 110km/h its a little bit vague in the dead ahead position, not so much as to be dangerous but enough to make you aware its a 30+ year old car compared to my daily driver.

That just about sums it up. I've had two steering boxes in my car, both have been adjusted several times to try and fix the vague feel at straight ahead and as any 6.9 owner will tell adjustment is a pain because it can't be done in place.

I bought a third box which I think is in better condition than the other two but rather than waste my life installing it and then being disappointed I bought a new piston and steering shaft. I was going to work on it today but discovered the Febi brand seal kit is missing a couple of 6.9 specific bits, and one of the flat roller bearings is missing a roller which I can't find so have to get a replacement.

koan

[Big_Richard]

I'm not gonna loose any sleep over it. Given how little i drive the car i can probably leave it as is forever without it getting any worse.

[Squiggle Dog]

Well, I am up at 1 AM losing sleep over it. I can't believe how horrible parts availability can be for crucial components such as steering. My roommate can get a complete rebuild kit for his 1960s Ford steering boxes for $200, and that includes the gears and other metal parts.

No wonder people think Mercedes are expensive. Your steering box wears out and you have to spend $4,500 for a replacement that isn't a cheap reseal job, and you have to spend $2,000 for the door and windshield weatherstripping unless you buy the aftermarket weatherstripping that doesn't fit right and starts to dry rot in two years.

[Squiggle Dog]

So, apparently there are "quick ratio" steering boxes available as well, which have me very curious: http://www.carpartswarehouse.com/addtocart/1980_Mercedes%20Benz/300SD/Power_Steering_Gear_Box/82-00116.html#. I wonder if it would be an improvement over the normal ratio steering boxes. I also wonder how they make them quick ratio. Do they install new shafts and pistons to make them so? Or, do they use the shafts and pistons from other boxes? I wish I could find a place that sold them with new or remachined shafts and pistons.

[Big_Richard]

this topic has me curious.

curious enough to boot my epc server, i feel i need to cross reference part numbers.

[hans moleman]

I was also wondering if the w126 box can be fitted to our w116's. When I was a mechanic I recall replacing a lot of steering boxes for one reason or another. The re-mans that came in looked great and had new seals but never really impressed me with the steering feel. I think steering boxes tend to wear a lot faster than steering racks due to the forces seen at the shaft and cylinder, the cylinder and sector shaft have something like 3-4 teeth machined into them that rotate back and forth constantly plus the shaft is connected to the pitman arm which gives the necessary travel but multiplies the forces seen at the shaft and cylinder. A steering rack would be the best solution but would be tough to fit, my Volvo 780 has 320,000 miles on its rack and it still has excellent feel where as my brand spank'n new Ford E250 van has only 5000 miles and the steering has already loosened up a bit.

[Big_Richard]

according to the EPC, the new replacement shaft and piston parts kit is the same in all 116, 107, 123 & ALL 126 UPTO A CUTOFF production number. I'm guessing if there ever were any differences, they've been deleted and are now all the same. LATE w126 steering boxes have a w126 specific part number for the kit.

It doesn't even list there being a difference for LHD and RHD versions, which i swear is BS as i recall seeing a photo showing the 2 versions as mirror image. Unless the new replacement kit is universal...

SO in theory, an early w126 box could be used for spare parts to rebuilt a w116 box.

[WGB]

Thanks MT - but does anyone know if a complete late model 126 box will fit.

Bill