changing bushings and power steering fluid, coolant questions

[redc36]

well yesterday at the mechanics after lifting the car we noticed that my control arm bushings are gone. my mechanic suggested its easier to change the whole arm but the arm cost 250$ versus 45$ for 2 bushings.

my question is can u change the bushings only meaning is it reasonable or like a 5 hours job? do u need special tools that only mb has? do u need to take the whole control arms and wutever else goes with it like springs shocks and stuff like that

we also attemped to change power steering fluid and filter but i left it for later b/c i didnt wanna change just filter but fluid to but my mechanic said there is no clean way to drain the fluid. do we just disconnet one of the hoses and let everything run out all over the cables underneath it. what is the right way?

last question, does MB coolant come premixed with distilled water or do i need to get distilled water separately? is there anything special to know when changing coolant. i am doing this b/c of coolant gauge going up when idling. seems like common problem for MBs. i am going to do thermostat too at the same time. any help would be really appreciated.

thanks
Rejus

[Andrew C280]

are you talking about ball joint i just had mine replaced last week, if you talking about control arm bushing you will need a shop press to install them its not to hard if you have proper tools you will need a spring compressor and you will have to disassemble the entire stearing or rear end link setup to do the job, as long as your control arms are not bent you should just replace the bushings. I am also having a problem with slight over heating what is you temp that your consered about? thermostat opens at 87 as long as it dosent exceed that there is no problem
replaced mine makes no difference

[redc36]

Yeah its control arms bushings. so which way is easiest to change them?
Ball joints were ok.

[redc36]

ohh yeah about thermostat
mine while driving stays around 80-85. minute i stop jobs to 90. start driving drops again. once i was idling for 15min-20min and it got to 90 and i was expecting for it to drop after a while even though i was standing still but it was crawling higher almost to 100 and i said heck it i am moving now. guess what started moving and temp drop. now in NYC at this point i am ok with that but in the summer when its 80 degrees out there i am sure it will take only a 1min to jump to 100celsius so i rather fix stuff now then later

[Renn 208]

To answer your last question, MB coolant does not come premixed, so be sure to mix it with water first.

[redc36]

anything i should be aware when changing coolant? is it straight foward job on C36 1995. can someone post me a run down.

also do these cars have like a pollen filter. i think air should be blowing a be stronger. pollen filter might be dirty.

[Renn 208]

If the procedure's different on your car, perhaps an Irwan or someone else can correct me, but on my car, it's pretty simple:

1. Remove belly pan

2. Find Coolant drain knob on the corner of the radiator

3. (semi-optional) if you don't want a mess, hook up a piece of hose to the coolant drain nipple

4. open up the coolant drain knob

5. if you want to be thorough about it, turn on your front windshield defroster, but DO NOT TURN ON the engine.

6. when all is drained, close up the drain knob and start adding your coolant/water mixture to the coolant tank

7. when things seem pretty full, turn on the car and turn back on the defroster, rev the car for about 5 min and let the coolant burp with the cap off.

8. Add water as necessary, both after the burping, and after you've driven around for a bit

Voila! Coolant changed.

[redc36]

thanks
just to clarify in the post 5:
dont turn on the engine. do i leave it completely off or turn the key to position one. i know its a stupid question probably but how does it affect the drainage if the car is completely off meaning no key in the ignition.
thanks again

[J Irwan]

Renn

The procedure on flushing the coolant is the same ;)



redC36,
now about the control arm bushing I hear ya..

I am having the same issue, but I you don't need to change the whole control arm.

You will need shop press machine to take it the old ones out and put the new in..

And disconnecting the front lower control arm doesn't requires you to disassemble the entire stearing or rear end link setup to do the job.


If you can wait, I am still waiting from couple sources (some members of this forum) for polyurethane control arm bushing.. (that's the only reason I still haven;t replace my torn bushing yet) which supposedly firmer/stiffer which will improved the handling and yet should last longer..


Regardz,

[Renn 208]

Originally posted by redc36
thanks
just to clarify in the post 5:
dont turn on the engine. do i leave it completely off or turn the key to position one. i know its a stupid question probably but how does it affect the drainage if the car is completely off meaning no key in the ignition.
thanks again

there are no stupid questions if you're trying to get it right the first time.

The key position is only important in that the defroster needs to be turned on. Why turn the defroster/heater on in the first place? Because the heating system is an aux cooling system for the engine, and will contain some of the coolant. Turning on the heater/defroster opens up that part of the circuit to get a full drain.

[redc36]

by any chance do u know the prices on those stiffer bushings? stock ones are 43$ for 2. NY streets a horrible especally right now after the snow. will stiffer bushings make everything else rattle more because they dont absorbe as much vibration. maybe on the smooth road they r beneficial not on NYC pothole roads :-)

Do u have steps for taking out control arm. obviuosly if they need to get pressed in the whole arm has to be out. i am just trying to visualize it whats gonna be left and so on.

do these MBs have pollen filter? where is it? is it difficult to change it?

[Rocky]

Don't forget to change the brake fluid every 2 years.

I did the lower control arm bushings last year. PAIN in the ASS! I helped change it with my mechanic (since I use to work in the shop) and we had to fab a special socket type tool to remove the bushings. Real pain in the ass. I fabricated one out of old wheel bearing hubs. Took a hour just to find the parts to fab a tool. MB has a special too that takes off the bushing in like 10 min.

[Andrew C280]

I have a manual I will look when I get home tonight and see if there is any information or diagrams, dont take any offence to this but if your not a mechanic or haven't done any work on cars, I wouldn't attempt it. For the cost of the part and 5 hours of labour i would let someone do it who has done it before, i was installing my alarm and droped a screw down some where it turn a qucik job into a dismantle of the interior. just a thought,

pm message me and i will send you and diagrams and instuctuions

[redc36]

no offense taken. the reason i am asking is b/c my mechanic is really a good guy and works on a lot of cars but hasnt worked on MBs. i simply wanted to collect as much as possible info to help him do the job as easy as possible the right way.

Now about the tool do u know the part number for it? cause it seems it would be some much easier to do with that tool.
how much would a dealership charge me to change the bushings.
cause my mechanic will take probably like 150$ to do both sides plus 90 for stock bushings which i will order + as i am realizing now for my own benefit a MB tool.

if its similar price at the dealer then i will do it there.

Yeah i did forget the brake fluid damn. will have to buy it soon then.

[Rocky]

The dealer will charge you an arm and a leg for that tool, that's if you can even order it.

$150 and $90 for parts is CHEAP. Don;t forget an alignment after you change the bushings. Might as well change the ball joints as well.

[max2105]

When changing the coolant, in addition to draining the radiator, you must also drain the engine block. There's a silver color fitting (seen from undernieth the car) on the back of the block that can be loosened and the remaining coolant in the engine block will drain.

[max2105]

The easiest way to replace the power steering fluid is to open the canister, suction the old fluid with a turkey baster, and refill. Do this procedure several times (3 or 4) until the drained fluid is clean. I do it, drive for a couple of days and repeat the procedure until the fluid is clean. Also, towards the last drain, remove PS filter and replace with new one. They're very cheap (less than $3.00).

[redc36]

well i stopped by my mechanic and here is the update on bushing prices. for 300$ he will do all 4 bushings and ball joints. obviously i need to buy parts myself. is this a good deal?

will definatelly try power steering procedure.

now i didnt listen to u guys and put 0w30 synthetic oil. now my valves seem to sound louder meaning ticking noise when idleing. once u revvit up it goes away. should i immidiatly replace oil with thicker on or wait until next oil change?

[moebiusgold]

First, you should have used 0W-40, not 0W-30 and the only oil out there that is that viscosity is Moble 1 (that I know of). The C36 engine is mechanically noisey and it will be louder than than 99% of the other engines out there. The valves should not tick at idle. My engine has piston slap at idle and kinda sounds like a diesel. Again this is normal. I would change the oil ASAP and not use the engine hard until I did. You will find out that to change the ball joint you have to buy the upper and lower control arms. These control arms come with the Bushings installed. I have not heard of ball joints going bad, just the bushings. And 99% of the time it is just the rear lower ones. If you provided the bushings and $300 included a proper 4 way alignment, the price would be OK. I think that I would be looking for a different mechanic.

[redc36]

thanks for the advice moebiusgold
u right bushings that went bad were lower rear ones. since the kit u get from importec includes a set of two for each side i believe i figured i'll just get all 4 done.
Again u right with balljoints. they are not bad but as preventative maintenance mechanic recommends i change it. but they way it sounds if its not bad it is not worth the extra trouble just save the money for now
well i hope 2 days of 0w30 will not ruin my engine. this morning i am out to mobil station to get my oil changed. hopefully they have that damn key to unscrew the cap and stop trying to use wrenches

anyone one a good mechanic who works in NY area

[moebiusgold]

Whoa, if the oil change place doesn't have the proper socket for removing the oil filter cap I would be finding a different place to go. A couple days new oil, even if it is the wrong stuff, will still be better than unknown old oil. Just limit the WOT in the meantime.
Good luck and happy motoring.:D

[redc36]

Its Better than AGIP he was using before i hope

[jlomon]

Hi red36,

I'll answer a few of your questions that seem to haven't been addressed. First of all, with regard to the temperature, your thermostat should begin to open at about 87 degrees, and will be fully open at 102 degrees. So the temperatures you are seeing are well within the normal operating range. The reason that your temperature goes down when you start moving is because the water pump is now moving at a faster speed, which then moves the coolant through the radiator faster, which allows for better heat exchange. Not to mention the fact that your radiator, getting more airflow because the car is moving, is able to more efficiently remove the heat from the coolant. Your auxiliary fans aren't even set to come on until 100 degrees, so I wouldn't worry about the temperatures you are seeing. If I get stuck in traffic after a run on the highway in the summer, I've seen my temp go up to almost 110 degrees. I don't know what you drove before, but for me it was an Acura. The temp gauge would just go to the middle and stay there, no matter what was happening. My mechanic explained to me that the Mercedes gauge actually provides useful information about temperature, as opposed to most other cars where it just tells you when the car is about to overheat. Maybe you are used to the same sort of thing. It took me a while to get used to it.

Second, $300 US for the lower control arm bushings sounds like a good price to me. I had that job done last August on my '94 C280 by a dealership who made the mistake of quoting me 3 hours labour because they felt they could get the old bushings out with a press. They had to use an air chisel and 6 hours later the job was done. Because I had a written estimate, they had to eat 3 hours of labour at $100 per hour. I still paid $700 Canadian (about $530 US) for the job, but that included the alignment as well. And you *will* need the alignment because the control arms will have been removed from the car.

You'll be amazed at just how much better the car feels with the new bushings. I replaced those, the lower ball joints (which cost me about $225 Cdn with parts and labour) and the steering shock, and now I see how a Mercedes is *supposed* to feel. The steering shock is an easy DIY job. It will take you longer to get the car jacked up than it will take to replace the part.

Jonathan

[Andrew C280]

hey I emailed you the shop manual instruction for removing and replaceing the bushings if you still interested in doing it your self, my suggestion is to let a mechanic do it as some one said above the manual quotes 3 hours for the swap but if you run into problems it could take you more time and you could possible break something or snap off some bolts, if the mechanic dose it its his problem.

[redc36]

Thanks Jonothon
finally i get piece of mind about cooling issue. I had a e36 325 before and it used to stay in middle so did my VR6 golf cause it was mexican made but a 95 vr6 passat that i had used to fluctuate too but damn it u could hear fan come on and that used to annoy me. I simple hate when the car is hot cause when u floor it and let go it feels like its breathing hard. I feel like a truck when i let go of the gas like all the fans where on and now they r taking a big breath to relax at lower rpms. i love driving my friends 2000 audi s4 cause damn those turbos make u forget all the breathing problems. havint raced him yet but probably i will loose but who knows. u see i am used to manual trannys and this is my first auto. all i know when i floor it at 60 it seems to pull but if i do it at 40 forget about it. until rpms get to 4500 my car feels like a cow. i with it downshifted more. maybe cause i drive slow all day and then floor it once in a while it is still in some osrt of comfort mode or something. i dont use shifting like from 2 - 3 - D cause i dont know how will it affect tranny. but can i be driving 40 and shift the lever to 2? i know in the manual it says 2nd gear is up to 70 or 76 but is it good to be doing that. i know a lot of u might feel wut am i doing asking silly questions but i need to know cause i love my car and this is my first auto.

thanks again

[redc36]

thanks for the email . pics are awsome. i sent u a reply