I have a dust shield behind my back right brake disk that is touching and going swish swish swish swish, really annoying, had this fixed ages ago and it’s back, took it back to the garage today thinking since they have charged me for pulling a rusty bit of rim off previously they will probably do it for free, bout 20 seconds into my delicate negotiation it appears not, miserable bstds, swished all the way home again.

Anyone know if a Subaru Forrester has dust shields that come off from the back? or is it a hub off job?

I had this problem, I just bent them back into place.

Just bend it back as mols says.

Nothing wrong the jersey, it was the tights…

You had to go there, didn’t you… [shoves breakfast away]

I had this problem, I just bent them back into place.

I had a mechanic do that when it was in for a wheel bearing, came back, then had another cut a rusty bit off it when it was in for an mot, still there, I think there is something stuck down in it.

Mol’s car….

That’s molgrips going to negotiate his warranty.

Took it into Mercedes, cos Trade Centre Wales thought it needed a software update. However Merc let me demonstrate the problem to the mechanic (which TCW wouldn’t do), and he heard and felt the rattle and agreed it wasn’t right. He also agreed it could well be engine mounts.

So apparently I’m not imagining it!

We’re waiting…

Stirrer…. 😃

Merc said engine mounts a strong possibility but they couldn’t diagnose it in the hour they had that was being paid for.

I bought some mounts anyway, and it’s obvious that the one in the car that I can see is about 2cm lower than the one in the box even when I load it up by standing on it. So quite confident now that they need changing.

I jacked it up to have a go myself but on this car the steering rack needs dropping. Not too bad because it’s electric so can simply be unplugged and removed, and it’s on the bottom of the engine. But you also have to disconnect the steering column and I couldn’t see how to do that, so I gave up, remembered my promise to myself and I am going to book it in later. I doubt I’ll get any money out of TCW.

Haynes manual not available for this car.

Haynes manual not available for this car.

Phew! What a relief… 😁

Oh, I don’t know.

I was quite looking forward to photographic evidence of the “…and simply remove the steering rack” bit 😂

Have you done the engine mount test thats on youtube?
Still think your rattle on switch off is either the echaust heat sheild or orp on the alternator packing up

I bought some mounts anyway, and it’s obvious that the one in the car that I can see is about 2cm lower than the one in the box even when I load it up by standing on it.

Typical dry weight of a 2.0l Diesel Mercedes engine is north of 160kg without ancillary parts, so yeah, you probably wouldn’t see the same result.

Yes but that’s 160kg over more than one mount…..

Have you done the engine mount test thats on youtube?

Yeah, inconclusive. Most tests are about showing up total failures, but it seems that these can just deteriorate without a major failure and my mileage is about right for this to become noticeable.

Yes but that’s 160kg over more than one mount

Yes which is 80kg per engine mount, assuming the gearbox one is taking the gearbox load, and I weigh a bit more than 80kg.

Still think your rattle on switch off is either the echaust heat sheild or orp on the alternator packing up

Yeah it sounds like a heat shield or something but that’d be making a sound based on excessive vibration, which would be caused by something such as engine mounts. There’s noticeable vibration on idle and you really can feel the whole engine moving when it starts and stops – the heat-shield rattle is in addition to that.

Hmm, quoted £450-600 by the specialist, parts and labour. Ouch.

Time to get the spanners out then Molls.

Don’t forget to post plenty of pictures 🙂

£600 gets you a car that you enjoy. DIY get’s you a car where you’ll continue to worry about.

£450-600 by the specialist, parts and labour.

You know what the parts cost, so you can estimate how long they think the job will take, and if that’s significantly longer than what you thought was involved, there must be a snag somewhere.

£600 gets you a car that you enjoy. DIY get’s you a car where you’ll continue to worry about.

This ^^. Although it’s only £400 cos the parts I bought were £200. And that’s the high end estimate, might only cost £250. They won’t fit my parts, but there’s a no-fee return policy.

You know what the parts cost, so you can estimate how long they think the job will take, and if that’s significantly longer than what you thought was involved, there must be a snag somewhere.

Well I couldn’t find parts in any of the usual places so I went to Autodoc, they’re Lemförder and I think they came from Germany. The specialist get them from Merc so at least we know they’ll definitely be right, and they’re a bit more expensive but not alarmingly so.

It seems that trying to buy OEM parts elsewhere can be a bit of a grey area. OEM shocks for the Passat were apparently made by Sachs, so I got some Sachs from ECP and I cross-checked the part numbers printed on them from Sachs’ own catalogue for the car. However when fitted they were much firmer even compared to the car when I got it so they were clearly a different spec.

There will be differences in those that are made for the OEM & aftermarket as they need to recoup the lower price the OEM forces on them.

I used to work for a Tier 1 OEM supplying Rover; Land Rover; Jaguar; VW. It was at the time BMW just bought Rover & BMW were going through the parts catalog comparing Rover to BMW pre-acquisition supplier prices. If a company supplied the same item to both, they wanted to know why the Rover price was higher and what retrospective credit they could expect.

Suppliers would cut prices to premium marques so they could boast they are a Tier 1 supplier to BM/Merc/Audi etc when chasing business from lesser brands and load their price/change quality to recoup the cost of working with the fancy marques.

@molgrips ECP Sachs parts are totally different to catalogue spec, I had someone from Sachs UK tell me that when I enquired about springs for my bus.

Ah this is good news, if Mercedes say £600 it should be £100 or so at a a normal decent garage, result.

There will be differences in those that are made for the OEM & aftermarket as they need to recoup the lower price the OEM forces on them.

So my Lemförder parts might actually be a better bet than the ones from Merc?

if Mercedes say £600 it should be £100 or so at a a normal decent garage, result.

No, it’s £450-600 at the indie specialist, using parts sourced from Mercedes.

Hmm, quoted £450-600 by the specialist, parts and labour. Ouch.

How much!!!! Do it yourself, what can possibly go wrong……

How much!!!! Do it yourself, what can possibly go wrong……

do you want him taking your car to be to bits?

do you want him taking your car to be to bits?

For comedy value on this thread? Yes, absolutely.

Yep – we’re only on 16pages. This Mercedes death rattle still has potential to overtake the Brexit/Trump threads.

@squirrelking – now when you say bus, do you mean Dub or similar, or do you mean Bristol VR or AEC Routemaster? 🤔

I dunno what sort of comedy you’re expecting. I’m not a bad mechanic.

I think we’ll be the judge of that Molls.

Get taking it apart and post plenty of pictures 😉

We know you are a decent mechanic Molgrips – but you do have a propensity to take on the wrong task at the wrong time.

Its lighthearted joshing not character assassination.

Only thing I’d say is see if you disconnect the rack and move anything can you reset the steering angle sensor or is that a Star job.

Other than that I’d say crack on.

Just make sure you can get a hoist or at least a good trolley jack in with room to jiggle the block. I doubt you’ll need much

Got any pics of the new mounts? Are they just on m12 bolts?

I dunno what sort of comedy you’re expecting. I’m not a bad mechanic.

I think it’s the timing of things that is comedy – I half expect you to undertake a Haynes 5spanner rating job on the Merc the day before you move house/take wife in labour to hospital/go on family staycation etc

Only thing I’d say is see if you disconnect the rack and move anything can you reset the steering angle sensor or is that a Star job.

Hmm good point. The official Merc instructional video on YT for this car doesn’t mention it, but I’ll have another search.

I think it’s the timing of things that is comedy – I half expect you to undertake a Haynes 5spanner rating job on the Merc the day before you move house/take wife in labour to hospital/go on family staycation etc

That’s fair. It’s the kind of thing I’d do. And have done. However it’s the other way round this time. I need the car on the 15th and the garage could only fit me in on the 14th. This way I have way more time.

It’s happening anyway. Managed to get the low profile front end on the ramps with the aid of some blocks of wood.

TJ has it 100% molly – this thread always brightens my day! Kettle’s on and fresh packet of rich tea opened 😀

How do you feel about live streaming Molls?

We need pics