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that noise is embarassing

Submitted by new2w123 on 11 August 2007 - 9:33pm.
I'm a proud new owner of a 300D that has excellent maintenance records. I'm going to take a stab at describing it so I can take a stab at fixing it. I remember this old Saab 900 I once had, the freeway driving was terrible like I was going to loose control of the steering or something. That was the ball joints tie rod problem. Since this site is so excellent, I did my research and may be the rubber bushings for the problem? All i know is the steering is ok on the back roads but freeway corners suck. The shocks have been replaced but have no idea what is making this squeeky noise like when the car is in park or coming to a stop. I even sat down and the noice was there. I'm not sure if these two issues are connected in anyway. Possibly rotors who knows. One more question and I'll leave it alone, Does diesel automatic transmissions shift real hard in first and second gear. I don't feel it slipping just shifting hard. This transmission I have was built back in the 90's I believe. Currently im going on 283k! Any comments would be appreciated Thanks!
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Need a little more information

11 August 2007 - 10:05pm
Kent Bergsma
To better help you we will need to know the year of your 300D. As far as the squeeky noise, does that occur only when you are braking, or does it occur when you are turning the steering wheel?

Re: that noise is embarassing

12 August 2007 - 10:58am
new2w123
Sorry that would help. I have a 1983 300D turbo diesel. That squeeking sound happens randomly. It has happened when i turn the wheel and sometimes when i brake. But this is where it confuses me, when the engine is off in park with the parking brake on, when I get out of the car it makes the same noise. The only way to describe it would be to get out of a squeeky bed and the springs are still adjusting. I thought of course that it might be the parking brake, but that doesn't seem to be the case since it doesn't move.

I know that noise

12 August 2007 - 6:57pm
Kent Bergsma
I can almost guarantee it is going to be a worn and dry front suspension lower ball joint. Take your car to a good front end shop and they can confirm. This is not something you want to try to replace yourself anyway. Report back your repair results. Kent

back with results

13 September 2007 - 9:19pm
new2w123
Well I took my 83 300d td to a well known shop in San Diego, Wolf's foreign service. I have to say I got good customer service there, however I knew I would need to spend a bunch of money just by looking underneath my car. This is what was replaced: R+R Upper Control Arms, Inner and outer bushings, R+R Lower Control Arms, Inner Control Arm bushings, Brake reaction arm bushings, Left and Right side tie rods, Lower Ball joints, R+R Idler Arm, Idler bushings and lastly the steering damper. The cool thing is the guy Mike kept the old parts and showed me how bad they were. So 1400 later. I took it back after the first day because there was still a small bit of play with the steering. The mechanic tightened the steering as much as he could which felt nice and tight under 60 miles an hour. But you can feel the play on the freeway. The car also had an alignment. The mechanic said there nothing he could do without replacing the steering box? He showed me a diagram in his manuel that had the steering column and ball like figures. He said when the balls get loose thats what creates the play. He advised not to replace it as it might not completly fix the problem. I can live with the play I guess. Any advise?