W126 Benz Oil Spec and Other Questions

[Citroënbender]

Time and WD-40 prevailed; as I slammed the door in disgust at 3PM today the arm suddenly dislodged. That’s 21 hours under massive tension. I think it would have been dangerous to attempt out of the chassis as you could then only get the preload with an impact and they aren’t generally best friends with puller threads.

I set the steering centre position with my modified stop bolt, it showed up the lash in the input side - whether it’s wear in the worm, the ball guides, insufficient preload - whatever, it was disappointing. Similarly, setting the output shaft preload was a bit futile because the torque was highest about 60° either side of centre, then fell away as centre was approached.

Pitman arm is back on for keeps (I hope!) and I took the contentious step of applying a little Würth CU-800 to the shaft splines. If nothing else it will help keep moisture out.

Drained PAS fluid looked suspiciously like Dexron, and smelled like it. I’m going to see if D-II or D-III are widely accepted as suitable.

In chasing suspension fluid over the counter, I tried EAI first - no dice - but they suggested Silver Star Spares. Can’t seem to avoid dealing with them! Tomorrow I’m chasing a few copper washers that are needed for accumulator replacement, and prepping the coolant transfer pipe for re-painting after rain spoiled its topcoat last time. At this rate, oil change may happen Sunday…

Also a snippet of shop humour, my occasional colleague wondered aloud who made the ETC bulbs as they never blow - would nail the headlight globe market if they tried. And we discussed whether Würth might sell “ABS & Airbag Tape” being a thin matte black tape one applied to cover a persistent fault light for the purpose of passing registration.