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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / January 2006Curse a local Council / bumps
Went over a speed bump in London in my CLK Cab the other day, a bit too quickly for the suspension. There was a bit of a clunk and the rear head rests popped up in their role as roll bars. Thought nothing further of it, happy that the roll bar mechanism was successfully tested... I was just going to wait for the end of the holiday period to drive to my usual Merc garage to have the head rests reset (the raise/lower switch is deactivated in such circumstances). A couple of days later I noticed a pretty massive oil leak... After driving a few miles over a couple of days, using maybe 5/6 litres of oil and leaving puddles in several places, I finally made a connection between the bump and the leak. Had the car taken away on a flat-bed, just in case. Yesterday's diagnosis: cracked sump. Three hundred-and-something quid plus 17.5% VAT. Lot of money but not worth claiming on the insurance. If I could recall where it happened I would consider suing the local authority. Grrrrr. Would not have happened in our 190E, with which I can drive over most bumps at 25 mph. Grrrrrrrr. Just venting... Anybody had a similar experience? Can we start a mutual-commiseration-and-moaning-about-stupid-speed-bumps society? DAS  SignatureFor direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- Dori, was the CLK lowered? >Went over a speed bump in London in my CLK Cab the other day, a bit too >quickly for the suspension. There was a bit of a clunk and the rear head [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > >DAS No. Standard config. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- > Dori, was the CLK lowered? > [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] >> >>DAS You got a 208 model? If so, you can lower the headrests yourself. Once they've popped up in an emergency operation, hold the raise/lower switch in the UP position for approx 10 seconds (engine running). This releases the safety locks. Then lower as normal. If it's the 209 shape (new model) then you have to reset them as described in the owners manual. It's the same if the roof is open or closed. > Went over a speed bump in London in my CLK Cab the other day, a bit too > quickly for the suspension. There was a bit of a clunk and the rear head [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > DAS Yes, 208. Thanks for the tip. Shall note for future. At this time the workshop is resetting the head rests, since the car is there anyway. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- > You got a 208 model? If so, you can lower the headrests yourself. Once > they've popped up in an emergency operation, hold the raise/lower switch [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] >> >> DAS I checked with the garage why they charged me something (half-hour labour) for the head rest reset and why they used a notebook computer. The first tech adviser had not heard of the simple reset method, but the second, to whom I spoke a few days later, had. It seems that with a gentle trigger of the head rests they reset the simple way and don't charge, but if it is a bit of a thunk they check the electronics, hence the charge. Looking through my records I found that this pop-up had occurred before over a year ago, something I had completely forgotten. DAS SignatureFor direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- > You got a 208 model? If so, you can lower the headrests yourself. Once > they've popped up in an emergency operation, hold the raise/lower switch [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] >> >> DAS I have a new shape CLK55 . I've never had a problem with speed bumps, but I am an owner/driver :). To be honest, my LWB A-Class used to give more trouble over speed bumps than the CLK. That's one of the (many) reasons why I got rid of it. If the sump's cracked, it's cracked. Sooner it's replaced, the sooner you can get back to riding around with a clear head. Work should be complete this week, depending on parts availability. As an aside, I had the car taken away by the RAC (Britain's second-largest motoring/break-down organisation) rather than by Merc under Mobilo. Under Mobilo they would have sent me a bill for GBP 180 if the fault turned out to be driver-caused. As I thought this might be the case I took the RAC option. Merc garage confirmed that this was the sensible choice. (I only maintained RAC membership because of the old 190, but it has just paid for itself for several years...) I am also due a hire-car for three days but I don't need a car at present and I would not have anywhere to park it, and getting a temp resident's permit from the Council is too much hassle...easier by public transport. (In an emergency there is always the wife's.) I hope the RAC thanks me for that! If the LWB A Class gave you problems it suggests that the suspension has been lowered or otherwise significantly altered on all models. As I said, in my 190 I drive over the bumps quite quickly. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- >I have a new shape CLK55 . I've never had a problem with speed bumps, but >I am an owner/driver :). To be honest, my LWB A-Class used to give more [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > If the sump's cracked, it's cracked. Sooner it's replaced, the sooner you > can get back to riding around with a clear head. > Went over a speed bump in London in my CLK Cab the other day, a bit too > quickly for the suspension. There was a bit of a clunk and the rear head [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > DAS I sympathize; a couple of years ago, I was driving my '99 SLK at 30mph on a city street in Chicago, and as I drove over an "overpass" (the street forms a kind of bridge, passing over a group of train tracks below) and came down the other side of the incline, I drove right into what we call a "pot hole" -- they often result from freeze-thaw cycles, when water gets into the pavement surface, freezes and breaks it, then a truck or other heavy vehicle does further damage, leaving a hole. I blew a front tire, and then had to replace BOTH front tires because I was told that they needed to have an even pattern of wear or I would have problems with steering the car. Also not significant enough to be an insurance matter, but not cheap, either. >>Went over a speed bump in London in my CLK Cab the other day, a bit too >>quickly for the suspension. There was a bit of a clunk and the rear head [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > problems with steering the car. Also not significant enough to be an > insurance matter, but not cheap, either. In the Uk there is an epidemic of measures to slow down or otherwise inconvenience the responsible motorist. People who drive fast in built-up areas generally ignore these measures because their lack of responsibility extends to the car they drive. I have frequently observed roads that are in a bad state of repair being re-surfaced - then having speed bumps put in them that lowers the general driving experience to be worse than it was before the resurfacing. Another trick by the Councils is to ban parked cars (a natural traffic calming feature) and then to put chicanes or bollards or other bizzare entities that do no more than emulate the original parked cars without the convenience of a parking facility to the local residents. |
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