With a close look, the human body and the Mercedes car share a lot of similarities. A discomfort at any part of the body, if not tended to, could slow its effectiveness and eventually lead to a breakdown.
Like the body, a differential failure in your Mercedes car will affect its performance, and if not rectified could lead to total breakdown. As the owner of a luxury car like Mercedes, you should understand signs that your car is experiencing a differential failure problem, and know the appropriate actions to take to continue having a smooth driving experience.
How Does a Differential Failure Affect Your Car?
A differential failure occurs when the gearbox responsible for distributing torque from the engine between the two rear wheels of your car evenly stops functioning. By doing so, it impedes the car’s ability to rotate at different speeds while turning. Thereby, affecting the car’s overall handling and performance.
There are various reasons your differential can fail:
- Inadequate lubrication: the source of energy of your car’s differential is lubricating fluid. With degraded or leaky lubricating oil and water, the differential loses its ability to reduce friction and causes tears on its gears, seals, bearing and other components.
- Careless driving: hard turning at high speed, forceful speed, excessive wheel spin, and instantaneous application of brakes can cause a change in the course of function of torque, leading to strain on differential.
- Overloading: going beyond the recommended load capacity for your Mercedes puts extra work (more heat, stress and strain) on the differential.
- Driving in extreme conditions and rough terrains: moving your car on bad terrains and bad road networks constantly puts work in your differential, leading to wear and tear of its alignment and gears.
Signs You have a Differential Failure Problem
The Mercedes differential is built to last forever, but when stress is mounted on it and its performance is getting affected, it cries for help by giving the owner certain signs. Some of these signs are:
- Poor traction and difficult steering: The first major observation you might notice in your Mercedes pointing out a failed differential is poor handling and controlling while driving. Your car would either pull hard to one side or lose when steering, especially when turning corners.
- Uneven tire wear: Wearing down your tyre is one of the major signs you need your differential checked. A malfunctioning differential causes the tyre to rotate at wrong speeds, leading to fast internal layer tear of the tyre compared to the external layer and sidewall damage. It could even go as far as big chunks of your tires getting missing.
- Fluid leaks: The gear oil in the differential is responsible for efficient lubrication and temperature check. Leakage around the rear of your Mercedes, especially near your differential can only mean one thing – your car’s lubrication is in danger and differential gear friction is increasing.
- Unusual noise and vibrations: You know there is a problem when your vehicle starts making strange noises and vibrations. Although, noise can be caused by a variety of automotive problems, high-pitched whining, humming, howling, clicking noises and consistent grinding around the rear wheel is call of distress from your Mercedes’s differential.
- Overheating: When your differential is overworked, especially when carrying heavy load or functioning at a high speed, it overheats at an unbelievable rate. Frequent overheating is a sign that your differential and gear ratio needs checking.4
Where to Repair your Mercedes’ Failed Differential
To complete the cycle of knowledge on your Mercedes’s differential, it is important to know the best auto mechanic workshop that understands, gives utmost care and provides the best services on your car according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
At Dieters Motors Sport, our excellent service for over 60 years has made us the go-to auto service provider to car owners in San Diego. Car owners in surrounding areas like Coronado, Chula Vista, Downtown San Diego, Mission Valley, and Point Loma have also entrusted us with vehicles and enjoy excellent service.
With our experienced mechanics and years of working with Mercedes cars, we understand that your vehicle deserves a special treatment, and that special treatment is what you get with our 24 month/24,000-mile warranty on repairs. You can be guaranteed of high quality service when you bring your car down to us.
