tw2

Still waiting for the flatbed to arrive, luckily only 30mins from home coming back from holiday. Are the transmission and power steering systems separate? There is a lot of oil leaking out. I will pull the covers off and take some photos later on.

tw2

Part of every good holiday! The fluid is very watery looking. No CEL, braking and acceleration were fine but these cars are unbelievably heavy to turn without power steering! I think the smoke was the fluid going all over the exhaust. It has coated everything from the radiator fan to the engine sump, transmission sump, the plastics underneath and even some on the exhaust around the diff area.

tw2

What a mess. Pretty difficult to tell where it came from. Even as far back as the exhaust merger is covered in it.



This side is relatively cleaner.


This side it extends all the way into the wheel.


I was suspecting this join but not sure.


Most of the hose I can see looks intact, no obvious splits but I would need to remove it to be sure. Unfortunately removal looks like a difficult job. The power steering reservoir is empty. I think I am going to have to buy some more fluid and see where it leaks from. It came out in a hurry while driving so it should be easy to pinpoint with the car in the garage and no undercovers on. The WIS suggests that it only requires 1 liter to fill the system. This seems like a very small amount, is this correct? Now to find some Pentosin CHF 11S.

mrbobby

The power steering and transmission are separate entities. Your problem would seem to be power steering pump related. With luck it is only a hose which can be replaced relatively inexpensively. AMG's are never easy to work on as there is so little room left after AMG has stuffed all the "go go" stuff in every available nook and cranny. You are lucky in that the undercarriage looks like new. Obviously no salt from winter driving. I wish our cars here in Canada had the same luck. Good luck on the repair.

Dimitri

Had this a month ago, went to my indy guy. He found that it was a hole in a power steering hose from a rust. The bill came to 550.

Rudeney

Once you get the leak repaired (hopefully it's just a bad hose), then you'll need to refill and bleed the system. DO NOT start the engine or operate the pump until this procedure is completed!

Lift both front wheels off the ground so that you can easily turn the steering wheel without resistance from the tires. Note that your car has a center jack point - a large rubber block protruding from the lower engine cover. With a proper low-profile jack, you can lift here and then place jack stands under the normal jack points behind each of the front wheels.

Fill the reservoir to the full mark, then repeatedly turn the steering wheel fully lock to lock while observing bubbles in the reservoir as the system bleeds. Be ready to refill the reservoir so that it does not go below the minimum level. This means you will likely need a helper to turn the steering wheel for you. After about twenty steering cycles, the bubbles should stop and the level should remain constant. The system has now been properly filled and bled.

Patton001

If it was just a hose yes, bleed the system. If the pump went bad you will want to flush the system well to get rid of the metal shavings that will be in the fluid. If you don't you will just be doing the job again in the not to distant future.

tw2

Yep it doesn't get too cold here, never snowed anyway so no salting. I figured it would be the same as a CLK500 since its essentially the same block, just some bigger brakes etc around it but you are correct, there is very little room anyway.

Thank you very much for the fantastic advice. I will hopefully be able to get some more fluid today. I will top up the reservoir and cycle the steering wheel. Hopefully this will show where the leak is. Otherwise I guess I will have to fully bleed it and start the car in which case I presume it will shoot out from where the leak is.

I think this must be a hose or fitting failure to occur so suddenly. How would I know if the pump is ok? Just if fluid drips out of it? I will give this a good go before going to the Indy.

Patton001

Hope you find it is just a hose or something. When my pump went it happened very quickly. I just heard a little noise and since I was close by I drove straight to my indi. By the time I got there (just s few miles) the pump was vomiting fluid all over the place.

tw2

Luckily it looks like it is just a hose. The pump has no fluid anywhere near it and the rack looks good also. I put the car up on jackstands and refilled the reservoir. For anyone else doing it, if you fill the reservoir until the fluid is right at the top, you can turn the steering wheel all the way to the right and then all the way left without running dry. It needs to be done at least 6-7 times if the system is fairly empty. Of course you might need to drain some out with a syringe later to get it to the appropriate cold level.

Anyway here is the leak. I didn't need to complete the air bleeding to find it.


There is a small hole on the top. I have no idea how this could have happened but it is the only place it started to drip when full of fluid again.


Hopefully this is the rubber jack point you were talking about Rodney. Unfortunately to remove the hose I need to remove this whole hardline which goes all the way to the pump and rack.


There is a inverse torx bolt in here, I'm sure it will be very accessable


And the line needs to be removed from the pump via the banjo fitting. Are there any new gaskets or procedures needed to reseal this once I hopefully put it back on?



I read in another post people have had hydraulic hose specialists crimp new hoses on. Is this the best approach? I am guessing a whole new line would be very expensive. Thanks everyone for the help so far.

Rudeney

I think that's the pressure hose, and it's surprisingly affordable:

https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fuse...5-%20Liter-GAS

Even if it's the return hose, it's still not terribly expensive, but it probably would cost less to have a local shop press on a new hose.

And yes, that is the proper center jack point.

As a temporary fix, you might be able to take a piece of hose that can be cut and placed over the leak, then held on with hose clamps.

tw2

I am fairly confident it is the lower return hose. Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to have that shipped very easily and I assume RHD/LHD are different. Mine doesn't look quite like that, it loops around the back to go to the other side of the car below the engine to the other end of the steering rack (right hand drive).

I am slightly embarrassed, this is very ghetto thought but I am almost considering cutting the hose before the hole and using a barb fitting to join a new hose piece on. It was good enough for mercedes on the other end (hose with a hose clamp rather than a proper crimp). Also brass appears to be safe to use with power steering fluid. It would save all the trouble of trying to remove it and disturbing who knows what other seals in the process. I would like to replace the whole hose but it is still supple, not cracked or dry and seems in very good condition.

Rudeney

Oh sorry - I didn't check your location to see that you couldn't order from parts.com. I think that proposed fix is worth a try.

Patton001

You can have a new hose built fairly cheaply by anywhere that makes hydraulic lines.

tw2

No problem, all help appreciated. The Pentosin fluid was $60 per liter here. Just for fun I asked how much the power steering pump was. It is $1800 ex- Sinapore. So suffice to say there was no way I would be getting new lines from the dealer. At least if it was the pump I could order it from parts.com and have it shipped to a forwarding address.

I picked up some crush clamps, 3/8" ID power steering hose and a barb hose connector. I got it from a hose specialist who does everything from hydraulics, brake, clutch lines, everything. They said they can easily crimp new hose onto the hardline but again that would involve me removing it which I don't really want to do unless I have to. They also said don't buy a BMW as they have aluminum pipes which cannot be re-crimped.

Here is the hole causing all the trouble!


Hose and connector


They said this stuff would be more than adequate for the high pressure side let alone the return line.


The small amount of original hose is now the weakest part. If there are any more problems there will be no option but to remove the whole thing.


Hope this helps someone.

Rudeney

So that seems to be holding? Great fix!

betrezra

Great fix. Not ghetto at all. Worm gear clamps and al tube would be ghetto.

tw2

Thanks. Filled it up and bled it last night. No more leak. Just have to start the car to check under pressure and then clean the mess. Is power steering fluid corrosive like brake fluid? It seems to evaporate easily which is helpful.

Rudeney

Power steering fluid is not corrosive.

tw2

Thanks heaps for all your help. Car is running perfectly, not even an atom of fluid leaking. Still burning off some of the mess on the exhaust I couldn't wash off. Total cost including tow is probably about 1/4 of what I think I would have paid at the dealer.

faran

Now this is 'Science'. Awesome Fix

TechSuperstar

160k mi and I just found I have a leak coming from between the reservoir and the pressure hose. I was planning on just buying the gasket part #0004661880 but wondering if I should replace the whole hose (which is starting to look a bit old). I see others on here getting holes in their hoses so is the failure rate high enough that I should do this? I'd rather not spend the $200 for a hose unless I need to.

Also, any help with DIY steps here?

Thanks

tw2

I would replace all of it if you can afford it. Otherwise at least the reservoir which was pretty cheap online. Just check the hose isn't too difficult to remove. That's why i didn't take mine out. It would have taken a week and required a lot of other things to be removed.

TechSuperstar

Thanks Tw2. Ya, I'm not sure of the work involved in changing the hose either. Of course the top end at the reservoir would be simple especially if changing it also but not sure about the other end. Looks like I'd possibly have to get under the car.

tw2

Yes you will definitely be spending a lot of time under the car. You will probably have to remove the crossmember and maybe other braces to get to some of those hoses. Not any easy job.