boomie

Car was driving fine yesterday.

Today some weird whinning sound, whistling if you may or a cheap remote control car sound is coming from the engine. Its by the belts on the drivers side.

No idea what it is. It happens on when I give the car some gas, otherwise, there is no sound at idle. I did notice some oil or something coming from the engine bay. not sure what it is and if its related.

the last thing i want to do is get taken to the cleaners by the stealership.

55fanatic

if you turn your wheel does the sound change at all? I bet its the power steering resevoir being low

boomie

yes it does... but i see oil on the ground. Maybe there's a leak?

df666

The O ring in your Power Steering Reservoir is probably bad. I just replaced mine about 2 months ago. It's not too difficult, I believe it's recommended that the ring and res. be replaced together. I think it totaled around $45 +/-.

boomie

so thats what i've been reading...

where do i even start? i don't even know what it looks like.

dealer said its the PS Pump and tank. I told them to F*** off. Its a leak. I can see it.

55fanatic

PS pump will sometimes leak, most often then not its the resevoir

55fanatic

the oil you see is powersteering fluid...

ruey220

it won't sound funny when it cost $2k to fix.

df666

Before you let the dealer screw you, I would replace the reservoir and o-ring first. Again, it's not too difficult to do and you would eliminate one possibility.
The reservoir is a small black tank with a cap, just to the lower right of the oil cap. Also, make sure you use the factory power steering fluid. I've read on this forum as well as from some independent MB mechanics that it's the best way to go. Good Luck!

1ual777

I am having the same problem, does anyone know how to replace it?

ml320_2001

Materials list:

New Reservoir
Two bottles of MD Power Steering Fluid
One Seal
One "C"clip
One Large Syringe with a vinyl tube connected to it

Process:

1) Siphon out old fluid using a large "CLEAR PLASTIC" syringe, I purchased from a Farm & Fleet store here locally, by attaching a hose to it and pulling back the syringe plunger. Using the syringe will come in handy later as I will explain.

2) Remove old reservoir, "C"clip and seal. Replace with new reservoir, "C" clip and seal. $81.00 from MB dealer.

3) Fill reservoir with new fluid.

4) Jack front end with floor jack and block or use jack stands to prevent inadvertent lowering off front end.

5) Here is the important / critical step everyone has missed: Turn ignition key two clicks as previously mentioned being careful as to NOT START THE VEHICLE. Proceed to rotate steering wheel clockwise and counterclockwise 10 full sets. That is clockwise and counterclockwise is one set. Get out of the vehicle and syphon out steering fluid using the syringe and discharge the syringe fluid into a discarded water bottle . Notice the bubbles? Aha! Now. Pour in more fresh steering fluid. Repeat the 10 sets CC/CCL cycles. Syphon out the steering fluid with the syringe and notice more bubbles in the syringe. Replace with fresh steering fluid and repeat cycles until all bubbles are gone and not seen in the syringe. This insures all bubbles from the system have been purged.

What I noticed is that during the system purge, the bubbles in the Power Steering fluid never dissipated . In other words the bubbles stay in suspension -you will see them - in the syringe tube as you remove the fluid. You must remove the fluid, (and bubbles), and replace with fresh "UN-Bubbled" fluid between steering wheel cycle sets. If you do not, all you will be doing is moving the bubbles along with the fluid back and forth within the system lines never really purging them from the system.

This process took me about 2 hours. The steering is as quiet and as smooth as ever.


t28pilot

and one more story

Stromy
I hope it is not to late for you. I had my power steering go out and the resevoir would not hold fluid. After performing on-line research I found pumps for $350 to $600. A call to the local Advanced Auto Parts store found a rebuilt unit in stock for $198 plus a $50 core charge. Once I got it home I found an on-line service manual for about $25 at alldatadiy.com. $25 buys a one year subscription. It did provide the sequence of events to remove the pump. However it does not inform you of certain basic items, such as how to remove the belt or that the idler tension pully must be removed to access one of the pumps torx bolts. It does not tell you that the idler tension pulley has a tamper proof torx head fitting to remove the belt. Leave it to MB to not want to allow you to change your own belt. Discouraged after a trip to find a tamper proof T50 torx bit, I went ahead and removed the resevoir. Remove the engine top cover and one torx bolt (bottom left corner of resevoir), one hose clamp (return line on rear of resevoir) and one clip (resevoir to pump inlet, use thin wide blade screwdriver, place in notch and twist out) and the resevoir slides right out (about 5 to 10 minutes). Have a rag handy for residual fluid. There is an o-ring where the resevoir feeds the pump. This o-ring does not come with the pump. MB sells it over the counter for $2.50 (the next day of course). After a good cleaning and inspection of the resevoir, hose and the pump housing I tried the resevoir to pump o-ring first. Lube the new o-ring in power steering fluid (Dexron III, ATF), slide it on the pumps inlet port, insert the resevoir into its guides and reinstall the torx bolt secring the resevoir to the engine block. This will also push the resevoir in far enough to reinsert the clip that holds the resevoir to the pump. Insert the clip next. I had cleaned all the surfaces and wirebrushed the clip so it would go in easier. Due to the low pressure return line inlet placement it can be tricky to insert the clip. I used a 90 degree needle nose pliers to gain leverage and it slid in the first attempt. Reattach the low pressure hose and your ready to fill the resevoir. Per MB fill the resevoir almost to the top and turn the engine on for about 5 seconds and turn it off, check the fluid level. It should be low. Perform this process 2 or 3 times (I did it 3) before the level stabilized. I filled the level to the top line of the dip stick and started the motor looking for leaks. After a successful leak test I took it on a test drive. MB says to turn the wheel from lock to lock 30 times to push the air out of the system. Fluid may look frothy due to air coming up, mine did. Afterwards recheck your level and you should be good. If your like me return the unused pump. Total repair was $2.50 for the o-ring, $25 for the manual and $5 for fluid. MB uses Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) Dexron III for the power steering fluid.
One other thing to check, not found in the manual, the low pressure line runs through a cooler in the radiator. Trace the low pressure line from the resevoir to the radiator and check these connections. My bottom connection had become loose and was abount to come off. MB had a recall on the original hose clamps used at the factory. They may need to be replaced.

Or you can read this yourself

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w163...ng-pump-2.html

nrml430

You may also want to check the power steering hoses that run into the radiator. They are a recall/warranty work. The hoses are cheap and they breakdown over time. You MB dealership should change it for no charge (hopefully) I have had them replace mine twice. I have also had to replace the o-ring on the resiveour too. Just be carefull when replacing the o-ring when you yank out the c-clip that your pliers your using dont come back and hit the hose that runs from the coolant overflow to the radiator. It connects to the radiator by a plastic nipple that you can't fix. You have to then replace the radiator. (Just some extra advice from experience) Hope you get it fixed. And also do replace the fluid with MB fluid like someone said above its a mineral type fluid not like normal power steering fluid. Hope this all helps.

benzeboy

Check with your dealer. I just got a recall letter on defective power steering hose clamp and o ring.

ScubaJim

I purchased and still own a 1999 ML320. It was taken back to the dealer twice in 2003, again in 2005 and and now in Jan of 2010 for the lower power steering line problems. On two occasions it was leaking where it connects to the lower radiator and the other two for the hose blowing off of the lower fitting. Mercedes is aware of this safety issue and has repaired it for free with a little push. The cavitation or whine is caused by low fluid or a bad filter in the reservoir.

If the fluid level is ok look inside the reservoir while the car is running. If the fluid is moving fast inside the reservoir the filter inside is bad and causes air bubbles to get in the fluid because of the turbulent flow. This is what causes 99% the noise!!!

Before you spend any money buying an expensive power steering pump you may want to follow this advise. This an easy fix by getting a new reservoir, gasket, c clamp, and benz fluid which was about $60 from the dealer.

Hope this helps!!!!!!!

mailtomathomas

Left a note outI drive an 2000 ML320 and you do not need to remove the tension pulley. Just move it out of the way. There is a 17mm nut shape just to the left of the tensioner pulley. (Obscured by the belt. Place a wrench on it an push away from the pump and violla you can remove the belt and if there is a bolt behind the tensioner take it out as well. May be a little awkward but certainly better than taking the tensioner off. I think... Then again I am not mechanic and hate working on my car altogether. Man if I had only known before buying... lol... btw it seems as though MB intentionally changes the design components even in the same year models. Knuckleheads.

art_arev

Check the PDF's. Folow the part applicable to changing the reservoir. Bleed properly!!!

dklugherz

I read the post about a winning sound in a Ml 320 . I have one and it is whining and i can hear it whine through every gear, Transmission? gears case Front ,Back ? any ideas?

art_arev

Any Ideas?????
Havent you been reading the PDF's & the posts?
Not enough ideas?
Or maybe you prefer to be spoon-fed?