Hey Everyone,

I've had this pseudo leak for a while which causes the power steering levels to get low every now and then. what happens is when i turn it on, it makes a "humming" noise when i turn the wheel and it gets worse.

When I top off the power steering fluid. I've brought it to the dealership 3 times under warranty, they never found any leaks and just recommended me to continue to top it off and said that this was normal. Their basic write up when as follows:

"customer states on cold start or if car sits... there is a whine/humming noise when moving steering wheel... found noise coming from P/S pump. refill power steering fluid and noise went away... could not find any leaks"

Now that my car is out of warranty, I've been taking it to this authorized independent Mercedes specialists (http://www.mitchcarr.com/)and they found the problem. Apparently, the seals that hold the power steering fluid have broken, but instead of clearly leaking. The fluid has been accumulating in the boots that cover the rack of the steering shaft. Once they punctured the boot, all the fluid that I've been topping off in my car leaked out.

The good news is that we localized the problem, but the bad news is that the seals in the steering rack are now damaged and the whole rack & pin setup has to be replaced. I was quoted at $2300 parts and labor included at Mitchcarr.

My car is currently at the dealership for a second opinion... and I'm playing dumb to see if they come up with a similar diagnosis. Below are pictures of my car being towed AND the boot where the power steering fluid accumulated.

Hopefully I can get the dealership to pay for this mis-diagnosis since it was brought to their attention under warranty 3 times (and i have documentation)

Hope this helps any of you who might have similar problems.

Abrahm

 

I think every dealer I have ever heard of is pretty horrible at repairs. Mine likes to fill the power steering fluid to the top of the reservoir, way above the max line which would possibly result in a similar leak. I've also had a bad power steering pump since my car was built - it made noise but not when you turn the wheel, so I couldn't tell which part of the belt system the noise was coming from. It took 2 years and 4 visits complaining of the noise before they swapped out the pump.

 

If you can document an existing problem that they couldn't find and repair while under warranty you can usually get them to fix it out of warranty.

 

If the rack boots fill with oil it's a rack rebuild. Internal seals are shot in the rack. We have commented on this numerous times.

Go back & be firm with the dealer. This was reported under warranty & they must come to the party.

 

I just had my rack and pinion and P/S pump replaced for 1600. The dealer quoted me 1600 just for a refurbished rack. Look around to try and find another quote from another place.

 

If you have to pay for this out of pocket on Rockauto.com you can get a complete rack and pinion rebuilt for 457.79 -125core. btw how long ago did your warranty run out?

 

hey thanks!

I'll look into that in case I have to pay for it. The quote seemed a little ridiculous. do you know the part number so i can search for it?

Thanks.

My car is 2 years out of warranty

 

do you still have the print out of that fix? maybe i can steal the part numbers for the rack and P/S pump off it. (is it the same for the m271?)

thanks

 

How far out of warranty are you? If you've taken it in multiple times, they should be able to reference that and repair it under "warranty."

 

no clue about oem pn but on rock auto it is 264005. i looked for your car 03 c230 and my 01 c320 and it was the same pn for the rebuilt one. go on epc.startekinfo.com and you can get the oem pn. to bad it was 2 years out of warranty i don't think they will help you out that far out but good luck

 

Get a parametric rack if you're gonna change it...

 

I talked to the MB sevice manager at my dealership and he does not want to cover it for the following reasons:

-my car is 30k miles / 2 years out of warranty
-the problem was document only as a "potential" leak under warranty
-(he thinks) there is no way a leak can persist for 2 years and only arise as a problem now because the compartment is pressurized
-he is saying it is a "wear and tear" issue even though a steering rack isn't typical

my rebuttal is:

-it was documented under warranty as a "potential leak" because the leak was never found
-i was misguided under warranty as the P/S pump fluid getting low as typical, and to top it off in the future
-i've been topping it off the past 2 years (3 times/year) and this is not normal

any advice so they dont blow this off as "wear and tear" and make me pay for it?

thanks in advance

 

sorry to say this but i don't think any dealer would goodwill even part of this because you are 2 years outside of warranty. that being said how long have you used that dealer and how well do you know your service advisor. also did you buy this car new from this dealer?

 

I would say the next step is to speak to the Customer Service supervisor at MB USA.

Keep putting your points calmly & quitely , & take up as much of his day as you can until you can talk him around.

I did here in Australia re being charged for a warranty issue & all was resolved.

 

Wow i really do hate the stealership... They always wait tell the warranty expires.. =((

 

+1 on going to MB USA. I did the same thing with Audi when a coil pack fried itself on the wife's Audi that was 2 years/15k miles out of warranty. They paid for the tow and replacement of all 6 coils.

My father had much the same thing happen with Audi 20-odd years ago when the transmission on his 4000 took a dump. He wrote to Audi USA complaining about it in general and the next thing he knew they sent a check for the cost of the replacement.

 

This is excellent advice - Why should you suffer through their inability to diagnose a problem. No car should continuously consume PS fluid.

 

BTW - Part numbers for LHD cars.

2034601100 001 L STEERING BOX ASSEMBLY
2034601300 001 L STEERING BOX ASSEMBLY PARAMETRIC STEERING

 

thanks for the advice everyone.

i called mbusa.com and made a claim and am waiting to hear back from them.

what is parametric steering? would this be instead of replacing the standard assembly?

EDIT: i looked it up... very cool. i wonder if any programming will be needed if i get it installed instead... hmmm

 

Parametric steering is - speed sensitive steering. Very light when parking but firms up at high speed. Fitting it is not plug & play. You need servo contolled valve & connections to the ABS/traction control - You need to do an inventory of all the bits you need. I'm not sure it will be cost effective.

 

ah ok... thanks for the info.

i think i've driven parametric steering before test driving a 335i...

going to talk to mbusa today and hope for the best....

 

Good luck!

 

I had the exact same problem but mine was fixed while still in warranty. Dealer charge to MB was also $2300 I believe.

It is not normal to have to top up power steering fluid. If its low, its leaking.

 

hey nick....

thats the same quote i received

maybe to help build my case, would it be possible to get a copy of your records for this fix? maybe if i can show that it is a commonly fixed problem... hinting at a potential defective P/S pump... it would help persuade them.

PM me if you have time.

thanks

 

no luck with MBUSA.com because its 2 years and 30k miles out of warranty... regardless of reporting the issue under warrant multiple times

the dealership, however, is giving me a discount to save me a few hundred... but its still gonna cost just under 2k for everything. very lame.

i have been in the middle of 2 big mod projects--new interior and full stereo/speaker upgrade. that has been put on hold because of this. i might do just one, or put everything on hold for a little longer.

i'm thinking of putting the car up for sale once its all fixed, but only for a couple weeks to see if i can get any decent offers. if not, i'll just keep it and continue with my projects and hope there are no more maintenance surprises after this.