Hello,

I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe with just under 90 000Km, around 50 000 miles.
Yes, that's not a mistake. It's my summer car.

So it was making a noise when cold while turning. Sort of like a vibration that went away once it got hot. Reading posts reporting similar issues I decided to replace the steering fluid. It was probably original, so it was due anyway after 11 years. So I grabbed a container of CHF 11S, jacked up the car, drained the fluid as best I could and refilled it.

I actually read a very informative post on this very forum, but for a C320. The difference was thatI had to turn the steering all the way left and right what felt like 100 times to bleed the system.

Here is how I bled it. Filled the reservoir until I hit the mark. I then turned the steering wheel until the level dropped. Repeated until it stopped dropping. Then I turned the engine on but it was noisy and the fluid was foamed up.
I shut it off after say 10seconds and continued to bleed until itstopped.

Here is my problem. With the car jacked up it doesnt make any noise.But under load, while driving, itmakes a noise. Slighly different than before but stillnoisy.

Do you guys think I ruined the,pump by causing cavitation? It only ranfor seconds but it was noisy and foamed up.
Or did thenoise persist because CHF 11S is notfully compatible with theoriginal fluid. Other users seem to say it is.

I would appreciate any ideas.I willalsowatch the level and continue to fill and bleed.
Thank you

 

Update

After driving the car today and adding a bit more Pentosin, the noise seems to have disappeared. I will continue to monitor both the noise and the level but thankfully, it seems to be OK now.
It took a lot more full turns of the steering wheel than described in other posts, maybe 50 overall, but at least I hope it's fully bled now.

 

happened to my car, just keep driving it under load it will bleed in better