ctravis595

after my abc pump sprung a leak i decided to swap the factory hydraulics to a coilover setup. i got impatient in waiting for a new abc pump to come around at a decent price (considering i only needed it for power steering i was cool with a used one) and started driving the car on the coilovers with the leaking abc pump. i ordered a bunch of pentosin fluid to make sure the abc pump didn't run dry and ended up going through a couple hundred dollars worth of the stuff lol. after i ran out of pentosin fluid i realized that the suspension fluid resevoir would run dry, but the power steering still had a good fluid level and the power steering functioned as it should.

ive put about 500 miles on the car since the hydraulic resevoir ran dry and have not had any loss of power steering or anything like that. being the paranoid person that i am, the idea of losing power steering during a high speed turn kinda bothers me, but so does replacing a power steering pump that still works?

im curious as to everyones experiences as to the moment the abc system ran dry (since so many people sprung leaks in the system and let it run dry). am i going to go out to my car one day and the power steering doesn't work all of the sudden when it starts? is the power steering going to gradually die? is the power steering going to go out while im driving the car? could this power steering pump work for some time to come? i figured within a few minutes of running the pump dry of fluid that it would stop working. but something to do with the fact that theres a low pressure side and high pressure side is keeping it functioning(at least for power steering). thoughts and experiences welcome!

ctravis595

since the coilover conversion and the paranoid thoughts of losing power steering while driving came about i've actually started driving with my hands instead of my knees (for those of you that are preparing to talk about safety) so dont waste your finger strength as you can see my opinion on such matters

OCKlasse

I would imagine a W220 non-ABC power steering pump would work...might be worth investigating.

They're cheap enough to try...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...ering&_sacat=0

Could sell your old ABC equipment for decent money.

ctravis595

good suggestion. i had a conversation with the owner of the company that designed my coilovers and he mentioned some shop in texas had successfully swapped the abc pump to the p/s pump from the s class, however he was unaware what other parts needed to be switched out.

if someone that knows a lot about the power steering assembly on the s/cl knows what exactly i need to do then it can be done and i would love to make a write up with pictures since this seems to be a desirable thing to do to these cars in the sense of reliablility when the abc pump goes out and people don't want to have to replace it consecutively

i doubt swapping out the entire steering wheel assembly would be something i would do...i however do not think it is simply plug n play. i could be wrong though!

ctravis595

i also was considering keeping all of my abc hardware (minus the faulty pump) as i could see myself wanting to have the option to change back to a hydraulic set up

however i wanted to start taking this thing on the highway to do some interstate traveling but the unreliability of the abc system would make me more paranoid each mile i was further away from my home (5 dollar per mile towing from AAA after 5 miles lol) so maybe i'll go back to hydraulics when im done using the cl as a daily driver/long distance driver

bluto

How does the car handle now with coilovers?

And how much did it cost to convert it?

Which company did it?

Sounds good for people who have abc meltdowns.

tusabes

Yes can you please post the company who made your cl coilivers and their cost? My cl has been sitting needing abc repair but I'd rather do a conversion

awiner

See: https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...-pig-here.html

mf219

I followed the above thread as well- here's a quote "you never really realize how heavy this car is until you take off the active suspension. the car tilts in turns and during accel/braking like any other car over 4000 pounds but you dont know it with the abc." that's not to mention the problems he has with the power steering pump. I wouldn't do it- just my 2 cents worth

ctravis595

oops forgot to hit send when i replied. coilovers cost about 1400 usd, then theres another 200 usd chip to remove the abc warning light but im not sure if i want to get the chip in case i switch back to hydraulics in the future. my power steering is still working flawlessly despite the fact that the abc resevoir dipstick is dry and i stopped putting fluid in weeks ago

in my opinion, i've greatly increased the reliability of my cl. i get paranoid about things like my suspension whenever im more than 100 miles away from home. its good that my abc went out while i was in town rather than the other side of the state where i was planning on being at the time ironically. now with a reliable suspension, i'm more inclined to let this beast stretch its legs across interstates like v8's are built to do. with hydraulics? i doubt i would even leave the state

ive also read countless stories of people having multiple abc problems after the first occurence. it seems some people either have a flawless system or they get the usual 60-75k mile abc hose/pump failure. to be honest i have a strong feeling that this pump wasn't the original that came with the car either...

albeit the hydraulics are second to none, the reliability issue was not ideal for a daily driver

the beauty of the entire thing is i can order a new abc pump and throw my hydraulics back on and voila. there is a quick disconnect for each strut which makes the swap pretty straight forward, although two people are required at some points

ctravis595

depends what your problem with the abc system in particular really is. if its a matter of the valves/hoses/struts which is the case for a lot of abc problems, then your current p/s pump should still function. mine has completely leaked out all of the fluid on the high pressure side and i haven't had any issues yet

i drive very aggressively, fishtailing a few times a day from stops and hitting triple digits multiple times a week racing anything with anything bigger than a N/A 6 cylinder for example and i believe the car still handles well. the springs are very high strength (they honestly look like they belong on a diesel truck). in some aspects i prefer the springs as they seem to take small bumps easily where as the hydraulics sometimes seemed too stiff (i have 20's though). for the average person, the coilover conversion is the way to go as far as reliability and daily driving, if you drive your benz like you stole it then you're obviously going to prefer the hydraulics. but i bet you'd prefer to drive rather than not have your car on the days i guarantee it will be in the shop for your future abc investments