superfast

Hi there, I have a question regarding to the infamous MB ABC system. If I just flush the old fluid out by having the return hose in a large bucket & keep filling the reservoir w/ the engine running until I see clean fluid comes out then replace the filter. Will this be sufficient w/o doing a rodeo as it would require a computer? How fast does the fluid drains with the engine running? I have an 02 CL500 with new pump, valve blocks & hoses installed about 2 yrs ago. The car is great. No sagging at all at any corners even if I let it sits for weeks but every now & then I've got the ABC message when I started the car up but the message cleared up after I shut it off & re-started again. I've checked the fluid level & it's at the correct level. My indy told me the fluid is clean & no need to flush but I'm thinking about flushing it as a preventative maintenance so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Btw, if I decided to flush the ABC, wouldn't be wise to flush the PS at the same time as well? Thanks for your inputs in advance.
John

awiner

Yes, that will work. Just make sure not to let the reservoir run low or air will be ingested and the rodeo process will be come necessary. I generally do this every 30,000 miles as well as a pickup filter filter change.

The power steering fluid doesn't get too dirty. It wouldn't hurt to renew the power steering fluid but isn't as important as keeping your ABC fluid clean. the ABC fluid really gets used with the temperatures and pressures as opposed to the power steering fluid which stays pretty clean. The power steering pickup has a filter too.

superfast

How fast does the fluid comes out of the return line? Just wanted to make sure so I can prepare. Do I need to raise & lower the car during the procedure or the fluid will circulate as long as the car is running? Thanks Awiner.

superfast

Btw, have you ever seen the ABC message at start up once in awhile but then cleared itself (No Message) after a re-start? Is this considered normal?

awiner

I use a 5 gallon bucket. The fluid will come out steady and it helps to have a helper sitting in the car to shut the engine off in case you cant keep up with the filling of the reservoir.

If you raise and lower the vehicle during this process the fluid return will be faster. I would recommend raising and lowering several times during this process to help fully purge the components.

if you car sits long enough to "sink" due to valve block bleed by, you will encounter the ABC too low message. Upon raising the vehicle the msg. will clear. That is really the only ABC warning you should get under 'normal' circumstances.

superfast

Thank you very much Awiner.
John

PB617

I'm kind of in the same boat here. I picked up my 04' CL500 back in May with 28k miles. I know the ABC pump was replaced back in 08' @ 19k miles. The car has always been very well maintained and garaged. I currently have a little over 31k miles on the car and i don't have any sagging or ABC messages being displayed. The longest i left the car sitting was for 8 days and there was no drop at all.

So i'm sure once the pump was replaced back in 08' the ABC fluid was changed also. Since then the car has had only 12k miles put on it but it has been 4 years...i've been thinking of doing a flush and changing the filters. If anything for preventive maintenance and to keep the ABC system clean. Should I do a flush ASAP??

lloyds

I need to do this myself, car has now started sagging front left side after 24 hours, is the return line the one on top of the reservoir going into the filter housing held in place with the hose clip. If this does not work I will have to rebuild the valve block

awiner

Yes.

lloyds

thanks awiner I will run 10 liters through it tomorrow

lloyds

Well had to wait until today to do this as local MB dealer prices for fluid where a bit to high . So I got 10 liters of Pentosin CF11 for £86.00 of EBay, less than halve the dealer price. Flushing was so simple. First I syphoned out all fluid from the reservoir via the main filter hole after removing the filter. This hole is a lot better than trying to use the dip stick hole. I then refilled it to the brim with nice clean fluid via this same hole. Started the car and had my wife use the suspension button whilst I kept the level in the reservoir up. Ran 9.5 liters through the system and now nice clean fluid through out. The fluid drop in the reservoir was quite easy to keep up with using the bigger hole whilst changing, just keep the return line in a nice FLAT large container as the return line is not to long and space for a bucket is limited. Install new 3 micron filter, replace return line, do a test drive, recheck level and clean up. Total saved over stealer price approx. £750.00 So if you have a spare 1.5 hours I would recommend this bit of preventative maintenance.

fspider

You know what, thanks very much for that lloyds. I shall remember that, dam shame you never included pictures to.
Anyway as I said, thanks

superfast

Lloyds, did the flushing take care of the sagging? Let us know. Thanks.

CL 500

My car also sagged 20 minutes after parking, i read all ABC threads hoping its not bad pump or valve block, last week i was cheking on ABC fluid level(dip stick)and i added maybe 2oz pentosin fluid and closed the cap and drove about 1 mile and the "ABC problem drive carfully" sign lit up, i pulled over and looked under the hood to find out i have not closed the cap properly and lots of fluid was lost (unconventional Flushing) so i replaced lost old fluid with fresh new fluid and drove again... the ABC sign gone the car drives fine and the car is not sagging anymore, lift it parked for a week.... no sagging.... like magic
Good Luck!

bluto

How much Fluid do you guys use to fully flush the system.

And wheres the cheapest place to buy it in bulk. I can only find 1litre bottles at $30NZD a bottle - not cheap if using 10Litres.

CL 500

I only replaced what I lost from not closing the cap properly
About one and a half can(1.5 ltr) Got it from the local auto parts store $22 a pop

lloyds

Hi superfast
I don't know as I decided to remove and clean the front valve block also just to be safe. Quite an easy job really(detailed instructions here http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230...aning-diy.html) took about 1.5 hours to do. I have left the car for 6 days now and no more sagging.
Bluto you could get away with 8 liters. I bought 2 x 5 liter bottles from ebay for £85 total.

owen powell

I need to add ABC fluid to my 2003 CL55, but yet I cannot find any leaks. I park in the same spot every day, and cannot find even a drop on the ground. This has been going on for over 2 years, so I doubt the fluid is accumulating in a "belly pan". The amount is about 1.5 liter per year, so basically I am topping the system off monthly. Any ideas?

awiner

You would be surprised how much fluid the pans hold.

I'd recommend dropping the pans, and having an unobstructed view to looks for leaks.

Also, check your hood liner in the area (there is an indentation) where the ABC tank is. Sometimes the system will purge fluid out of the overflow hole in the rubber ABC dip stick top. If so, your hood liner in the area will absorb a lot of the fluid.

Use a white paper towel and rub over that area on the hood liner. See if it absorbs anything on it.

owen powell

Thanks for the ideas. The hood liner is clean, and I lowered the pans today just to be sure. I also am getting a single "ding", along with a barely legible blue ABC warning message. I say barely legible because it appears only for a split second, usually going over a bump. In fact, it took me duplicating it in my driveway just to figure out which message it was

biker349

i believe it's either the pump, or possibly a strutt. you need to get codes, or you'll be spending big money on parts you may not need.

owen powell

Yes, I agree. It is too minor at this point to figure out without codes. I believe those can only be found with the dealer type "STAR" machine, not the common OBD2 scanners, correct?

awiner

Correct