Hey guys,

I'm the new owner of an 03 CL600.

I had the o rings replaced in my ABC pump because it was leaking fluid. The pump is back in the car and no longer leaking fluid, but the car won't rise to normal ride height. The car is basically bottomed out at this point. The tires are up in the wheel wells. When you start the car, the red ABC warning is on the dash. I believe it says "body low, drive carefully". It had the same warning when I took it to the shop, but the car wasn't as low as it is now.

I already had the shop disconnect the battery in an attempt to clear the warnings and hopefully get the car to rise, but the second they reconnect the battery, the red warning is back on the dash.

I also noticed the rear passenger side strut is higher than all other struts by 1 1/2 inches. Not sure if this means anything, but it seems to me like it should mean something. I should also mention the rear passenger side tire is the only flat tire on the car.

Should the car lift its self up on its own, or is there something that needs to be done to make it rise? The shop has a scanner tool and they said they weren't able to communicate with the pump. The car is at an independent shop, and they think it might need to be towed to a stealership to have the pump reprogrammed. We tried pushing the ABC raise button, but nothing happens.

I was told the pump appeared to be in great condition. The guy who replaced the o rings said he didn't find metal shavings or any signs of heat damage. Also, power steering is working fine, and as I said, there is no fluid leaking from the pump.

1. Will the car rise when the red ABC light is on?
2. Should you be able to communicate with the pump with a scanner tool? (they also said they looked through all directories in the dash navigation and couldn't find a way to set the ride height - apparently sometimes you can set it from the nav screen in the car)
3. Is it a bad sign that the rear passenger side strut is higher than the rest?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

first thing. did they prime the pump when they put it in? possible air in the system?

 

I don't believe the pump needs to be re-programmed. Can't think of anything it can do. It sounds like the diagnosis of someone who doesn't understand ABC. It's probably something as simple as the pump needing to be primed. You can't just fill the reservoir and start the engine. The pump simply won't suck oil unless its already filled. You can do that two ways:

1. Pressurize the ABC oil reservoir with a few PSI of air, to push the oil into the pump.

2. Remove the poly-V belt and turn the pump pulley by hand to prime the pump.
Nick

 

I believe they primed the pump. I will verify this with the shop Monday and keep you posted. Thanks for your reply!

 

The shop insists they primed the pump and the car still won't lift. I'm looking at the strutmasters conversion kit now..

 

have you tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting after a few minutes, its worth a shot....

 

Did they say HOW they primed the pump? If they think the pump needs to programmed, it doesn't give much confidence that they know what they're doing. Still, its their problem.

Nick

 

do they have star diagnostics? let them analyze the system and check the pump pressure to see if the pump is bad.

 

I already had them try that. No luck.

 

They hand cranked fluid through the pump before installing it in the car. They also hand cranked it whilst on the car at my request after I told them I thought air might be in the system.

 

do yourself a favor and get it diagnosed properly. have someone with the star system diagnose it and find out the problem. stop guessing, your wasting your time and money.

 

I ordered the strutmasters kit. I was planning on converting the suspension eventually so I guess better sooner than later. Hopefully the conversion doesn't hurt the handling too bad. I'll post my thoughts on the new suspension soon.