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Was sitting in a drive-thru. Nothing fancy. Heard a click/thunk from the back and immediately got the red ABC light. Car locked up the ABC system. Opened door, verified CHF11S on the floor. Drove home, parked it. Further inspection at home shows the tank is empty, the leak was at the front somewhere.
The garage is a construction site right now so I can’t move it in and see what’s going on. The car is locked in the raised position (bless mercedes for this).
"Drove home" might mean the end of your ABC pump - if it was not the reason for your ABC failure. Running without oil for any length of time usually ruins the pump.
(Just ask me how I know)
"Drove home" might mean the end of your ABC pump - if it was not the reason for your ABC failure. Running without oil for any length of time usually ruins the pump.
(Just ask me how I know)
I know. I chanced it. I hope the pump is ok. Maybe I should have parked the car and towed it. That probably would have been the right decision. It just hit at a bad time.
The conventional wisdom holds that running the pump with a dry reservoir will damage it. But a friend drove his '55 about 20 miles with an empty reservoir, and the the pump survived. And while an ABC pump is not the same as an M-B power steering pump, the factory states you can drive 30 miles with no oil supplied to the power steering.
Got the car up, found the culprit line. Pics attached. It’s the hose on the passenger side of the front left valve block. Haven’t figured out where it goes. Seems like an unusual way to fail. The hose itself also seems rock hard.
I’m going to have a hydraulic shop replace the rubber hose. I’m now debating replacing some more rubber hoses while the system is out. Thoughts and prayers for the ABC pump.
Sorry to hear. Will you be swapping the system out for coil overs?
Hellll no. ABC is awesome. I’m going to have some hydraulic shop plug the hose, refill the system, and enjoy the best suspension system in production today.
Not that I can tell. Gave me a scare when it didn’t immediately give pressure, but a rubber o-ring + some compressed air into the reservoir got it kick started.
Hellll no. ABC is awesome. I’m going to have some hydraulic shop plug the hose, refill the system, and enjoy the best suspension system in production today.
That's what I'm talking about! I hate it when people tuck tale and run from the ABC. It's a major part of the car. It's deaign, engineering, and purpose. That's like saying im going to remove my air unit from my Nike's and replace it with polyurethane foam "cuz it's a matter of time till it deflates"
These systems are more robust than some expect. I do not miss the ABC since I converted my car, but I can see why some folks want to keep it since the ride is quite nice. Cool that @Fried Chicken didn't have to spend a ton of moolah to fix his ABC.
These systems are more robust than some expect. I do not miss the ABC since I converted my car, but I can see why some folks want to keep it since the ride is quite nice. Cool that @Fried Chicken didn't have to spend a ton of moolah to fix his ABC.
it's hard when we are not the first owners of the vehicle because we often times do not know how much care has went into it and all. If you have the vehicle from new and always keep an eye on the abc fluid and top it off when it's low and and flush the system regularly, it will have a long life.
I keep my abc system working 100%. However I can see at some point when the car has high miles and it cost more than the car is worth to fix I see swapping it making sense. I have a 06 CL with 49,000 miles in mint condition. I foresee my abc working great for many years to come.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
