CL500 Leaking Hydraulic Fluid
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Newbie
Joined: May 2021
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CL500
CL500 Leaking Hydraulic Fluid
I got a 2000 CL500 with 171k miles on it. Always read the horror stories about ABC, but never had an issue myself. This morning I heard a funny sound coming from the driver's side tire, didn't pay too much attention, parked it and forgot about it. In the afternoon, I see a nice puddle and when I turned on the ignition, I got the dreaded red warning "PARK OR DIE" or something like that.
I opened the hood for inspection and the fluid was at minimum, everything was drenched in oil, not a pretty picture... I'm determined to fix it myself, but I need help figuring out what exactly is leaking. First, I thought it was the pump, but it looks dry at all connections. I'm thinking one of the hoses burst somewhere, but which one?
I removed the front left tire to take a bunch of picture from inside the hood, under, the side, etc. Please take a look and give me some ideas.
Leak Album
I opened the hood for inspection and the fluid was at minimum, everything was drenched in oil, not a pretty picture... I'm determined to fix it myself, but I need help figuring out what exactly is leaking. First, I thought it was the pump, but it looks dry at all connections. I'm thinking one of the hoses burst somewhere, but which one?
I removed the front left tire to take a bunch of picture from inside the hood, under, the side, etc. Please take a look and give me some ideas.
Leak Album
Junior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 72
Likes: 17
From: St Pete Florida
02 CL500 | 06 E350 4M
With 12 hydraulic lines (+/-), two vale blocks, pump, two accumulators and four struts there are likely a myriad of places where to look. I'd start at the place where you see the fluid. You'd probably want to put it on a lift to get more access.
Just scrap that ABC. Get coils and a W220 non-ABC power steering pump. It's not worth trying to fix the ABC; you're just throwing good money away.
Just scrap that ABC. Get coils and a W220 non-ABC power steering pump. It's not worth trying to fix the ABC; you're just throwing good money away.
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 70
Likes: 23
From: Brighton UK
C215 600TT
The front left corner has the most components to consider for leaks. It’s just plumbing, nothing particularly complicated. Not sure anyone needs to go to the trouble of ditching the whole system when it could just be repaired.
There is a nasty hose that bolts to the pump, comes down to the right about 22”, does a U bend back towards the driver front wheel (LHD) and then another 12” or so; terminating as a dead end. This is always a suspect worth investigating.
Valve bodies, junctions, accumulator spheres and sensors can all leak - but if it’s gone badly all of a sudden, you are probably right to assume a soft hose failure.
If you can get the car safely on jack stands and spend 20 mins getting the **** shields off, you can be methodical and ID the issue. If a hose has gone that badly, it will be fairly obvious. If you have lots of sweaty hoses too - don’t panic. They are just signs of the car asking you to replace them. You can do them one by one but as many as you can do in one hit, the better.
When you find the big leak, clean up the fittings to remove it, then remove, cap/bung the openings to the system appropriately and take the remains to a hydro shop for a repair. 2-wire (double braided) hose will exceed the pressure requirements of the system.
While you’re at it, crack the lines to each shock and jack them up. They are dead ends and so the fluid in them never gets flushed - you wanna see the crap that comes out!
When your shiny new (ish) hose is ready to be refitted, throw it on, chuck some fluid it it, (prime the pump by hand and change the filter for good measure if you wish) and fire the ******* up. If you still have a leak - or get another one, rinse and repeat.
There is a nasty hose that bolts to the pump, comes down to the right about 22”, does a U bend back towards the driver front wheel (LHD) and then another 12” or so; terminating as a dead end. This is always a suspect worth investigating.
Valve bodies, junctions, accumulator spheres and sensors can all leak - but if it’s gone badly all of a sudden, you are probably right to assume a soft hose failure.
If you can get the car safely on jack stands and spend 20 mins getting the **** shields off, you can be methodical and ID the issue. If a hose has gone that badly, it will be fairly obvious. If you have lots of sweaty hoses too - don’t panic. They are just signs of the car asking you to replace them. You can do them one by one but as many as you can do in one hit, the better.
When you find the big leak, clean up the fittings to remove it, then remove, cap/bung the openings to the system appropriately and take the remains to a hydro shop for a repair. 2-wire (double braided) hose will exceed the pressure requirements of the system.
While you’re at it, crack the lines to each shock and jack them up. They are dead ends and so the fluid in them never gets flushed - you wanna see the crap that comes out!
When your shiny new (ish) hose is ready to be refitted, throw it on, chuck some fluid it it, (prime the pump by hand and change the filter for good measure if you wish) and fire the ******* up. If you still have a leak - or get another one, rinse and repeat.
Member
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 113
Likes: 24
From: San Diego
2002 CLK 430, 2005 CL600, 2009 Smart Fortwo
I agree with the last post, my U bend hose blew and made a big mess. I lost my pump too because I couldn't safely pull over on a Southern California freeway ramp. I had my pump rebuilt through Rock Auto, and hoses, I re-did 3 of them, at a local shop. Total cost under $1000 even with the pump.
