Hello all!
I have a 2001 CL55 AMG which recently experienced a bunch of issues... and a new problem just appeared today. Since the dealer of my region is a complete moron, i will need some help from here...

The problems started one month sago, when a bright red signal appeared on the dashboard "ABC drive carefully"; at this stage the car's suspension were kind of weird (one bump on the road and the car would literally jump...) After one week, the car's height dropped dramatically.
With the help found on forums, I decided to change the ABC pump only (the dealer wanted to change the dampers and the airmatic pump (airmatic on a CL?)). It was changed last week, and it solved the problem.

But a new problem appeared 3 days ago. I was driving at around 80km/h (50MPH) at around 2000rpm when the car suddenly stalled. Frightening, since the direction became as well extremelly difficult to turn (steering pump off since the engine stalled I guess?).
I stopped the car, I started it right after; no problem, the car is behaving as nothing happened. I continue my ride; 10 minutes later, the throttle is not as responsive as before, and i feel a big loss of power. The white error message "ESP visit workshop!" appears intermittently while driving as well. One minutes after, the car is stalling again when I'm driving at 120 km/h (80mph)! and around 3000 rpm...

Then I had to go back home with an engine which is stalling every 5 minutes, blinking white error message "ESP visit workshop!". I stop the car, i start it immediately, drive 5 minutes, stalls, etc etc.

Today, the car had the same problem again, but to a bigger extent. Engine stalled when it was still cold, 3 minutes after driving. When I try to start it again, it stalls immediately after ignition. (i.e. it starts then stops 3 seconds later).

I'm getting my car towed to my useless dealer today.
Is there any link between the recent replacement of the ABC pump, and this stalling problem?
After some reading on the forums, I was thinking that the crankshaft position sensor might be faulty. Any suggestions?

 

sounds like a crank sensor. about $100, if that's not it you can pull it right out and return it. have them pull the codes though that'll tell you right away.

 

Hopefully it is a DIY sensor job.

This makes the case for extended warranties. But, an 01 might be beyond warranties.

This is scary. Costs on MB repairs are expensive. Less expensive if work is done by a good independent shop. Owing MBcars beyond their warranties can be an expensive venture

Unless you have the $$ to pay the costs on these high performance luxury cars then don"t own them.

 

Unlikely.

I think you got it.
You can go to an auto parts store and most will have a code reader, that might give you a little leverage when talking to the SA.

Isn't there a decent private garage that you can use?

 

Car is @ the agent, they'll check it today and have the codes.

I'm in a country named "Bahrain", which is next to Dubai. Country is around 50km (= 30 miles) long... There is one and only one MB dealer here, and trying to go to any other private garage is suicidal.

I'll keep you informed guys, thanks for the tips till now!

 

Seems to be the fuel pump... when tapping it, the car's behavior is changing.

Since it's a cheap repair, this replacement will be done today (not the sensor...). We'll see what happen...

 

Good, hope that's the end of it.

 

Allright, problem seems to be fixed... at least for the stalling problem!

However, I have an additional issue: One part of the car's suspension dropped suddenly when I was waiting at a traffic light... I stopped the motor, started it again, no problem. This issue repeated twice when I was waiting for a long time without moving the car.

The garage is insisting that the airmatic is faulty. My question: Is there any airmatic system in the CL class? Or is it ABC only?
What could be the problem for this sudden drop? ABC pump not installed correctly? A faulty damper (at 2000 dollars each, I'd prefer that those were not broken...)? Or a problem with the valve?

 

Where are you located? Are you actually visiting an authorized MB dealer?

215 chassis has ABC (hydraulic suspension, not air suspension), sounds like you had a ABC pump that wore out which puts small particles of metalic debris in the ABC system. This debris makes its way to the valve blocks and causes the valves and valve seats to not seal properly. Quite common with the ABC suspension system. Regular ABC suspension hydraulic flushes are a good form of preventative maintenance, especially for this issue.

With your car, it sounds like the valve in the valve block that raises the car is leaking internally causing the car to slowly raise (which you're not noticing). When the vehicle hight gets too high the computer notices this and opens the valve that lowers the car. This is the dropping that you're noticing.

The proper repair for this would be a replacement of the valve block that has the issue and a hydraulic system flush. If the front is raising and dropping it would be the front valve block, if the rear then it would be the rear block.

Good luck with this.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Interesting enough to show it to my benz dealer (official one, yup) and check what he'll do about it.

 

hmmmm. This has the smell of an abc issue. This will not be cheap, but... good luck with it. Has the car been sitting for a long time without being started