DuvalAMG333

My 55 has about 60,000 clicks and just yesterday this warning lamp came on. This morning it didn't come on. The warning comes on intermittently. Any one have similar symptoms and what they did to remedy this warning?

sprins

Go see dealer. It could be several things:

- Low pressure from the ABC pump
- Valve block malfunction
- ABC strut broken
- Leaking of one of the above

Usually this is bad (expensive) news.

Thugs Bunny

Wow how random. My 55 with 60,000 mi just had the ABC Drive Carefully warning come on as well on Thursday. I took it to the dealer yesterday for another repair and they informed me $2800 for a leaking ABC pump that they need to replace.

neodoc

If it's any consolation, my 63 had a strut leak with only 2500 miles on the odometer. This is precisely the kind of repair I would hate to have to face after the warranty is up, which is precisely why I don't plan on keeping it beyond its warranty period. Tough news for Thugs Bunny and linadaddy. Hope you can get the repairs done without too much $ pain.

Oxygen

$2800 for a pump replacement is astronomical.. the pump is $1400 so you're saying it's $2400 labor? Get real.

Totalman

No, go to school

usafrhino

Hmmm. Seems to be the life span of an ABC pump. My '05 CL 55 (55,000 miles) just went in for what I thought was a slipping transmission and I was told it was an intercooler overtemp that shuts down boost and can simulate a slipping transmission.

The dealer discovered that the ABC pump was also bad and ordered me a new one. In my case, everything seemed fine with the ABC and there were no faults for either problem just an intermittent lack of acceleration related to the the overtemp issue.

I have to believe the dealer on this, because I am still covered under warranty and am not paying anything out of pocket.

Rob

benzino118

usafrhino, I see you experienced a slipping transmission. I had a similar problem. How did you fix your problem with the intercooler overtemp?? Thanks

usafrhino

Benzino118,

I actually am picking the car up from the dealer tomorrow, so I can't speak to the success, but the dealer mentioned replacing an electric cooling pump and temperature sensor. He explained that the overtemp fault on the intercooler (which did not activate a check engine light) shuts down the boost and makes it feel like the car goes from accelerating hard to revving without power, simulating the transmission slipping. I am anxious to see if this fixes the problem. It only happened intermittently before and usually after I had passed a number of cars. So I can kind of believe the overtemp thing, but it hasn't been that hot in Colorado so if the pump or sensor was failing maybe this will be the solution. The problem with an intermittent fault is you never really know if it is solved. It may just happen later.

BTW, nice rides!

Rob

benzino118

usafrhino

Thanks for the info. Please let me know how the car drives as these parts have been replaced. It is very hot in Trinidad (The Caribbean) so I believe that the heat is at my disadvantage. I also experience the part where I am not able to cross 90km/h but the rpm goes very high when I punch the gas. At times I would feel like a sudden "jerk" from the transmission and this is when my problem arises.

usafrhino

Benzino118,

Yes, your symptoms sound the same as mine. I confess mine occurs when I am repeating full acceleration and it can generate the heat. I would just expect at an ambient temperature of 75 degrees F, MB would have the car running that way all day long. I will let you know if it seems to be fixed. (or even if not)

Rob

Oxygen

usafrhino - you have experienced the "guaranteed to fail" intercooler pump that goes out for most of us with the V8 Kompressor and V12 Biturbo cars.

The coolant stops flowing and the intake charged air is no longer cooled, and once it reaches a certain temperature the ECU will disconnect the supercharger clutch and you will be driving a naturally aspirated 5.5L AMG car.

Nice to hear that the dealer is covering everything under warranty.

usafrhino

Oxygen,

You may be right. And 3 hours ago, I would say you were definitely right, but something has happened since then. I left the dealership with my "repaired" car and 10 minutes into my 2 hour drive home, my "Coolant" (Get service; or whatever the words were) message came on. I turned around and the dealer asked me to give them a few minutes to see if there was air in the system or something else easy. An hour later they said my fan was not turning on and they didn't know why.

I am thinking this did not coincidentally happen in addition to the coolant pump. It is possible, I'll grant you that, but it would seem an inoperable fan may have also caused the overtemp fault. Again, there was no CEL for me, only stored codes for the dealer and the temp gauge crept, but not enough to cause me to do more than note it.

They may have reinstalled everything and messed up the connection to the fan somehow. The dealer was quick to replace the pump in agreement with your comment that they seem to all fail and they noted that the pump failed their checkout so I believe that it is still a likely cause.

Regardless, I now have a new coolant pump, a new ABC pump, and a new AC compressor pulley at no charge to me. My concern is that the dealer may be using a R&R strategy to fix my car vs. really knowing what is wrong. I will get a new fan out of it (according to them) and I am a big fan of them replacing everything under warranty, but when warranty time runs out and I need to have a repair done, I want to know that they know what is wrong and don't expect me to fund their R&R methods.

Rob

Oxygen

AC Compressor pulley? Why?

usafrhino

The mechanic said he heard a knock under the hood when he was checking out the cooling pump. This is what led him to find the ABC pump that was bad, of which I saw no symptoms. He rerouted the belt to determine which accessory made the noise and identified that the AC compressor pulley was also a problem. I never heard the knock when driving the car, so again I had no idea. The AC functioned fine and gave no indication of a problem in any way.

Rob

usafrhino

I got my CL back today. All told, they replaced the ABC pump, intercooler pump, AC compressor pulley, and the intercooler electric fan. The car appears to be fixed and runs like a top. I have only driven it about 90 minutes since getting it back, but I am hopeful the issues are gone.

Benzino118,
I would have to say this is your problem as well. When you mentioned the sudden jerk of the transmission in addition to the rest, I knew we had the same problem. I failed to describe that part in my initial message, but I definitely noted it occurring when driving.

On a final note, the dealer had my car for about a week. They initially gave me a C300 4MATIC and then an ML320cdi. I wasn't a big fan of the C300, but liked the ML quite a bit. We have the R320 and that diesel pulls great in whatever they put it in and makes for an easy drive. Still, I lost perspective on how amazing the CL is. I missed that car so much. The driver from the dealership that dropped it off couldn't stop commenting on what a nice drive it was (2 hours from the dealership to my work). When I got in in to go back home, I quickly realized that while that Silver Star signifies some great machinery, the CL is just a cut above the rest. Phenomenal.

benzino118

Usafrhino,
I am very happy that you have gotten back your car with it working properly. Thank you for helping me out with my problem. I will have the intercooler pump replaced. Any other parts I should change in addition to the pump? I see you have also changed the intercooler electric fan. Is it recommended that I change this as well?

regards

usafrhino

Maybe. Sorry I don't have a better answer for you. They perform the same function of cooling the intake air for the supercharger. The dealer did not recognize my fan as a problem until after the cooling pump was replaced and it only gave me a warning after the pump was replaced also. It might be a good idea to do them at the same time, but it may be an unnecessary expense. I appreciated Oxygen's input that the cooling pumps are a common failure, but I am unaware if the fan is also. I wish you the best in your attempt to remedy the problem. Let us know how it works out.

benzino118

Ok I understand what you are saying. By the way, my mechanic plugged in his diagnostic testing and we carried the car for a drive. After checking the results we noticed a warning saying to change coolant pump. Just to be certain, "coolant pump" refers to the intercooler pump right??

Maxwell79

Hi you guys, I am new and need your help. I hope I am not thread jacking but does lowering a CL55 AMG make the ABC pump go bad sooner? If so is there a reinforcement that can be done to prevent this from happening in the future? I would really appreciate you guys help on this matter. I will post picks of my new beast very soon!

usafrhino

Benzino118,

Yes, I saw the intercooler pump referred to as "coolant pump" as well on various paperwork. Also, when the intercooler fan faulted and sent a message, it said "coolant", not fan or intercooler. So they are consistent with the "coolant" portion of the message for the intercooler intake.

Maxwell79,

Sorry, I am not ignoring your post, but I don't have the answer.

bentleyboy

Hi, I'm new to this forum but not new to failures of MB parts. I have recently acquired a 2003 CL600 bi-turbo and fitted some Brabus Monoblock 20" wheels. These wheels were on my previous 2001 CL600 ( wish I'd kept it)
Two days ago, I overshot a turning and reversed the rear end onto some uneven ground while the front wheels stayed on tarmac road surface. There was a sudden graunching noise like tyre rubbing on body and immediately as I drove forward the ABC warning light came up.

I stopped the car and applied some body weight to the rear end (hopefully) and guess what...the light extinguished and the car drove fine . The next day I started up and drove 100 miles before taking a break....when I restarted, the ABC warning light came back on. Once again some weight to the rear end and presto...back to normal. I set the body height up to max and then back to minimum and selected sport on the ABC and drove another 100 miles. When I came to start again, same old light....so I applied the same old body weight to the rear end and got the same old result....problem sorted.

It seems that each time I turn the engine off, the ABC warning light comes up....what's going on here?

I know for sure that the local MB dealership will say..." you need a new ????whatever and it'll cost at least £2000 to fix it".....they don't know and don't want to find the fault so they just do the old R & R and take your money. The car by the way has done 57,000 miles.

Could this be a rear end link broken or perhaps a solenoid or valve that has opened up too far and won't fully re-set? I'm betting it's something small on the rear end suspension assembly.

I would appreciate any constructive advice from anyone out there.

Thanks

Oxygen

There's a lot of components working back there... tough to diagnose it over the internet for you.

Back there you have your rear axle valve block with pressure accumulator, 2 height sensors and the struts themselves.

You need to bring it to a mechanic that has the Mercedes Star Diagnostic system so he can check out the codes that the system is throwing out.

I'd highly advise you against continuing driving without getting this checked out... could cost you a lot more.

bentleyboy

Thanks oxygen....I'll be taking it to the dealership tomorrow after I've been to the pharmacy for some valium.

Oxygen

I'd also advise you to grab a large tub of Vaseline.