fireman685

Actually the exhaust was super dry. In fact it had been steam cleaned! The turbo was leaking both oil and coolant. Oil was going down intercooler pipes and coolant out the exhaust. I drained about a quart of oil from the lower intercooler pipe. Any it has been replaced and in slowly burning the oil I couldn't get to out of the intake. In fact the day I finished it I pulled the CL into the shop, went exploring and removing the two valve blocks. One hose would not break loose so in my anger I decided to just cut it. The other end of it at the front looked like it was beginning to sweat some at the fitting. So I'll be taking those off and going to a hose shop to fix them. I then jumped in the Supra, crossed my fingers, and headed to Houston (4hr drive) to meet jpnash and have him rebuild my valve blocks. Got an effing ticket by Harris County SO along the way for 79 in a 65. The Supra was running good, what can I say... Enjoyed meeting Jim and really enjoyed riding in his S55 AMG. It's kinda not stock. When I get the suspension sorted on the CL ill head back to Houston to have some minor modifications made. So for now the poor thing sits on four jack stands longing to be driven.

Welwynnick

That's what mine usually looks like! LOL

Sounds like you're heading in the right direction.

fireman685

Well I wished I had better news but I think I have a problem that replacing o-rings in the valve blocks didn't fix. I had both rebuilt, and replace all four accumulators which were all ruptured. I got the car all back together today, raised/lowered multiple times and then took off for a test drive. About 15 minutes I was enjoying not having that annoying drone from the pulsation damper being bad then suddenly my ABC Visit Workshop comes on when I'm at a stop sign. I hear a knock sound right before the warning appears also. When I shut the car off it begins to sag in the left rear within minutes. So I'm not sure what to do next.
Maybe try to find someone local that has a SDS.

principledchiro

Presently have the drone from worn accumulators and drivers rear sag. Took your advice and purchased from the source you gave. You'll likely have to go back in to the rear valve block to check the new o-rings. A Texan E55 forum member rebuilds the valve blocks for $400. When swapping in the accumulators, is ABC fluid lost? How many hours to do all four accumulators?

fireman685

I couldn't tell you how much fluid will be lost to do just the accumulators since I had both valve blocks off at the same time. I lost a lot of fluid from just those.

I could not remove the accumulators from the valve blocks with them attached to the car. The brackets are just to damn flimsy and the fittings to damn tight. Maybe yours will be different but I had to wait until I could get the blocks off and into a vice to break them loose.
The rear pulsation damper was a pain also but knowing you have to partially drop the exhaust before hand will help. Removing the bolts on both rubber hangers and the heat shield above the muffler will be the only way you can remove it.
The last one by the passenger foot well was super tight and hard to break loose. Again the brackets attaching it to the car are very flimsy and give a lot. Have a long wrench with some leverage.
Now how long it'll take you versus how long it took me is hard to determine. My right shoulder is in serious need of surgery to fix a tear in my superior labrum so having to lay on my side wrenching was painful. If you have access to a lift you could knock this out in a day easy. Patience is a virtue when doing it though. I had both block rebuilt by a forum member down in Houston. He has an S55 and has done a lot of them. My abc system is doing all sorts of weird stuff that I can't tell you if its a valve issue or not still. Tomorrow I plan on driving the CL to Houston (4 hr drive) to the same members house so he can hook it up to his SDS and we can see wtf is going on with the system. The Visit Workshop will ONLY come on when the car is completely still after driving it for a few miles. I can roll the car at idle with the brake applied and the warning will not appear. And I mean rolling so slow it doesn't register on the speedo. At a stop sign or traffic light I keep a good distance between cars so that I can creep the car forward every other second to keep the warning off. When it sits still for more than 10 seconds the rear valve block will knock real loud and the ride will become noticeably more firm. When I kill the engine the rear starts to sag immediately. Start the car up and put it in gear and boom, it raises up real fast and rides like a magic carpet till you come to a complete stop. With the suspension raised to its highest level it will not sag at all most of the time and if does it's very little. Weird stuff that only STAR can tell us about hopefully lol.

VMAX7

Good luck!

biker349

could it be a solenoid issue in the valve block?

fireman685

It's either that or the strut, just gotta figure which one it is.

fireman685

Well I received a good used valve block in the mail yesterday and today was able to get it installed and I think that has fixed my issue. Car is no longer sagging as soon as I shut it off. Now once after I had been driving it for about 30 minutes the Visit Workshop warning came on again but this time while driving. The rear end felt bouncy as well. I pulled over and shut it off and looked for leaks but did not see any. I cranked it back up and cycled it up and down a few times and have had no issues since. No the first couple of cycles the rear would raise slower than the front. I just wonder if I had some residual air left in the system. So with that taken care of and the four new accumulators its riding pretty good. Pic is of old block. Syringe and IV tubing is a good way to suck out excess fluid so I got to use my medic skills on it also haha.
Other pic is the former saggy side after sitting a couple of hours and not having had any sagging.

fireman685

Just a little update.
No sagging or warning lights or dings still since replacing the valve block. Nice smooth ride still.

When I had my car hooked up to STAR it indicated a hard fault in the door locking system in the drivers door. Well I've had no issue with the door locks so have not put any thought into it really until yesterday. I was filling up the tank and opened the passenger door to get some trash off the floor. I pushed on the door with my hip and it barely caught. I then noticed it sucked in on it's own and closed. I then realized my car has the soft close option but that it does not work on the drivers door. Could this be the source of the hard fault that SDS indicated? I'm guessing so.
It's not something high on my priority list to fix so it'll be a while. I was mostly just happy to know my car has that option.

principledchiro

Good ABC fix and information to boot. Your probably now relieved

alexanderfoti

You wont loose much fluid changing the accumulators. I did a DIY guide on changing all of them which you can find here

fireman685

I lost a lot of fluid only because I had removed both valve blocks. To me, it was much easier to replace the rear pulsation damper than the front. Those fitting did not want to break loose very easily. I had to put the whole block in a table vice to secure it enough to break them loose. Texas car with zero corrosion also. I will say this. It WILL be messy regardless of how much fluid you lose so be prepared with towels. Be especially careful when pulling the rear one down and keep the fitting hole facing up. If it's blown it'll be full of fluid and you don't want to fill your face and hair will the oil. It's hard to get out

fireman685

Next Thursday I will be having surgery on my right shoulder so this past week I've been in kind of a rush to get some things done to my car so that when I'm able to use my right arm enough to shift the car out of park I'll be taking a road trip to who knows where.
So yesterday I replaced the control arms and balljoint on the drivers side. It took forever to do that one side but tomorrow I'm hoping the passenger side will move along a little easier since I know what to expect. The hardest part about the whole process was breaking loose all the damn balljoints. Those things are pressed in tight. I'm so glad I bought a tool to break them loose.
My bushings were shot! The car wandered on uneven surfaces and in the rain could almost be treacherous. I replaced the lower control arms with W220 arms so in the future if I decide to ditch the ABC I'll already have the sway bar end link attachments. You have to push the shock out closer to the wheel as the contact point is slightly different. I haven't driven the car yet of course so my only concern is how it'll handle that. Any a few pics.

fireman685

A look down at both new arms.

fireman685

The appearance of the mount on top of the strut is concerning to me a little.

fireman685

A look underneath a nice shiny new balljoint.

principledchiro

Silly question: Was this a front bushing and ball joint replacement? Doubt the rear has ball joints. This work is up next for me. Excellent work.

fireman685

Only the front. I've got the front right side to tackle tomorrow. Oh and thanks!

Crissus

Great Thread. I feel with you. I just love my CL.
I wonder though, your car sits real high, are those the stock height-links used?

fireman685

Thanks. It all stock. I've thought about getting some lowering links though.

fireman685

Well I sold my Lexus SC400 last night. Arguably the most dependable car I've ever owned. My Supra has a rod knock from a blown turbo making it run low on oil for too long before I could catch it. So that leaves me with the CL as my only transportation! First time in years I've only had one car to drive. I sold it because I didn't want three cars and the Supra I love too much to part with. It'll get a new engine before summer.
I'm fairly confident my CL will be good to me until I get the Supra up and running again.
I'm having surgery on my right shoulder in three days so I won't be driving it at all for about 5 weeks.

Dr Matt

Put a battery tender on the CL if it is going to sit for that long... Hope the surgery goes fantastic and your recovery is rapid.

fireman685

Thank you! Even though I won't be driving it I will have my sister drive me in it to my follow up appointments. It won't sit that long unused.

fireman685

Well the surgery went well. Turns out my shoulder had some major, unexpected issues, the biggest being my Bicep tendon was barely attached anymore.
So while I recoup from this I'm going to have my Indy mechanic do some work. New plugs, wires, valve cover gaskets, fuel filter, trans fluid and filter and find and fix the source of a gas leak under the hood. I want this car road trip ready when I'm able to drive.