Time to pay the Piper
02-27-2017, 01:22 PM
#1
Time to pay the Piper
Good day,
Was wanting to post an overall review of my '05 CL65 after one year of daily driving her here in Houston. That unfortunately has been delayed a bit as my traveling has gotten things pushed back, so now looks to be a 15 month ownership review.
And it seems to be delayed a wee bit longer as I now need to ask the list their opinion.
This morning I am going into the office (I-10 east rush hour for those familiar to Houston) and the droning noise of the pulsation damper that had started up had abruptly stopped. The silence instantly caught my attention. Then about 30 odd seconds later the ABC Warning appears on the screen. About another 30 seconds the ABC Failure, in red, appears. Going from the far left lane to the right to exit in a hurry was a bit on the 'hectic side', but got it done.
ABC tank had overflowed, but not a huge amount as only the top of the tank was wet with oil, had run down the side but very little as there was nothing wet below the tank.
Was not leaking on the ground, front or back.
Checked level, after cleaning the dipstick the level was at the correct height. However, it was fully aerated, lots of bubbles on the dipstick. Car was still at its normal ride height.
Ok, my synopsis at the time, the pulsation damper ruptured, released the nitrogen into the system. This then pushed the tank to overflow until pressure balanced. The readings are showing 'normal' only because the oil is now saturated with nitrogen causing an increase in the overall fluid volume.
Ended up slowly driving the car an additional ~10 miles. Upon stopping and rechecking nothing had changed. Fluid still at the full mark, still aerated, nothing dripping on the ground or any noise coming from the pump. Car is still at full ride height.
Ok, I am asking the pro's here, is my logic correct, the only thing that has happened was the pulsation damper ruptured causing the influx of gas, hence the initial overflow and the frothing of the oil? System still seems to be closed and intact.
Ironically next month I was going to do a 'full preventative" and replace all of the ABC hoses / parts before something like this happened.
Thank you,
Dave
Was wanting to post an overall review of my '05 CL65 after one year of daily driving her here in Houston. That unfortunately has been delayed a bit as my traveling has gotten things pushed back, so now looks to be a 15 month ownership review.
And it seems to be delayed a wee bit longer as I now need to ask the list their opinion.
This morning I am going into the office (I-10 east rush hour for those familiar to Houston) and the droning noise of the pulsation damper that had started up had abruptly stopped. The silence instantly caught my attention. Then about 30 odd seconds later the ABC Warning appears on the screen. About another 30 seconds the ABC Failure, in red, appears. Going from the far left lane to the right to exit in a hurry was a bit on the 'hectic side', but got it done.
ABC tank had overflowed, but not a huge amount as only the top of the tank was wet with oil, had run down the side but very little as there was nothing wet below the tank.
Was not leaking on the ground, front or back.
Checked level, after cleaning the dipstick the level was at the correct height. However, it was fully aerated, lots of bubbles on the dipstick. Car was still at its normal ride height.
Ok, my synopsis at the time, the pulsation damper ruptured, released the nitrogen into the system. This then pushed the tank to overflow until pressure balanced. The readings are showing 'normal' only because the oil is now saturated with nitrogen causing an increase in the overall fluid volume.
Ended up slowly driving the car an additional ~10 miles. Upon stopping and rechecking nothing had changed. Fluid still at the full mark, still aerated, nothing dripping on the ground or any noise coming from the pump. Car is still at full ride height.
Ok, I am asking the pro's here, is my logic correct, the only thing that has happened was the pulsation damper ruptured causing the influx of gas, hence the initial overflow and the frothing of the oil? System still seems to be closed and intact.
Ironically next month I was going to do a 'full preventative" and replace all of the ABC hoses / parts before something like this happened.
Thank you,
Dave
02-27-2017, 04:24 PM
#2
Senior Member
If it was the pulsation damper, you should start to hear a loud humming noise that's most prevalent around 1000-2000 RPM. I recently replaced mine. Had to buy a proper 24mm wrench and a small pipe wrench to remove the orb from the valve block it was attached to.
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...ming-noise.pdf
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...ming-noise.pdf
