Hello:
I have a 2001 S600 which suddenly, without any warning, had the driver's side suspension quit, riding nearly on the tire. I pulled into a service station with everything fine, no problems at all. Filled up, pulled away and, 1 mile later the red, ABC Warning light came on and the rear left tire began rubbing when I hit a bump. There is absolutely no noise, the power steering works fine, but the suspension raise / lower feature is inoperative and the driver's rear drags on the tire on bumps. The fluid is up to level, but has a slight odor to it I don't like and, it looks really dirty. I would like to flush the system myself. I am pretty well equiped to do it, have pulled one wheel to see how accessable the bleeders are, etc. I would really appreciate a step by step walk through of how to flush this system, and with exactly what fluids (I refuse to pay $30 a liter for MB fluid) can be used. Also, if anyone has any ideas as to what the problem might be, (no warning, no noise, no leak, system is full, power steering works... nothing) I very much appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on this problem please. The Owners manual tells you nothing, and I find nothing on the internet on how to flush it yourself. Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.

Tom in New York

 

There is no way to do a DIY flush unless you have an SDS computer. And the system is designed to run the MB fluid unfortunately. It's called Pentosin.

 

Hello Holmes5518:
Thank you very much for the response. I do not know what an SDS computer is, but I have access to a number of Dealer Items. With regard to Pentosin, I have done a quick-search and found it for about $16./qt. I am working on buying it bulk/wholesale from a chemical/lubricant distributor, as I understand I require about 10-14 qts. If all else fails, I will at least syphon out the resevoir with a self-priming pump and piece of 1/2" hose, and change that.

I have accumulated a collection of MBs, some pre-fixed income, and other while on fixed income through "auction errors", picking up some pretty nice cars for four figures. Fixed income means I can't play the dealer game, unfortunatly. It would certainly be easier if I could just throw $10K into the cars every 60 days, but I can't.
I have taken the rear right wheel off, which seemed to be the one which dropped. When I block that wheel (as per a post with photos I found on this site) about 5 inches, and put everything back together, the car sits correctly, and can be driven (to the shop). It's a little bumpy, but no damage is being done and, snipping a couple of tie-straps holding the 5" block in place, reverts the car back to original. There is no leaking fluid and the resevoir is full. There is absolutely no response from either the ABC switch, or the 2-step "lift" switch with the 2 arrows. The fluid has the smell of burnt transmission fluid which is really a sign that the previous owner did not do the maintenance. Also, I DID have the car into a MB Dealership a month ago when I bought it and told them to "check everything". They never mentioned the fluid and, as that was before I knew what all the switches were for, I do remember that operating the "raise vehicle" switch had no effect. None of my other MB's have the feature. Don't know where to go from here, so, I guess I will start disassembling the ABC system and thoroughly clean everything, watch for broken or worn pieces, reassemble, re-fill and see. In watching the videos on the net, the system is pretty straight forward, 6 sensor sets, a responding fluid selector head and, I guess the power steering pump. The shock look as though they have a pneumatic feature as well as hydraulic feature, but I don't find much written about that, or what the pneumatics are for.
Thanks,
Tom