98 SL500 cooling problem
09-02-2013, 12:47 PM
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SLS AMG; SL600; SL500; S550; C300
98 SL500 cooling problem
I am completely baffled and frustrated by a coolingproblem I have been having with my 1998 SL500. When the car was new, the temperature gauge read 85 degrees in all kindsof weather, with or without the AC running, whether the car was sitting stillor running down the highway. A few yearsago, the car would run a normal 85 degrees and then shoot up to about 98 or 99degrees and sit there for periods of time; then for no apparent reason, dropback to 85. In the past year, the carwould run at 85 degrees until the first stop light or real hot weather and goto 99 degrees and run there until I put it back in the garage. It never goes above 99 degrees, even if I letit sit running in the driveway for 30 minutes or more. But when it was that hot the AC struggled andput out barely cool air. I read this latterbehavior to confirm for myself that it is not the gauge.
The car has spent more time at the dealer this year thanI have had it as I have become impatient about getting it fixed. It has had two new thermostats, a newradiator, a new viscous fan clutch, a new water pump, new sensors for theelectric fans, the AC has been checked for leaks and recharged, and the ACcontrol module in the center stack has been changed (it had another problemanyway). With all of these changes,things are better in that it takes longer for the temperature to shoot above85, but it still does it. When it does,driving on the highway will bring it down, but only to about 92 or 93. Also, the AC is working well now even whenthe temperature is up higher than the target normal of 85.
Even though it hasn’t been fixed yet, I can’t complainabout the effort that the dealer has been expending on it. I’m the one pushing for all the parts to bechanged, pretty much in two groups as I want to use the thing before wintercomes on and it goes back in the garage until next April. By the way, it has 60K miles.
I‘m hoping someone else has had this kind of issue or cangive me some leads on what the next steps should be. In spite of having 4 newer cars, including anewer SL, I have a soft spot for this car and want to get it fixed.
Any ideas? I willsincerely appreciate them.
