ABC Blows Up!
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
ABC Blows Up!
I was pulling out of a parking lot last night, as soon as I made a left turn I heard an extremely loud "bang"... sort of like a gun shot, very loud! Immediately after I lost power steering for a few seconds, but that came back. Another few seconds later ABC Visit Workshop! lit up followed by ABC Drive Carefully! I had my windows down and shortly after the "explosion" the smell of Pentosin was obvious, so I knew what I was in for.
Luckily I was about 3/4 of a mile from my house so I slowly drove the car home, when I stopped at my house there was oil smoking pouring out from under the hood because the it hit the hot engine.
I'm not sure what happened yet... it tough to tell with the car on the ground.
Looks like ABC has a failsafe where the system locks all the valves in case pressure from the pump starts dropping, this way the car will not sink to the ground while driving in case the system fails.
Nice puddle going on...
Luckily I was about 3/4 of a mile from my house so I slowly drove the car home, when I stopped at my house there was oil smoking pouring out from under the hood because the it hit the hot engine.
I'm not sure what happened yet... it tough to tell with the car on the ground.
Looks like ABC has a failsafe where the system locks all the valves in case pressure from the pump starts dropping, this way the car will not sink to the ground while driving in case the system fails.
Nice puddle going on...
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Calgary Alberta Canada
2001 Mercedes CL500 2006 E350 4-matic
Broken oil line?? Did you get one of them replaced under the recall?
If you did not drive too far without oil, your ABC pump should still be ok. Otherwise you are looking at least at $2.000.
If you did not drive too far without oil, your ABC pump should still be ok. Otherwise you are looking at least at $2.000.
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04 S430 (sold),05 X5 4.4i, 02 325i, 87 560SL, 85 Alfa Romeo
It has long been a Federal Safety ( osha ) mandate that all Equipment that his supported by hydraulic pressure be equipped with a safety device ( normally a flow sensing type check valve located in the pressure line to prevent collapse in the event of a line rupture. All lift equipment, cranes, hydraulic ladders, etc are so equipped, and have been since the 70's. Its good to see that Mercedes were subjected to the same rule, OR did it voluntarily. Nice idea to keep your car off the ground.Too bad this can't work with air.
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Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Pump sounded like it was on it's way out months back anyways, so I'll be happy to have that replaced. One of the hydraulic hoses in the nose of the car was bleeding a little too, so that will need to be replaced.
If they decide not to cover this for whatever reason, I have a brand new pump on stand by waiting to get shipped.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Racing/Driving hard should have no effect on the system.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2009
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German vehicles stink, will never buy again. Moved on to Toyota and BYD.
Yeah! The ABC option is one of my favorites (along with the height adjustment).
Does anyone know why there are 2 little LEDs on the bottom of the height adjustment button.
Does anyone know why there are 2 little LEDs on the bottom of the height adjustment button.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
What do you mean? They light up to show you if you raised it up 1 level or 2 levels.
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Northern NJ
E90 N54 & W251
I was pulling out of a parking lot last night, as soon as I made a left turn I heard an extremely loud "bang"... sort of like a gun shot, very loud! Immediately after I lost power steering for a few seconds, but that came back. Another few seconds later ABC Visit Workshop! lit up followed by ABC Drive Carefully! I had my windows down and shortly after the "explosion" the smell of Pentosin was obvious, so I knew what I was in for.
Luckily I was about 3/4 of a mile from my house so I slowly drove the car home, when I stopped at my house there was oil smoking pouring out from under the hood because the it hit the hot engine.
I'm not sure what happened yet... it tough to tell with the car on the ground.
Looks like ABC has a failsafe where the system locks all the valves in case pressure from the pump starts dropping, this way the car will not sink to the ground while driving in case the system fails.
Nice puddle going on...
Luckily I was about 3/4 of a mile from my house so I slowly drove the car home, when I stopped at my house there was oil smoking pouring out from under the hood because the it hit the hot engine.
I'm not sure what happened yet... it tough to tell with the car on the ground.
Looks like ABC has a failsafe where the system locks all the valves in case pressure from the pump starts dropping, this way the car will not sink to the ground while driving in case the system fails.
Nice puddle going on...
Let us know the damage when you get it assessed.
Replacing the tandem pump shouldn't require STAR configuration, right? It's really a just a belt driven fluid pump in simple terms, i.e no biggie. WIS only mentions it for diagnosis and testing like the rodeo. The replacement procedure seems pretty straight forward too.
Anyway, good luck with the repair man!
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
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From: CT
Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Tesla
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Sad to hear this had to happen on such a relaivly new and expensive car.
I switched to Lexus a while back, but still look at CL500's from time to time wanting to own one. But as my mechanic who owns a W140 in mint condition, Suspension pumps are a very common thing to go on 2000-UP S class cars.
Warranty should cover it. But i would not be thrilled with this sort of a problem on a 100k$ car. But then again, its a MB quality #1, or is it 3, or 38 at this point. Sorry, just angry at MB.
I switched to Lexus a while back, but still look at CL500's from time to time wanting to own one. But as my mechanic who owns a W140 in mint condition, Suspension pumps are a very common thing to go on 2000-UP S class cars.
Warranty should cover it. But i would not be thrilled with this sort of a problem on a 100k$ car. But then again, its a MB quality #1, or is it 3, or 38 at this point. Sorry, just angry at MB.
