Hi Howard,

I found I could isolate the ABC pulsation damper sound by removing the auxillary driive belt. When you start the engine, the noise disappears when heard from inside.

Mine's just turned 160k miles, and going better than ever. I have an insoluble ABS problem on my Peugeot, so the Merc has been my daily driver, which was unthinkable a year ago.

Nick

PS. I've done lots of stuff the hard way, including a few things that weren't worthwhile, but here's a couple of quick wins:

1) Get a duplicate set of staggered wheels and put wide rear wheels & tires on the front as well as rear. They fit fine and do WONDERS for the handling.
2) Run a bead of sealant along the top edge of the windshield. Mine only had a tiny gap, but the drop in wind noise was remarkable.

 

hey guys, thanks for all the invaluable tips. greatly appreciated. i'm not terribly mechanically inclined, but may be able to tackle a few of these jobs myself thanks to your help. also i hope i can find a reputable mechanic who is open to some of these tips and willing to do them to save me some time and money.
thanks

 

This thread is very informative. I trust your opinion more then any shop I've been to. Although I know if I had the same computer they have my car would get the attention it deserves.

Ok so here is my problem... 04 S600..
My front passenger strut would sag intermittently after sitting for a few days(4-7) usually. Car would start fine and lift side up like I had hydraulics or something. Haha. So yes front valve prob needs to be rebuilt but from reading not so bad for the length of time. Sds shows my front right strut has a leak according to my indy shop. Not sure if I belive that completely. So recently my whole passenger side sits about 3 inches lower in normal height mode. About 1.5 in if I raise it in the 2 position. This ocurrs with the car on or off. Supposedly my system will sometimes do a rodeo but sometimes it won't attempt it. I don't have access to SDS or I would know a little more specifics. I don't mind replacing things but nobody really has a good idea. It's been recalibrate on a 4 corners but goes back after engine off. I feel my car thinks it's good. There are no codes coming up as well. I know where my sensors are and when I unhook them my white abc light comes on but I'm lost. Also the fluid level is correct. I have done that before.
Suggested solutions so far per shops-
1. Replace front strut.
2. Replace valve
3.replace pump.

Pretty expensive considering it seems more like a sensor. Also the suspension functions properly by raising and lowering. Makes me steer away from the pump. The valve I would be worried about except I don't have the sag with the warning when it sits for a week anymore. The strut needs to be replaced I am ok with but I don't feel it will fix my problem of leaning. Sds shows all sensors working supposedly.

Really appreciate this thread. It's amazing enough to read from page all the way to 10. Wish I would have seen it a few years back when I was replacing hoses.

 

" It's been recalibrate on a 4 corners but goes back after engine off."

I have never even ridden in an ABC car, and have no personal experience or knowledge on the system.

The STAR system allows you to individually calibrate each Airmatic strut, and set the operating level as desired for each. The calibration levels stay set until changed (or until something fails). I can't imagine the ABC system not having the same capability.

From personal experience, having a STAR system does not mean that you know how to use it. A very complex system, with a very steep and long learning curve!

 

The only way you know your abc strut is bad is because it will leak oil. There is no star test for a strut. If it's not leaking oil it's ok.
Change the block first or have me rebuild it. Ask the shop what the pump pressure was on Star testing. It should be 180-190 bar.
But start with the block first to cure the sagging.

 

Well went to shop. Pump showing 0bar. He said I need a new pump. I said I'll show up early before shop opens. I filled the overflow and pressurized the tank. Walahh a my pump is at 187 bar. Good thing I didn't approve a new pump.
So my right side sensors are reading backwards. Shows the volts going up when thshe side is pushed down. Any suggestions?
I really need a sdo is anyone has an extra to sell. Lol

Do any of you live in central california? Cause I would love to look at my car with someone that knows way more then me.

 

Voltage going up instead of down for just the right side?? humm. Are you sure it's both front and back on the right side that has this problem??
It's more likely that fronts voltage changes in a different direction compares to the rears due to the mechanical layout of the vector arms connected to the height sensors in the rears due to the geometry. We know this because when we use adjustable links to lower the car the front links are made shorter and the back links are made longer (or vise-versa) IE when the car goes down, the voltages from both front sensors goes in a different direction than the voltages of the rear height sensors, but not just one side of the car of front and back. I cant recall if fronts are different from the back as shown in STAR DAS voltage values when under test or not. I can find out.
Irrespective of all this, now that your pump is working, what symptoms do you have now?
IE does the car sit level now? When you raise the car from the control switch on the dashboard, what happens?
Also, does the car sag after being parked for any length of time now?
Are you sure you don't have any leaks?
The correct level inside the reservoir tank should be at the high mark when the engine has been off for some time, and at the lower mark when the engine is running.
The system grabs oil when in use and stores some in the accumulators and then return it to the reservoir when the engine has been off.

 

It's only been 1 hour. But rear right sensor for sure is going opposite voltage then left rear. My car is now sitting and put off by the indy shop "until someone calls him back with more knowledge."I'm ready to go get it and diagnose it myself but I need the star system. The car throws no codes and it leans to the right. It thinks everything is fine because it's withing range. I do think there's a leak but who knows how long until he even try to find it. He has had the car for 3 days and theven pump never worked he said but I think he put it on a rack and sucked air in through the leak.
Either way I need to do my front valve body and find the leak and probably the dampener. But that's pretty far down the road especially if it takes this long just to have me show him the pump works and pointless if the car is sideways.

 

How and where are you measuring voltage?

 

At the shop on their system. I was hanging around to see what was going on. It was a portable autologic touchscreen shows all 4 sensors and voltage. We played with pushing on the corners to see the change.

 

understood. my advice is either do the repairs yourself with Star, or take it to a shop that is familiar with the MB ABC system. sounds like you have alot going on at once with the system. Priority 1: fix all leaks and #2 run the diagnostics using star. #3 send me your block to rebuild.

 

I completely agree with you. I will keep you posted but for now I guess I will just plan on picking it up. Hope there's no bill for having me show how the pump works. It would be nice to find a great shop here in my area. I really don't have time to learn how to pull apart this system and do it. Such is life.

 

I seem to recall that someone else noticed the strut position sensors appeared to work backwards.

I'm not entirely confident, but I think its normal.

Nick

 

Yes someone recently posted the negative values too . Must be normal

 

Hi Howard et al,

Long time no write. I've been so busing trying to keep our daily drivers on the road that I've had no time for my V12TT, which has been my dependable daily driver this year. How ironic.

My front king pin ball joints have needed replacement for some time, clonking and bonking over bumps like worn sway bar bushes. They're easy to confirm by using a screwdriver to lever the ball joint threads down, against the suspension upright. Mine had about 1/16 play on both sides.

The thing with the king pin joints is that they're pressed into the upright. Friction holds them in, so they're hard to push out. You need a special ball joint press, I bought one of these:



They used to cost hundreds, but someone must have started making them in China, and I got mine for 38 GBP. The press cups are specially design to fit inside and outside the joint on top and bottom. I don't think you could use generic press for this job.

Cheap or not, its a heavy tool, but I was still worried about my economy maintenance programme coming unstuck when faced with 167k mile joints. The press thread seemed like a rather loose fit, and I approached the job with apprehension last weekend. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures, but I wanted to talk about the approach. There are plenty of specifics and pictures on the internet; this is the best place:

http://mercedes-w220-ball-joint-diy.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm told you can press the joint out in situ, but that seems ambitious, and I removed the suspension upright on both sides. You need to use a lot of force - lots of big tools and big levers, and doing it in place didn't feel right. In particular, you need to fit the press in-line with the ball joint axis so you don't push it skew, and the brake rotor seems to get in the way of doing that.

I understand why dealers use a hydraulic press - this is hard work, but its quite feasible for an experienced DIY-er. It's not a job for a novice, but if you've replaced a ball joint or suspension arm before, then you won't be out of your depth. At the very least, you need to separate the lower suspension arm from the upright before you can remove the ball joint. You'll also need a lever arm ball joint splitter, as a direct acting tool won't give you access. You don't HAVE to separate the diagonal brake reaction arm, though I did. Its always good to inspect each ball joint and squirt a little grease in when you have the opportunity.

The press and the ball joints themselves aren't expensive, and I don't see how garages get way with charging lots of money for this. It took about four hours per side, but I did make life difficult for myself by snapping one of the caliper mounting bolts. That was difficult and time-consuming to get out afterwards, so consider what you would do if something went wrong.

Anyway, I recommend this job if you're inclined, and the tool DOES work!

Cheers, Nick



Edit: I thought I'd add a quick summary of what I did:

• Jack up the front end
• Support securely on stands.
• Remove the wheel
• Remove pad wear sensor & cable
• Remove ABS speed sensor & cable
• Remove caliper, and tie to upper arm
• Remove brake rotor
• Support suspension upright with jack
• Split all four ball joints & remove upright
• Remove ball joint by pressing upwards (hard work)
• Fit new ball joint by pressing down (hard work)
• Refit by reversing the procedure
• Use allen sockets to hold the ball joints still

The upper wishbone ball joint is tricky as there's no hex drive. What I did was support the upright with a jack, and use a dog-leg lever to pull the upper wishbone down, and get the ball joint taper to grip. I used a speed brace like this to go under, over and under the top wishbone, and pulled it down with a jack handle on the end. Worked a treat.

Edit: I just came across this very useful thread elsewhere - well worth reading:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...-tutorial.html

 

Transmission fluid question...

To find the right hose to disconnect at the radiator to flush out old transmission fluid, EXACTLY WHICH line is the one that returns to the transmission?

I have read every thread and searched every YouTube video looking for exactly which line to disconnect at the cooler. But none of them shows it. Sorry if this is old news to everybody.

I have 16 liters of Titan Fuchs 4134 ready to pour through the system after I do a filter/connector change.

 

Hi Howard, I've read your thread and love your knowledge of the car. And have a question about the coil packs are the 02 compatible with my 03? Thanks...

 

As far as I know, they are all compatible, but later versions have a different part numbers because of internal upgrades.

 

The upper hose is the hot feed from the LHS of the transmission to the cooler.

The coolant outlet is on the LHS of the transmission because that's where the inlet and outlet ports for the torque converter control valve are.

The bottom hose is the cold return from the cooler to the RHS of the transmission.

See attached pictures, hope that helps,

Nick

 

I'm pretty sure all coil packs are compatible with all models, and that includes W215,W216, W220, W221 and the SL's.

The more recent coil packs are preferred though. Don't know why.

The old P/N's are :
A275 150 04 80 for the right side
A275 150 05 80 for the left

The new P/N's are:
A275 150 06 80 for the right
A275 150 07 80 for the left.

Nick

 

The 2002 cars are not turbo , are you sure they use the same coil

 

Yes. I've owned two of each.

 

Well, I spent hours combing this thread last night, particularly regarding the ABC hydraulic damper hose repairs. Today I met with a guy in the back lot of the MB dealership who was at the end of his rope and ready to give up on his S600. His had ruptured and he was staring at the $2800 repair quote from the dealer, after paying them over 4k for a new pump 3 months ago. I gave him $2700, and I now own a pretty clean 2004 S600 TTV12 with 78,000 miles, new wheels and tires, and a ruptured hydraulic hose. A score, I think.
I'm having it towed to my house tomorrow, and I'm ready to get started. Thanks to Howard, Nick and the others, I think I can do this, and have a brilliant car for the same money as a tired Corolla of the same vintage.

 

Welcome to the forum TZ, and good luck with your new project. I'm doing something similar on one of mine at the moment, so I can write and photograph everything.

Once you realise that you can repair the hardest things yourself, you won't be afraid of the scariest used car in the World any more, and you waft with Bentleys and race with Ferraris.

Nick

 

]
Hey guys,

Has anyone tried to use a ball joint press, like this, to fit bearings or bushes etc?

Cheers, Nick