Hello- I bought an s600 off eBay a couple months ago and thought I would make a thread about it- since as they say misery loves company. Here is a pic:

First mod was to remove the hood star- I bought the car for the sleeper factor and the hood ornament kinda ruins that.


It had 68k when I bought it and I put about 1000 miles on it before it started making a whining noise when warm- especially decelerating at higher speeds/rpm. Thought it might be the idler pulleys or tensioner so I replaced them with the kit from autohausaz-no change but at least I know there are new. I was convinced that the noise was power steering related since it seemed to vary when the wheel was turned- but then I noticed bubbles in the abc filter I had installed earlier in my paranoia about the abc system (bubbles not shown In this):

After perusing the internet I stumbled on a post from someone with very similar symptoms as mine and it turned out to be the accumulator by the passenger wheel. I have one coming in the mail from amazon.

Also changed the tranny fluid via the radiator connector- made the mistake of doing it in the dark and didn’t realize the funnel I was using was massively overflowing until air started coming out the tubing line I was using instead of fluid. Oops. Got everything squared away though after that.

When I was looking at the accumulator I noticed the hpe hose was leaking at the end plug (when the outer sleeve is pressed you can see the fluid come out the top):



Which is irritating because the eBay ad specifically mentioned it had been replaced before. After reading about other folks getting lines made and using compression fittings, I decided that is the way I was going to go. So tonight I removed the fan and one other line that was in the way to get to the hpe hose. Instead of going through the hassle of removing the pump side of the line I went ahead and used this guy to cut it off in situ:



I figured this would be a good test for doing other lines like this because if I failed miserably I could always replace it the ‘correct’ way. Although I was nervous about fluid rushing out, only a small stream came out once I broke through the metal. When removed with the outer protector cut off this is what it looked like:



Nice and wet. Tomorrow I plan to get the hose made and hopefully reinstalled. Also on the list to do is the keyless go mod that works with keys, and possibly the Bluetooth phone mod. If the car gives me a couple years of relatively issue- free service I plan on putting in a Kleeman tune, but don’t feel like tackling the coil/spark plug issues that will likely result until the car has paid for itself a little bit...

 

Update: apparently it is much easier for the UK/Canadian crew to get hoses made. The couple places I went to seemed to think it was going to be tough to do. I finally convinced the local NAPA that if I bought this and had them make a 3/8" hose with a pipe fitting it should work. Thoughts? I would only use half of it; the middle section would be the hose fitting.

 

Try going to a forklift hydraulics repair shop , not Napa auto parts

 

I did try a couple- if this doesn't work out I will try some more. I must have not explained what I needed very well because they said they couldn't do it. Had my 2 kids along at the time which didn't help either.

 

The Dorman part 800-206 came in today and it is indeed a 10mm to 3/8" adapter. And since I am only using 1 end I have an extra if I screw it up. I plan on getting the line made tomorrow. In the meantime I decided to tackle the accumulator. The narrow fitting necessitated a slight 'modification' to an open-end wrench. FYI a 15/16" will work just fine on it.

It was somewhat difficult to get enough torque in it because of the flex in the mount, so I rigged up this solution:

Careful when it breaks free

As reported by other folks, not much oil comes out:

I'm not sure how to tell if the accumulator was bad or not, but the old one rattles when I shake it, the new one didn't. Hopefully this fixes the whining noise.

 

There are 4 air cells you really need to change all at the same time . the front and rear accumulators (You need two) is: A220-327-01-15

Be advised there are two other nitrogen spheres in the system as well. One is mounted to the pressure relief valve (Part #A220-327-02-15) which is found in the front right side of the vehicle.

The other is a small nitrogen chamber (Called an Air Cell) that sits near the fuel pump in the driver side mid/center of the vehicle, (Part #A220-320-04-15).

It is my feeling that part is what's making your noise .

 

Picture #3 is your introduction to what I believe every toolhead who owns a MB has! Some which required sutures!

 

Yes- I changed x20-15; I was going to be lazy and replace the others later but your message convinced me to drop another $500...thanks, I guess

 

Yup- to be honest I'm not even sure what cut it but it also got me right under the eye.

 

Update:
Installed the new hose, wasn't sure exactly how tight to make the compression fitting since I haven't worked with them before but just went until it felt tight 'enough'. Hose is rated at 400 bar so it is an upgrade over what I took off.


The compression fitting fit right into the clamp; on the plug end I had to remove the rubber jacket on the clamp because the new one was larger than the old one. Seemed to work well.
I dropped the car down on my ramps and checked for leaks: nothing! Raised it up and down a few times and everything looked good.
Decided to replace the front accumulator which was uneventful. Stuck the back of a drill bit in the old one and it slowly compressed and hissed air; I could tell there was fluid in it as well. Thanks to tusabes for the prod to do it. I'll have to do the back ones soon as well. Question I have- any idea if this can be tightened or something to stop the slight leak?