Yes! It seems like every time I'm driving mine I catch someone in traffic gawking at it. Some kid (mid 20s maybe) this week was recording it with his phone. Men, women, kids, everyone looks at it like "what is THAT?"

maw

 

OP storing a car with ABC with no pressure in it... be it just down on the bump stops or hanging on stands is not good for hydraulic parts that are designed to have pressure in them. Let it sit without pressure and seals ‘forget’ how to seal. This ensures a lot more time fiddling with it once you go to get her up and running again.

My suggestion.... fresh fluid everywhere. Lots of bleeders around the car. With the car on tip toes (engine off) crack every bleeder loose one at a time and catch the fluid in your bleeder bottle. Be sure fresh fluid is everywhere. Helps.

I would solve the issue(s) making it drop before longer term storage. Then park it on tip toes. Weight on the wheels.

Best wishes.

 

I got a lot more of that in the 500E. The 221 S-65 got some looks. The 222 S-65 is comparatively invisible but it gets a LOT of respect in the left lane. I appreciate that.

 

Truth about the 500E, no doubt. But mine is debadged from the factory so folks aren't really sure. Plus now everyone knows AMG, so...

maw

 

I will take your advice. I appreciate it.

Also very jealous of the both of you for owning a 500E. Another dream car of mine. Let me know when you get tired of it and want to add another S55 to the stable. I would consider doing a straight trade

Theres a guy on Youtube/Instagram that posted a video a little while back. His name is "Young Timers Garage" on Youtube and he does a lot of Mercedes/AMG stuff. He found a 500E at a local car lot that looked to be sitting for a bit. I believe it may be up for auction here shortly, or may have already hit the block. I reached out a few weeks ago and he said he was looking for around $45k. Beautiful car in a beautiful spec. I'm sure he made/will make a couple bucks on that flip.

I found a gentleman in a W124 560SEC on I-95 on the way home. I was shocked at how fast and how well that car kept up with me. We had a decent bit of open road and he was damn near on my a$$.

I've owned both a W123 and a W124. 1984 300CD Turbo and an 1988 560SEL. The 123 was a slug but loved hitting the highway. The 560SEL surprised me with the torque. No issues grabbing second and kicking the back end out a bit.

I sold the W123 to a younger guy from NY. Had some paint work done to it when i owned it and a bit of maintenance but unfortunately bought it with a friend to flip. Wish i would have gave him his end back and kept it. It was a beautiful car.

Gotta love this Brand -

Joe

 

OP you will appreciate how the S-55 doesn’t run out of brakes at 80mph when you have called for a serious stop from three digits compared with any 123 or 126.
My 500E had woefully inadequate brakes as original. The ‘96 S-600 same thing.
As much fun as the older cars were the real AMG cars with real brakes, suspension tuning, interiors, sound... POWER.... are sooo much better.
What an amazing time to be alive.

 

100%… The 220.174 was the first car that made me stand up, pay attention and say “now THOSE are brakes”!!! People do the R129 600 brake upgrade on the 124.036, but I don’t think it comes close to the stock brakes on these cars. My 500E is a RENNTech car so the suspension had been lowered and beefed up with Koni Yellows up front and Heim links in the rear. I returned the Heim to stock links but kept it lowered and stiffened. I’d gladly buy both cars again TBH, which is saying something for me.

maw

 

Well...it happened. I blew an ABC line. (At least i believe thats what happened.)

No fault but my own as I should have taken the advice of others here and replaced the accumulators sooner. (or just not have driven the car until i did so)

I had to pick my folks up from PHL International yesterday, and on the return back home I heard a pop from the rear driver side with an immediate red ABC message on the dash to drive carefully as I heard the ABC fluid spew out.

Luckily the car just barely made it home before causing any damage. My hurdle now is to getting the car back to my hanger so i can work on it, without causing further damage. The last thing i want to do is run that car without ABC fluid and risk destroying the tandem pump. (any advise is welcomed and appreciated)

I also just spoke to my Mechanic who installed the lower control arms and asked for a quote for both the Accumulators as well as the lines to be replaced. He's just about one of the only people i trust to work on this car. I'm during having a proper lift would make this job 100x easier.

It'll get fixed and it will be nice knowing that the system is almost new in its entirety. For what its worth, as i'm not 100% sure its a line just yet, it did come from the driver side rear of the vehicle where i noticed that was the corner that would sag very quickly upon parking, followed up by the driver side front.

I also noticed while test fitting a set of wheels i purchased for the car a few weeks ago, that the driver side rear strut had been replaced at some point, as it has "04 CL55" written on it in white sharpie. Possible strut failure? possible strut line failure? I'll have to investigate further and see. I'm also debating on wether i should buy a new strut specifically for the S55 to replace it. I read a lot in the pamphlet that "Maw" sent me about the cause and effect of the ABC system and how rare it is to have a strut fail. However having said that, i'm sure it happens from time to time, and i'm not sure if the CL and S class have different load capacity or not. (i can't imagine they do?)

Figured i would post this here both for advice as well as to document whats going on with the car. Hopefully it help's someone else out in the future as well. I will say that there were warning signs this was going to happen. Mainly the short and quick "Ding" while going over my neighborhood speed bumps right after pulling out of the community. In my mind, I knew the accumulators would need replacing, but i figured i still had enough time to change them. Wrong! If you start getting those quick "Dings" its time to replace them immediately. Let that be noted.

One more thing i would like to note as i am realizing this as I'm writing, and i recently watched a video that seemed to have explained why, but i would notice on occasion that the ABC reservoir would have fluid that seemingly was forced out. We'll thats exactly what was happening and apparently its a direct cause of having a failing accumulator(s). Just want to note that as well.

Side note, I took advantage of some black Friday deals and ordered myself a VRP split cooling kit, so I'm looking forward to receiving that. However, priorities, i know.

- Joe

 

Stinks that happened, but glad to hear you got it back to your shop without further damage. FCP Euro carries the struts and they fit both the S55 and the CL55. I keep a real sharp eye on the fluid level and appearance in the reservoir. Freakin' **** about it actually. So far so good but I check it hot with the car running before every fill up and cold before the next drive following. My new bugaboo is P02 codes, cylinder misfire. OBDII scanner lists a freaking laundry list of possible causes, but after replacing Coil 4 and Wire 4A and having it almost immediately reappear on Cylinder 2, I came to the conclusion (hopeful) that some LiquiMoly injector cleaner was in order. Solved a Cat Convertor code with a couple cans of CataClean so we'll see if I get lucky again.
Good luck!

 

Joe, sorry you had to F around and find out... the reality of these cars is when they start voicing their displeasure you're already late... there is no more time... don't be surprised if the struts are common to both cars... a part number search will tell you... they're probably common to the 65 cars as well.

CICBarKeep, that random misfire is likely a leak somewhere... I'd smoke test the car next, probably some vacuum hose on its way out. I can't think of anything else... a roaming lean code is either too much air somewhere or not enough fuel somewhere, since you've already handled spark. If the PO didn't do a fuel pump, I might look at fuel pump and filter after smoke test. All these fuel pumps are overdue by now. If no leaks and fuel pump / filter are fresh, then it might be time for coils and wires.

maw

 

The fluid gushing out of the reservoir is not a direct cause of, like you wrote, but is caused by a failed accumulator. That might be what you meant, but it's not what you wrote. Also, a blown line is caused by a failed accumulator. Both happen because there's nowhere for the pressure spikes to go if the accumulators are bad.

The entire purpose of having the accumulators is to absorb the pressure spikes of suspension compression. When a strut compresses, that fluid has to go somewhere. By design, it goes into the accumulator, i.e. "accumulates" there, by compressing the nitrogen behind the diaphragm. As far as I know, the only cause of a popped hydraulic line is a failed accumulator, because the pressure spike is not properly absorbed when the accumulator has no compressible gas behind the diaphragm.

Do NOT drive the car, or even start it up, if it's low on fluid! You must have it towed, or you'll be looking for a new ABC pump. Their dry running lifetime is literally seconds.

I will now fail to resist the temptation to point out how many times in this thread I have said to replace the accumulators... If any component in the system can be ranked highest in importance for proper functionality, it is the accumulators.

EDIT: Well, it was only once in this thread, but I suggested it in the other thread, too, where he posted about getting the car in the first place.

 

Yes to all this, and "fail to resist" you did exceedingly well.😂

If you think about it, too little fluid in the system should reduce the pressure not increase it. So when people add fluid when they should be changing accumulators is what earns you fluid spewing forth from reservoir (or a popped line). If you've ever checked your fluid level you know this. That plunger at the top doesn't come off easily. If fluid is getting past that plunger, then the pressure in the system is literally higher than the pressure relief valves can handle. To whooshee's point, the ONLY thing in this system that CAN cause that kind of pressure is failed accumulators. There are no other culprits capable of causing that problem (or popping a line).

maw

 

Totally understand. Thanks guys.

 

I was able to take some time and diagnose where the leak is coming from, and was hoping someone could help me out with an exact part number?

it‘s the second of the two main lines running from the valve block to the front of the vehicle. It’s the line that goes into the bottom of the valve block.

Top line with the fluid and my finger.




it appears to be a straightforward job however I’ve never done one before, any tips or tricks are always welcomed and appreciated. Hope to get this line ordered today and have it up a running so I can get it back to storage. Then the very next job will be tackling the accumulators.

- Joe

 

I'm stumped (no surprise). Is it leaking from the fitting you have your finger on? That looks like it might be a previous repair.

 

The rubber part of the line is what blew. Theres a hole in the top of the line. The best way I could seem to diagnose it was to top off the reservoir with fluid, have someone inside the car turn the key, and i crawled under there. After a few quick seconds i could see where it was coming from and immediately turned the car off, the reservoir still full of fluid. The last thing I wanted was to run the car without fluid. Made for a mess but it was the best way in my opinion to figure out exactly where it was coming from.

I am pretty sure its this line -

Mercedes Suspension Self-Leveling Unit Line - Genuine Mercedes 2203200254

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...ine-2203200254

It has a small valve block on the end of the line towards the front of the vehicle.

I'll put an order in for it and hopefully i can get it installed next weekend. It may be the last weekend and last chance i have before the weather really takes a downturn.

 

Good luck with it! Never having been under there I wasn't sure what I was looking at. All the best, and have a great Christmas Season!

 

Thanks for the kind words Dave.

Same to you and your family, Merry Christmas!

- Joe

 

JohnLane any insights here?

maw

 

The new ABC line is in and the system is holding pressure. I took some time this afternoon and replaced it. In all honesty, it wasn't that difficult of a job surprisingly enough. With a lift you could probably knock it out in about 20-30 minutes tops. I took my time and made sure i pout everything back the proper way. I left the under cover plastics off for the time being until i replace the accumulators, which will be the very next thing i do. However now at least i can get the car back to the shop. I also ordered a brand new ABC dip-stick as the original one was staring to split at the rubber top.

Very pleased. Very happy for now. It's a Christmas miracle lol.

I'm also getting some seepage from the valve cover gaskets leaking onto the manifolds so that will get address here shortly as well. I'll plan on refreshing the whole top end along with the ignition system as well, plugs, wires, coils etc. Just some preventive maintenance.

Thanks for the help thus far gents, and Merry Christmas to all.

- Joe

 

Merry Christmas Joe! Good result! VCG leak all the time which is why they get replaced every 5/50 with spark plugs.

Cheers,

maw

 

Inexpensive hydraulic line? Buy from whomever has one of quality.

Ridiculous $$$ for a line? Take the damaged line to someone who does hydraulic hose repairs. Anyone who deals with tractors will either do it in house or know a guy. You’ll spend a C-Note or less for any hydraulic hose repair.

OP..... Replace the accumulators yet? Don’t start the car again before doing so.

Valve cover gaskets are easy. Good opportunity to give it fresh coils and 16 spark plugs + all new spark plug wires. Don’t over torque spark plugs. Use a toothbrush style wire brushie to clean up all sealing surfaces with flammable brake clean until all surfaces shine. Know someone with a parts washer? Throw valve covers in the washing machine for half an hour and they will look like new. Work smarter not harder.

 

I knew you had something specific ... I just couldn't remember what... "tractor repair"... got it.

maw

 

Factory MB Hydraulic line was $150 shipped. I would classify that as inexpensive. I have a great hydraulic shop near by, they rebuilt two hydraulic arms for my Four Winns last season. I rather put a factory line back in then have them Fab something up personally.

All worked out.

Accumulators are next.

FYI, I spoke to the gentleman who shipped my line out from MB of Farmington out in Utah. He gave me the scoop, MBDealerparts.com to purchase all of your factory MB parts. Cheaper then FCPeurp as well.

- Joe

 

MB Naperville is also a great source, I learned in 500E circles. I've used them a bunch. Also better than FCP, probably the same prices as MB Dealerparts.

Cheers,

maw