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Trans mount was just done, Engine mounts are up next. I was contemplating creative steel, but i may just stick with OEM for now. Throwing too much money at the car and you guys all say oem is the way to go, so for now thats what will be installed.
Trans mount was just done, Engine mounts are up next. I was contemplating creative steel, but i may just stick with OEM for now. Throwing too much money at the car and you guys all say oem is the way to go, so for now thats what will be installed.
- Joe
Was contemplating the same thing and ended up going stock on all three. Sorry to hear about your issues Joe, hopefully you're reaching the end of THAT road. Gotta' say, I'm feeling pretty fortunate.
Mechanic (also a very good friend of mine) called me right after i left the shop and said he started poking around, and that the bottom oil cooler line was split, and rubbing against the power steering pulley (Tandem pump I'm thinking). I wasn't going to start firing off questions. I said "Ok i'll be up tomorrow morning and we'll put a game plan together". Before i left the shop, I made it a point to tell him to hold off on moving the car until i run him up a bunch of Pentosin, lets fill the reservoir so we don't run the pump dry while pulling it into the shop. So now my wheels are turning and i started thinking. The bottom of the pan was wet from a week ago in which the mechanic said he cleaned it really well and to keep an eye on it. I'm thinking it was weeping this whole time, and it finally let loose. The oil i used was the Lugi-molly-gen High milage oil which is the same Green color as the Pentosin. So i think thats where the confusion has come into play. My only thinking as to why i got a White ABC light was because the pump was spraying so much oil all over the place that i was getting belt slip, the pump wasn't building pressure, and thats what triggered the light. Thats the only thing i can think of. When the tow truck finally showed up, i told him i wanted to pull the car onto the flat bed because it has to be cut off immediately. When i turned the car on and began to pull it up, i felt the suspension jump up in the air and pressurize. I said to myself thats odd, but it makes sense. I also lost power steering slightly for a minute when i was pulling into the gas station first thing this morning, and the only thing i can think of there is that there was so much oil that the belt was just slipping.
So thats where were at for now. I'll know more in the morning. I started looking around for a W220 oil cooler line and i cant find anything on any site. W211 Lines but nothing for a W220 AMG. I'll have to call around and see if i can source one.
As always thanks for the quick responses and brainstorming gents, at the least the community helps relieve some stress. You always think worse case scenario when these things pop up.
I'll report back.
- Joe
I’ve read some of the cooler lines may be discontinued but a hydraulic shop can repair or custom make one. Check this out as that stock line is pretty pricey. You may be able to match it up as the w211 line but the one with split cooling. Do you know the part number? Maybe I missed it?
Last edited by Baltistyle; Nov 19, 2024 at 05:40 PM.
I was actually able to call MB of Farmington Utah, they seem to be the main distributor for FCP Euro and they pull inventory from all over the country. I was able to get a schematic as well as (2) separate part numbers for each line.
On a stock M113K oil cooler, The top line is the Feed and the Bottom line the Return.
Feed line - 1131800382
Return Line - 1131800482
If you punch those numbers into MBDealerparts website it will pull both of them up, and they are both in stock & roughly $190/piece. Not too bad considering W211 Lines sold only as a package on FCP are over $400
My mechanic said it was partially due to the "Radiator Installer" lol I take responsibility
I'll have a new line in probably early next week, then we can work on getting the motor mounts figured out.
OP Hydraulic hoses can be remade by any shop who does hydraulic work. No need to spend big bucks on OEM lines unless you are being a purist.... In which case; understood.
If mounts were any part of hydraulic hose failure they need doing every bit as much as the line that peed all over the place.
I’ve not done mounts in a 220 car but if they are even remotely similar to doing them in a 211 or 221 AMG car they are very easy and a ‘gimme’ while doing hydraulic lines.
Pssst.... Listen closely.... In over 150,000 miles my 221 S-65 never had a hydraulic hose fail. Got to do mounts annually.
My 222 S-65 has had zero hydraulic line failures. 140,000 on it. Haven’t needed to do mounts in it either. They both have had the accumulator at the pump done multiple times. I feel your pain as you deal with your 220. It is an abusive relationship and you choose the abuser. *Wink!
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by JohnLane
OP Hydraulic hoses can be remade by any shop who does hydraulic work. No need to spend big bucks on OEM lines unless you are being a purist.... In which case; understood.
If mounts were any part of hydraulic hose failure they need doing every bit as much as the line that peed all over the place.
I’ve not done mounts in a 220 car but if they are even remotely similar to doing them in a 211 or 221 AMG car they are very easy and a ‘gimme’ while doing hydraulic lines.
Pssst.... Listen closely.... In over 150,000 miles my 221 S-65 never had a hydraulic hose fail. Got to do mounts annually.
My 222 S-65 has had zero hydraulic line failures. 140,000 on it. Haven’t needed to do mounts in it either. They both have had the accumulator at the pump done multiple times. I feel your pain as you deal with your 220. It is an abusive relationship and you choose the abuser. *Wink!
JohnLane why do you think the accumulator on the pump goes more than the others, and do you think that's a 65 only issue due to the extra weight? Do they go without the tell tale humming at ~2000 RPM?
OP Hydraulic hoses can be remade by any shop who does hydraulic work. No need to spend big bucks on OEM lines unless you are being a purist.... In which case; understood.
If mounts were any part of hydraulic hose failure they need doing every bit as much as the line that peed all over the place.
I’ve not done mounts in a 220 car but if they are even remotely similar to doing them in a 211 or 221 AMG car they are very easy and a ‘gimme’ while doing hydraulic lines.
Pssst.... Listen closely.... In over 150,000 miles my 221 S-65 never had a hydraulic hose fail. Got to do mounts annually.
My 222 S-65 has had zero hydraulic line failures. 140,000 on it. Haven’t needed to do mounts in it either. They both have had the accumulator at the pump done multiple times. I feel your pain as you deal with your 220. It is an abusive relationship and you choose the abuser. *Wink!
It's my understanding the ABC system was upgraded after the W220's. Was the pulsation damper (accumulator) found at the passenger side front of the 220 moved to the pump on the 221's?
Hey maw! Off subject, but I'm running into some rough shift issues and parking lot speed deceleration shudder and remember you mentioning a good source for Valve Bodies. Thanks!
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by CICBarkeep
It's my understanding the ABC system was upgraded after the W220's. Was the pulsation damper (accumulator) found at the passenger side front of the 220 moved to the pump on the 221's?
That change also made my '06 W220 55, from what I recall. I'll call you about the VB.
JohnLane why do you think the accumulator on the pump goes more than the others, and do you think that's a 65 only issue due to the extra weight? Do they go without the tell tale humming at ~2000 RPM?
maw
Cute little accumulator that threads into the ABC portion of the duo-pump for 221 ABC cars and the MBC pump for 222 cars no doubt fails more often as it is doing real dampening of pressure pulsations as the pump operates VS behaving as a reservoir of pressurized oil for ABC/MBC.
It looks to be the same part for 221 vs 222. ABC/MBC is most common in V12 powered cars. I also had a 222 car with the 4.7tt V-8 that had MBC. I have not seen a 221 V-8 powered car with ABC. But I’ve not looked for them. I bet the 221 S-63 has it.
ABC/MBC cars suspension are silent when all is happy and healthy.
It's my understanding the ABC system was upgraded after the W220's. Was the pulsation damper (accumulator) found at the passenger side front of the 220 moved to the pump on the 221's?
Yes; seems much changed for 221 cars. Yes; the pulsation damper moved to the pump for 221 and 222 cars.
MBC in my 222 car is as much improved over a 221 as a 221 is improved over a 220. Really.
Mid-Winter update on the S55 thats just been hibernating.
The last few weeks on warm days i started tinkering and got a few things accomplished, while also trying to tackle more issues that have arisen.
Bottom oil cooler line was removed and taken to my hydraulic shop and repaired. Done. If i can find a factory line to replace it with later down the road i'll do so, however i won't have any issues with it for the foreseeable future as-is. Dealer was out of stock of the line i needed.
I'm still getting a flickering driver side headlight (which is driving me nuts). Removed headlight, replaced ballast, replaced HID bulb, repaired the failing wiring harness that has just disintegrated in my hand with liquid electrical tape best i could, re-installed and still flickering. I think the wiring harness deeper inside the headlight is arching due to the covering becoming brittle and wires are touching somewhere. Not sure what route to go, aftermarket headlights look brand new but i'm not sure about quality. OEM headlights on eBay are a good option, but am i going to run into the same issue with the harness disintegrating all over again?
After the oil line blew and sprayed oil everywhere, the car has been locked into 2nd gear. There is no info on the dash that tells me what gear I'm in, and i can not shift into 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th manually. Just 2nd. I'm also getting a P0600 code which is a "Serial Comm link" issue which tells me my TCU is not communicating with the rest of the car. I ordered a conductor plate rebuild kit through FCP Euro and installed it yesterday. (Not an easy job laying on your back with only jack stands, i would highly recommend a lift, or just bite the bullet and let your indy do it. probably wouldn't charge that much as its not a very difficult job, but a PITA without a lift) Bolted everything back up, filled it up with fresh trans fluid and still getting the same code and locked in 2nd gear. The 16 pin connector was covered in oil, and i'm thinking the wires have wicked the oil up into the TCU. I'll be heading back over in a few hours to pull the TCU out and see if i can clean up the connections with some electrical contact cleaner and see what happens.
I also bought (2) ABC Valve block rebuild kits which will get tackled here soon. Car is sagging more and more and i want that fixed. My last question regarding the ABC for the group is this...
Ive replaced everything in the front suspension other then the shocks. While doing upper control arms, i noticed that the leveling links may have been replaced at some point with adjustable links. Factory links from what I've seen are non adjustable. The car before the suspension work sat up high, which seemed like factory ride height. After doing all of the suspension work the car is sitting way lower on the highest setting then before. I put everything back exactly the same, including the links. Nothing was messed with as far as i'm aware. so my question is, how do i go about calibrating the suspension to get it back as close as possible to a factory ride height setting? If i do need to adjust the "Adjustable links", do i adjust them longer or shorter in the front, to raise the car? the rear seems fine for the most part, its only the front where I've noticed a significant drop.
I'll report back later on my findings with the TCU once i dig a little deeper.
Decent amount of oil on the plug
Does anyone know if these are in fact the updated "Blue Top" Shift solenoids from factory?
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Joe, the trans fluid wicking is a common problem. It comes from a failed O-Ring at the plug. We tend to tell people to do that first, immediately upon acquiring the car. Not sure how that slipped here. But what that means is you probably need a new TCU and harness. The TCU's are cheap on the used market (try eBay Seller Autohubshop) but IDK about the harnesses. I got mine before the fluid wicked.
That said, draining and cleaning your current TCU with electrical cleaner and a bag of rice or microfiber rags to soak up the runoff is something that I've read about in this forum years ago. A good search might pull it all up. If it were me, I'd get another TCU while I work on mine. Knowing what you're doing on the car, maybe just get a tuned TCU now from mkultra (https://mkultraelectronics.com/produ...edes-benz-s55/). In fact, I probably would not spend any time on the old TCU. Life is too short.
As for the suspension, I'm one for 100% stock, so I can't help there.
I'd similarly just replace the headlamp (both of them actually, while I can), but I haven't thought about the harness. For some reason I feel like it comes with the headlight. Check with your local dealer on that.
Great points regarding the TCU, MAW. Their Black Series map sounds delightful.
Theres a Renntech tuned TCU on eBay right now at a decent price, but a gamble if its authentic and the map is probably not advanced as MK Ultra's.
Let me dive deeper into mine and i'll decide what direction i want to go. I really hope the harness isn't soaked, it looks like that would be nightmare to replace.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Unfortunately that wicking harness issue has history within MB. It's reportedly the reason a lot of V12 owners back in the '90s would just leave the cars are the dealers and get another car rather than replace the computers. Please let us know what you find out.
Almost any TCU you buy off eBay will have fluid in it. Ask me how I know. It would be interesting to see how much drains out of your TCU. You should put it in a ziploc and set vertically so it can drain "for science".
maw
EDIT... speaking of, Joe, I'm bringing mine out of slumber today for a bit
Well our fears have been confirmed. Decent amount of Trans fluid inside the TCU. I wasn't able to drain it into anything clear, but I would say a good amount of oil was inside. I disassembled, cleaned, and even re-soldered a piece that was broken off. No dice. Plugged it back in and still no info on the dash and locked in 2nd gear. It looks like I'm going to have to replace the harness if infact the interior is wicking up oil. I quickly checked online but doesn't look like any are for sale currently.
I'll buy a cheap TCU and plug it in and hope it works. If not it'll will probably be narrowed down to the harness, in which case i'll have to figure out how i'm going to tackle that.
On a heater today....just ordered OEM Engine/trans mounts along with the 16mm short wrench off of amazon.
Going to try and tackle these here shortly as well. Planning another trip to Florida in April so trying to get this car bulletproof for another road trip.
Trans mount was just done but at least I'll have a spare in stock if needed.
Last edited by PHILLYCLSJOE; Mar 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by PHILLYCLSJOE
Just bought the "RennTech" TCU off of eBay.
Should be here this week, I'll plug it in and see what happens. Who knows, maybe ill get lucky.
- Joe
One can hope.
But the amount of fluid on the TCU side of that harness isn't giving me optimism.
That said, fluid in the harness might not mean anything except as it impacts the computer board itself. If that's the case, another TCU is just another soon to be fouled TCU.
Second gear is limp mode, so I wonder if there's some other transmission overload switch that needs triggering or replacing.
Correct. What I found with RaceIQ Tcu that was included as an extra with a car that I bought is that the paddle shifters no longer worked in every mode. The shifts were very quick BUT very jarring. I could only imagine using sport mode on a track. I believe the shifter paddle is dependent on the year of the car. Mine was an 03 with full function paddles in every mode prior to the install.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
I don't know what the break point is for this... probably has to do with blue top solenoids in the valve body... but I have a RaceIQ TCU and the paddles work in every mode EXACTLY as they did stock... but quicker shifts.
Mine is an '06 but IDK whether '04 had the blue top solenoids.
Let's see what what the RT TCU does for Joe.
I actually have a spare of some TCU, just not sure which at this point, RaceIQ or MKUltra. Both will be surplus soon as I think I'm going back to full stock everywhere.
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