S_Holford

Sometimes I wish I would've waited for a better kept example, however I've learned a lot since I've had to dive in and fix things. The 2 things that haven't been touched that I dread having issues are the hydraulic hoses and struts. Otherwise my next major repair will be rebuilding the front suspension. Paint correction on the bumpers is somewhere down the line too.

maw1124

Let's see if this works ... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...zRFKQ7AOYhDNaU

It's a handy ABC treatise that's too large for me to post here.

Download it and save it to a hard drive somewhere while you can.

maw

Baltistyle

[QUOTE=S_Holford;8942760]Thanks I'll check them out.[/QUOTE


https://www.mboemparts.com/oem-parts...-java-q6680555

TxBenzIn

I found a mechanic who will install the accumulators for me. I'm waiting on his price, but when I told him I needed to replace the accumulators, he sent me the link to the kit from fcpeuro so I think I'm on the right track.

Chief Complaint: Car displays Red "ABC Drive Carefully" fault on occasion when going over bumps. Not displayed any other time.

Accumulator Kit:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...-2203270115kit

Pulsation Dampener:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...tor-2203270215

Yes, I'm hard headed, but I appreciate all your patience and wisdom. Thank you.

maw1124

I'm assuming you downloaded and read the treatise a couple of posts above. Reading that is the day the ABC system in your car will all make sense.

maw

TxBenzIn

Yessir! TY!

paste

I took the time to review what is going on and good on you for keeping up with the ABC. I took the coilover route after buying new accumulators, flushing the system and rebuilding the valve blocks twice. The struts didn't leak, and the pump was less than two years old when I took possession of the car in 2021. I've got an entire ABC system scattered around my apartment that basically works but I feel so torn about this.

I remember trying to work under the car to change parts of the system and the fluid would just get everywhere. I bet if I had regular access to a lift, it may not have been so bad. I had messed around with some lowering links and it started giving me problems on the right rear so that seemed to be the icing on the cake. I will tell you that my car is not slammed and I have been rolling on 19" wheels since this past December.

I haven't got up to leave in the morning to find my car laying frame even if the bounciness got on my nerves for a while. I suspect the tophat nut was not tightened enough and while I managed to torque down the front, I couldn't get the rears down any further, even after hitting it with a right angle pneumatic torque wrench. I may have some better luck if I pull the whole coilovers off the car, but I haven't done that.

​​I have an emotional attachment to this car because a girl I knew in high school ended up dying from a rare brain cancer and her step dad had bought a brand new one before she had passed.
​

maw1124

Sell the parts or have them reinstalled. Brand new didn't come with coilovers for reasons.

ABC is not a DIY system in my opinion, just because I like a shop on the hook for something so major -- either stealership or independent -- even though it "should" be simple. YMMV.

So you probably made a couple mistakes in addition to the ones you've pointed out -- (1) DIY, then (2) coilover when that didn't go well.

This was my first "proper" Benz and the first one I actually wanted (kids were young at the time so a family sedan for Dad fit the brief) + it seems a 1 of 1 build, so there's my emotional attachment. I'm also happy I figured out the 1 or 2 fairly simple fixes that make the car easy to live with. So I just live with it. It's been a great car.

maw

paste

Looking back, I probably should have bought new valve bodies from the dealer to prevent the repeated headache. My neighbor had an older Bentley with the air suspension and had a horror story about it failing while driving on the freeway and it caused serious damage to other parts of the car so that didn't provide any additional reassurance. These systems work great for a few years but can be a real nightmare later on. Not always. I love Range Rover's styling but it's the same thing. Unless I was getting 24 month lease so that I could trade it in for a new one after it was up, I wouldn't want one.

maw1124

I understand. And that's kind of the point.

Unless you read up on them (which this site helped me to do, what, 15 years ago when I bought mine), the difference between ABC and Airmatic, MB and Range Rover engineering, would be completely lost upon you. I've learned over the years that MB ain't Range Rover (the worst Benz is better than a Range Rover -- and yes I'm serious), Airmatic isn't ABC, and MB used fluid hydraulics LONG before someone got the bright idea to try it with air. Fluid hydraulics goes way back to the 1930s with the original hydraulic brake designs. So just chucking the ABC system for coilovers was never gonna make any sense, and for fairly obvious reasons. So yes, new O-rings in a valve block always made more sense. At least you kept all the components.

Unless you took all the lines and fittings off the car you should be able to get back to ABC fairly easily. And even if not, because these trade so cheap, you can fill your emotional attachment for less than $15k.

Most emotional attachments cost several multiples of that number.

;-D

maw

S_Holford

If you ever decide to part ways with the ABC stuff I may be interested depending on where you are in AZ and if the price is right. I'm in North Las Vegas so a day trip wouldn't be too painful.

When I bought my car it wasn't maintained well by the PO but I somewhat knew this going into it. I probably would've been more disappointed had I bought one with lower mileage that needed this maintenance anyway. Either way, the more I fix, the more I like the car, and the more I enjoy driving it.
I often ask myself where do I stop though? I've just completed some paint restoration at home, replaced the thrust arms and lower ball joints this weekend, and currently awaiting new hubs/bearings to arrive. Next up is rear bearing replacement and looking into having the bumpers repainted. I feel like these cars are undervalued compared to the other M113k platforms but you have to be willing to put in the work to truly enjoy them for what they are. Call me a glutton for punishment but I've been looking at S600's lately as well.

Also, the older I get the less I like laying underneath cars on jackstands and crawling around on the ground. I want a lift but my garage ceiling isn't high enough.

maw1124

You're a glutton for punishment.

You're almost better off putting the leather dash and door cards from a 600 level car into your 55k, which is something I briefly contemplated. But then I heard my buddy in my head cursing me for asking him to do it, so I abandoned the idea.

If you must have those accoutrements, you may as well have an AMG and get an S65 instead.

My $.01 for your thoughts.

;-D

maw

paste

I'm in Phoenix and I do have the valve blocks, struts, ABC pump, accumulators and a couple of hoses. I left most of the lines on the car but the accumulators are practically brand new and the pump wasn't used for more than two years. I've been going back and forth on this forum about the value of ABC, so I haven't decided to get rid of anything. Arnott buys cores and the last time I checked, they offer $100 per strut so that is always a path I can take even though the ones I have aren't leaking. I like driving my car most of the time in its present state so I'm not in a rush to change anything around anytime soon.

Ironically, my car used to be owned by one of those high-end rental places in Las Vegas at the beginning of its life.

S_Holford

Well should you ever decide to part ways with the stuff I wouldn't expect you to give it away per se but keep me in mind. I'm fair about buying & selling parts.

paste

PM'ed

S_Holford

Oh I've been looking at those too, they just aren't in a price range I like yet.

PHILLYCLSJOE

Love all the back and forth from different experiences and advice from different members.

I'm about to pull the trigger on another $1500 order here this week which will include new Accumulators along with a slew of other maintenance items. Hopefully I can take some time in the next few weeks over a weekend and get them installed along with the other maintenance items i'll be purchasing.

The point made by S_Holford about the more you work on your car the more you enjoy it is 100% accurate, but i also believe you develop a better understanding of how everything works, and it eases your mind because you know what to look out for.

After the 2500 Mile round trip i took in my '04 S55 last year, i don't think i could do another road trip in anything less. The only option would be to upgrade to something newer W221 S65 or a CL65 coupe. I would love to drive one to see how they compare to the W220.

Once i get the parts I'll document the installation for this Thread and try to leave some feedback as much as i can.

- Joe

maw1124

The W221 65 are a lot bigger and heavier, and not as "simple" in the interior, so it wasn't motivating to me. At one point I test drove a W221 S65 at MB of Coral Gables where a friend ran the used lot. The thought was to trade in my 55 and pay the extra. In short I didn't like it. Between the extra size and the turbo it lost some of the athletic dynamism for me. If I was 6'5", 250lbs maybe it would fit. But I'm 5'9" 195lbs (pre-Covid), so it was just a boat to me. By the time the big girl started to develop boost it was time to hit the brakes. And by that time the kids were out of the house, so I didn't see the need to haul around that much car. These days the 55 feels like a bespoke suit -- just right for me.

And yeah, it's time for me to drop a few grand on her this year (oil, trans fluid, spark plugs, trans mount, new stereo, tires all around -- there's a list somewhere). But that's just part of the game. ABC is not on the list.

Definitely, caring for a 30+ year old Benz made me more appreciative of taking care of this one. It really just comes down to the money. If you can afford to replace the parts, the cars will be happy. And you'll always be driving more car than you're paying for.

;-D

maw

EDIT... BTW, it's good to have a new crop of sensible owners here... the forum was getting pretty quiet for a while there... a bunch of "how to make it faster" and "coilover" questions from the noobs... Me: "Quick answer, don't and don't" ... got boring

S_Holford

This is so true. I'm well versed in the smell of different fluids leaking and burning to know what the culprit is!

GrepAwk

I’m still lurking. Original owner of 2003
I ran out of garage space so parked the S55 in a family member’s spare garage bay. 2 years now. Alas it is not nearby enough to keep up with the weekly catching of mice or Jay Leno’s “drive it every now and then” exercises. I had a brief “ABC Warning” drive carefully/visit workshop message the day I put it away.

thus, I’m in for a fun day of flatbedding it to my home shop to do all the above items (sucking out the ABC and power steering reservoirs, refilling and flushing w/ fresh Pentosin, swapping all accumulators, checking all pressure lines, bleeding each strut, changing filters in both reservoirs one more time.…..).

Plus, it’s kneeling down on the right front corner. So, one of the solenoids in the front valve block needs some rebuild. That means all 4 of them need o-rings and Teflon rings.

as if I didn’t have better things to do this summer.

😁

maw1124

^^^ Welcome back!!

I don't have evidence for this because these cars are too "new"... but my guess is they'll "sit" about as well as the C126 M117 cars... which is to say not well at all.

Drive it or it'll drive you... straight to a sale.

;-D

maw

JohnLane

Paste....

I'm in the valley of the sun, have a hoist and intermittently have time and inclination to abuse stupid cars such as ours.

I don't work for free but am a lot more reasonable than MB.

JohnLane

MB managed to effectively solve issues that made the 220 mark it's spot + give reason to know scents of all the different fluids as they evaporate or burn with the 221 cars.
222 cars are better still. My preference being the bent-12 powered cars. The 113K is fantastic. Wish MB kept it rather than go the turbo route for the bent eights. Alas... I'm the consumer. .Fed and bean counters make the engineering decisions.