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I haven't driven the car a lot lately due to working crazy hours. Today I made a 140 mile round trip, pull into the driveway and my tandem pump sounds like rattling ball bearings. Fluid level is good, no leaks, no dash lights, just noise today and the occasional steering feeling stiff (which I also believe to be an indication of something about to take a *****). Am I experiencing imminent tandem pump failure here? Fluid is still clean as well. According to the car's maintenance history the pump was replaced around 70k miles, has 145k now.
I've seen the rebuild kits but this doesn't sound like a failure of soft parts. I suppose on a good note the car made it home without fragging anything and resulting in a tow.
I almost hate to ask, but did you check the power steering reservoir? Recently changed the filters in both reservoirs on mine and while the ABC level was spot on, the p.s. fluid barely covered the tip of the dipstick. Just a thought.
I almost hate to ask, but did you check the power steering reservoir? Recently changed the filters in both reservoirs on mine and while the ABC level was spot on, the p.s. fluid barely covered the tip of the dipstick. Just a thought.
Yep, it was actually the first thing I checked. I’m wondering if the rattling I’m hearing is broken springs inside the pump. I looked at a few rebuild videos on the pump and I haven’t seen anyone mention if and where they can get the hard parts, such as springs. One guy mentioned a “close match” from McMaster-Carr but I don’t think I’m gambling on “close” or trimming coils. This is one of those jobs I don’t feel like tearing into twice out of incompetence on my end.
Yep, it was actually the first thing I checked. I’m wondering if the rattling I’m hearing is broken springs inside the pump. I looked at a few rebuild videos on the pump and I haven’t seen anyone mention if and where they can get the hard parts, such as springs. One guy mentioned a “close match” from McMaster-Carr but I don’t think I’m gambling on “close” or trimming coils. This is one of those jobs I don’t feel like tearing into twice out of incompetence on my end.
Way beyond my capabilities so I sure don't blame you there. You might private message Philly or Maw and see if they have any suggestions.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
If no one chimes in, and in the meantime, maybe reach out to eBay seller autohubshop, who literally has dozens of tandem pumps for sale, and try to quiz him about how they go bad. If your filters are clear and your fluid is at the right spec, who knows? I certainly don't. But people here and those selling the part would be good people to ask.
The little Nitrogen bomb that threads into the pump. Do this first unless the fluid has glitter in it which says the pump has ground itself to bits.
Did some reading and a number of people mentioned symptoms like yours and it turned out to be the pulsation damper. Passenger side front wheel well on the S55 AMG.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
I figured he'd done all of that already. Folks EVERY question about suspension or power steering on these cars starts with fluid, filters and accumulators. Every. The inquiry may not end there but it must start there.
The accumulators, fluids and flush (ABC, brakes & trans) were the first order of business when I bought it. I appreciate the responses though. I'll have to dig into it when I have time. Speaking of time, if the tandem pump is taking a dump I'll probably just replace it and be done with it. I did look up autohubshop on ebay and it appears as though he only had used ones for sale, but I'll check again since the wife tells me I'm blind! I'll also look around to see if I can find a reputable re-man with some kind of warranty.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Yes, autohubshop is used... but everything I've ever gotten from them was in very good condition.
Pro Tip: typically on their listings, at least one of the pics will show the VIN of the car and sometimes the description will disclose the mileage. So you can get choosy from there. I wouldn't hesitate to put a low mile OEM pump in one of these. I might regret it, but I wouldn't hesitate. These parts are VERY robust, and if the mileage is low enough, it's very tough to destroy them.
maw
EDIT... + they have a 90 day warranty... maybe someone here knows of a hydraulic rebuilder or you have a hydraulic shop in your town that can rebuild them.
Yes, autohubshop is used... but everything I've ever gotten from them was in very good condition.
Pro Tip: typically on their listings, at least one of the pics will show the VIN of the car and sometimes the description will disclose the mileage. So you can get choosy from there. I wouldn't hesitate to put a low mile OEM pump in one of these. I might regret it, but I wouldn't hesitate. These parts are VERY robust, and if the mileage is low enough, it's very tough to destroy them.
maw
EDIT... + they have a 90 day warranty... maybe someone here knows of a hydraulic rebuilder or you have a hydraulic shop in your town that can rebuild them.
I guess I'll be the guinea pig for the Amazon pump. I received it a couple days ago, packaged well, doused in oil inside the bag. Ebay has the same one except they ask for a core charge, Amazon does not. Initial thoughts....the gunmetal paint doesn't appear very durable and I'm not crazy about the paint inside the electrical connector, but we shall see. I'll give it a fair shake and hope I won't be doing this job twice.
I guess I'll be the guinea pig for the Amazon pump. I received it a couple days ago, packaged well, doused in oil inside the bag. Ebay has the same one except they ask for a core charge, Amazon does not. Initial thoughts....the gunmetal paint doesn't appear very durable and I'm not crazy about the paint inside the electrical connector, but we shall see. I'll give it a fair shake and hope I won't be doing this job twice.
John were you aware of any changes to the pump between 2003 and the end of the model year run?
If there were any upgrades or superseded parts, maybe the rebuilds have them already.
maw
I have not wrestled with the tandem pump in a 220 car. Just my 221 S65. That consisted of replacing the nitrogen bomb and moving the pump from the engine that spat a bearing shell into the chains to the replacement. I have not yet had an ABC pump fail on me (Knock on wood!) In 130,000 miles of driving ABC equipped cars.
The 70k replacement was performed at a dealership. Whether it's the same one is yet to be seen. The support bracket to the pump was missing and all the banjo fittings were leaking when I bought the car so someone has definitely had their hands in there at some point. FWIW, it was owned by a family that ran a BMW repair shop. If this car is any indication of how they run their business, I feel sorry for anyone that's taken their car there! They clearly didn't care about this car.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by S_Holford
The 70k replacement was performed at a dealership. Whether it's the same one is yet to be seen. The support bracket to the pump was missing and all the banjo fittings were leaking when I bought the car so someone has definitely had their hands in there at some point. FWIW, it was owned by a family that ran a BMW repair shop. If this car is any indication of how they run their business, I feel sorry for anyone that's taken their car there! They clearly didn't care about this car.
Geez...
@CICBarkeep yours appears to be an OEM replacement. The owner of that car before G just took it back to the dealer for nearly everything as I recall.
Finally got around to pulling the pump today and it was relatively painless until I got to the PO’s shoddy work again.
I previously added the missing rear bracket and bolt shortly after I got the car. Today I found out It was the only bolt that was tight.
The two upper bolts were loose and the wrong bolts. They had uncompressed lock washers too…kind of defeats the purpose of them! One of them was also previously broken off in what I believe is the timing cover, but they said the hell with it and loosely tried to thread it.
So now, I have to figure out if it's worth the trouble of extracting the broken bolt.
Last edited by S_Holford; Mar 16, 2024 at 08:36 PM.
Broken bolt extracted FWIW, save yourself a headache when drilling out bolts (or hardened steel) and use cobalt bits. For anyone that doesn’t have much experience with this, cutting oil and low drill speed prevents burning up your bits.
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