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Bought a 04 SL55 AMG three days ago, the ABC light came on with a prompt to see workshop now. Woke up and had fluid on my driveway. Oh what have I done buying this car.
Its a 2 owner low mileage (57k) car.
Spent most of the morning reading about ABC repairs and diagnosis, my conclusion is my ABC pump sounds like it's failing, valve block, and pulse dampened are suspect. It left a large puddle under both front and rear driver side wheels.
I'm a better than average diy mechanic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by evh1971; 09-24-2018 at 09:49 PM.
Reason: Update
First, find the leak and fix it. Unless you ran the pump dry, it may still be good. THis is just part of expected maintenance on a 16+ year old hydraulic system.
There are two suspension strut control blocks and a pressure control block in the areas circled in the attachment. Jack the car and remove the inner fender liners to inspect for leaks.
For the right price I will buy this car as is. Send a PM to me if interested.
Thanks for the insight bobterry, I wanted to crawl on a hole this morning, I picked the car up Thursday and now it's going to sit.
I'll be honest, I question if I can keep up with maintenance cost.
thanks again for the help.
Sorry to hear about your troubles, when ABC works, this car is great. I had to fix mine too, first things first go buy some CFH 11S to have on hand, remove front and rear wheels as well as the fender liners, get some brake cleaners and go to town on the valve block area and hoses connected to it. When everything is clean put some fluid in the reservoir and start the car and inspect for leaks. I hope it's just the hoses going to the shocks that have bursted, they're easy to replace and cost about $250 or so a piece. If it's the pump, parts isn't that bad but the labor is horrible, if it's the main high pressure line that busted, then yeah, i'd crawl into a hole too. Good luck
Beautiful car!! Mine's same color but an sl500. Hang in there!! You are in the right place, the right forum! My 35000 mile (45000 now) '03 had it's problems with ABC over the past 3 years but with the forums help I overcame all. Just don't let that pump run dry. Cadbob just got done with some line repairs in very recent posts. See his posts. We've all been down the pulse dampener and accumulator blow outs and survived. Rock auto has rebuilt (A/C delco) main pumps for about $400. That is a bit of an a job though! Keep us posted, the forum can help you, many very knowledgeable members, lots of diagrams, this is the best car out there for that kind of money repairs or not.
Thanks for the encouragement moretech, I'm hoping for the best. I'm so disgusted with myself that I can't even look at the car today I need a break. My plan of attack is to open up both wheel wells front and rear on the driver side where it's leaking. Praying it's just a leaking hose. Trying to be optimistic that it's only the front rear wheel well area and a lot of that fluid is traveling to the rear with the underbody cover. I'm not holding my breath I'm expecting two line breaks or pulse dampeners and or accumulator blowouts. I feel confident enough to do the main pump. Part of my frustration is how bad is it and how deep does the rabbit hole go. Thanks again for all the help. I will post pictures with what I find in the next few days. I'm eager yet discouraged to get started on this project. Again thanks for all the input from you folks I appreciate it greatly.
Eric
The under body panels can hold a lot of fluid. When my main pressure hose sprung a leak, I lost about 2 quarts of fluid. It found its way into the panel between the left front and rear wheels. When I jacked the front end to replace the hose, a good quart and half spilled out in front of the rear tire. My advice is don't panic until you find out what's leaking and how much it's going to cost for the repair. And even then don't panic - just make a plan to solve the problem.
Rodney, thanks for sharing, and thanks for helping. I’m feeling better from the comments I’m reading on this forum, I think I should sleep better than anticipated, again I appreciate all the help and related experiences with this topic of repair.
Thanks again.
I'm willing to bet it is one of the Rubber part of the lines that burst and shot fluid all over the place on you.Please keep us updated, and once you fix you will love the car again. Do not start the car when my High Pressure line went I was 2 miles from my house and of course by the time I was home ABC Tank was dry, but the remnants of fluid around the pump parts kept pump alive. When my repairs were done I re-primed pump and bingo on the road again.
Bought a 04 SL55 AMG three days ago, the ABC light came on with a prompt to see workshop now. Woke up and had fluid on my driveway. Oh what have I done buying this car.
Its a 2 owner low mileage (57k) car.
Spent most of the morning reading about ABC repairs and diagnosis, my conclusion is my ABC pump sounds like it's failing, valve block, and pulse dampened are suspect. It left a large puddle under both front and rear driver side wheels. I'm a better than average diy mechanic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I know how you are feeling. When I bought my car almost 3 years ago I did it all long distance and relied on a local independent shop to inspect the car for me. They did what I thought was a wonderful inspection with lots of pictures and even a fault code readout showing no active codes. Much to my dismay when I flew to Dallas to pickup the car and finally was able to see it in person and hear it run there was this low droning noise coming from the engine compartment. The noise was so obvious to me and yet the indy shop totally missed it. I felt like someone had kicked me in the gut! I had already paid for the car and had no recourse but to go ahead and take it and drive home to Michigan. As it turned out, it was the pulsation damper that had failed and a soon as I changed it out, the droning went away. Since then, I have flushed the CHF11s, changed front and rear accumulators and re-sealed the front valve block,(I had an occasional sagging issue on DS). So far, no leaks or broken hoses to repair or deal with. I now have over 130K miles going strong and soon to be put away for the winter season and 5 month snooze.
Having said all that, my mechanic skills are fair but with the aid of a copy of WIS and EPC ,(easily obtained on Ebay) I am able to do all of my own repairs and just follow the detailed instructions in WIS and use common sense and safety habits. I even purchased a SDS setup as well as I have two MB's to look after.You will learn a lot from this experience and come out the other side better off than someone who has to rely on the dealer network or indy shops for all their maintenance and repairs. Hang in there and don't get discouraged.
Finally, I think you made a great purchase on a low mileage "rocket" with many many years of fun ahead. This is just a slight speed bump!
(By the way, "SBC" warranty has been extended to 25 Years!)
thank you cadbob and mercy-me, here's what I noticed on Saturday when driving the car I put it through a little bit of a bench test. I noticed when I picked it up on Thursday it did have a little bit of a growl I Associated that with the supercharger. However it still didn't sound right. 2 days later on Saturday drove out of town with my wife was checking out the ride height adjustment, and also the ABC setting. Came home that night about 15 minutes from home the ABC light came on and said take to Workshop. I also noticed that same night Saturday while driving I heard a pretty loud pop, and some type of cluttering sound. The next morning I woke up with pools of hydraulic fluid on the driveway as seen in the picture.
Mechanically I'd say I'm a B+ or a solid B. I wouldn't hesitate to change out the pump nor the valve block and rebuild the valve block, hydraulic lines and such. My one concerne is the line that runs underneath the motor and transmission. That's where it sounds like it gets pretty ugly.
again thank you for relaying your experience mercy-me, helps me refocus and reconsider the fun and performance in this vehicle.
this is a 2 owner car the first owner is from Salt Lake City Utah and travel back and forth from Park City Utah, the second owner is an older gentleman that would stay in Salt Lake in the summer store the car all winter while he was in Carlsbad California and then drive it a total of 9000 miles in 4 years. I was excited to see the low-mileage however now I understand keeping a car sedentary and stagnant and especially this one is never good. I agree with an earlier reply that these cars need to be driven weekly, even in the winter. Again thank you for all your support people I appreciate it so much. Eric
Every time I blew an accumulator or pulse dampener my car was sitting in the garage and fluid was all over the top of the reservoir draining down everywhere. Might start there 1st.
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
at that age most likely just about every pressure line in the engine compartment will need replaced soon. any hydraulic hose will deteriorate as a function of heat and age regardless of maintenance. you can tell if a hose is on its way out if its starts weeping fluid near the crimp ends. the most suspect are the ones going from the front valve block to the two front struts (these hoses run under the radiator) and the one going from the pump to the pressure relief valve that goes through the engine compartment and under the front of the transmission. the 2 going to the front struts can be rebuilt by any hydraulic shop to save money. the one that goes from the pump has a dampener built in and you will have to order that one new from MB.
likely all 4 accumulators need replaced as well (1 in front valve block, 1 on pressure relief valve, 2 on rear valve block). these are nitrogen filled with a rubber bladder that deteriorates over time. the car can seem like its driving fine as one accumulator can usually make up for another that's failed or is failing, but after about every 10 years/100k they should probably be done as a regular maintenance item. (i have any extra one that goes on the pressure relief valve that is brand new that i'm looking to sell btw)
other maintenance items to look at:
electrical connector of tranny- if not replaced it will start leaking and fluid will wick up through the wiring and into the TCU found in the footwell of the passenger side and ruin it.
front top latch
PSE pump- (soft close trunk branch will likely fail and there's an easy fix by epoxying over some check *****)
plastic shifter mechanism breaking
crank position sensor
rear supercharger bearings running out of grease (at 80k min were almost bone dry when i took it apart to regrease everything)
plastic idler pulleys deteriorate and shatter
top mechanism cover flaps (the plastic deteriorates over time and the hinge breaks. you can buy 3d printed hinge replacements if you still have the flaps, but this needs to be preventative cuz once you lose a flap you're in trouble)
I'd also caution against rebuilt ABC pumps. If you knew how they were designed and what minimal things are replaced during a rebuild you likely would not buy a rebuilt one. there are wear components that can't be fixed with a simple rebuild consisting of seals. new ones are also getting harder to find. I know many MB dealerships are out of new ones and only offering used ones now.
top mechanism cover flaps (the plastic deteriorates over time and the hinge breaks. you can buy 3d printing hinge replacements if you still have the flaps, but this needs to be preventative cuz once you lose a flap you're in trouble
Well, aesthetic "trouble" in that it is missing the flap. It serves no functional purpose.
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
Originally Posted by Rudeney
Well, aesthetic "trouble" in that it is missing the flap. It serves no functional purpose.
if you want to fix it you're gonna have to find a used one or pony up $$$$$$$, though its true it doesn't do a whole lot functionally. to some degree it does protect crap from getting in that area when the top is down
Going to investigate tonight, making a parts list. Who would you guys recommend for a parts supplier?
I did look at autohaus, any feedback with autohaus?
thanks again.
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
Mbdirectparts.com. They are a dealer in Nebraska & usually are the lowest on most stuff. Fcpeuro has a lifetime warranty on all parts (even stuff like brake pads) the downside is that the only way you can get them to cover something under the lifetime warranty is if they still stock the same part. If they no longer carry the part they won’t cover it. Had a friend get burned on an ABC pump bc of that.
Autohasaz, Pelican parts, RMeuropean are all good places to deal with. Here is a list of MBZ dealers I have found that have online discount stores. I check them all and consider shipping. No one seems to always be the lowest on all parts:
If it's only leaking at the connection on the valve block, that's unusual. Not normally what fails. Pull the bolt and check the o-rings on either side of the metal line fitting, maybe you get very lucky and one of them was pinched during install or something like that and it's a simple replacement and refill the system and you're back in business.
You're leaking from the Banjo bolt O-ring looks like it, take the bolt out and see what's going on. Btw, your fluid looks like dirty oil, supposed to look clearish green. That blue thing you see there is the O-ring itself, at least on mine when I did the pump, the Banjo Orings were blue.
If it's only leaking at the connection on the valve block, that's unusual. Not normally what fails. Pull the bolt and check the o-rings on either side of the metal line fitting, maybe you get very lucky and one of them was pinched during install or something like that and it's a simple replacement and refill the system and you're back in business.
I’m really keeping my fingers crossed, I need to order hydrolic oil, and hoping I can find OEM o-ring. I know very little about hydrolic systems. I’m hoping the oil from the rear tire is traveling oil from this event in the rear wheel well.
09-09-2018, 11:32 AM
