Hey gang, long story short, i've been into imports all my life, former car was a 1000hp Supra, i can pretty much swap engines but these ABC things, they're just crazy, i'm so overwhelmed. Hoses everywhere, cramped up the wazoo and i don't see how people work on these cars. That being said, i have a leak in 4 hoses. Im able to identify the hoses that run under the radiator, not sure what they're called, or what they do but looks like i can get to them if i remove all the panels.

These are the hoses that run across the bottom of the rad, it's leak where the metal bracket holds them together, my guess is the metal bracket cut into the hose causing the leak. it drips out whenever the car is on



I found the hoses, i think it's number 60 and 90 in this diagram










Now this is the one i need to also get, it's a fat one that sits infront of the subframe, it's wrapped in some rubber and it's leaking there too, not entire sure what it does or where it goes, but i can't seem to identify it when i looked at the diagram



Is it one of these hose?




And lastly, i have that nasty high pressure hose that goes all around the front, under the transmission, this is the one that i think dealer charges 13 hours to change.

How much are these hoses anyways? Where do you guys buy these online? My local MB upcharges everything, i went in to buy an oil filter today and they charged me $30. A liter of hydraulic oil was almost $60...that's just insane.


This is my new car, i'm in love with it, not anywhere near as fast as my Supra but it's very smooth and comfortable, and plenty fast for me. i bought it knowing the ABC leaks and i got a really good deal out of it. 2005, 77K Miles, bunch of options including Distronic which i have no idea how to use. Everything works except the trunk soft close, i have to slam it to shut it, and the gas struts are dead, trunk falls on your head if you don't hold it.

 

You got a great car. You will have to follow the hoses from start to end to identify which ones are on the diagram. Depending on the length of the hose they can run to a few hundred $. Make sure it is the hose and not something else on top of the hoses dripping on it. Check the fluid level find them quickly because the system cranks 3000PSI so the leaks will not give much of advance notice before burst. The hydraulic fluid is Pentosin 11s if I remember correctly. Do a search on these forums and you will get all the info need. I envy you, you have a very cool V12 there. Congrats.

 

Thanks man, i originally opted for an SL55, but after owning turbo'ed cars all my life i miss that type of pull the turbos produce, plus you can squeeze power out of them much easier than an SC. I'm going to stop by the dealership today and see what prices i get, does anyone know how to buy these hoses online? I try several mercedes part site and the hoses doesn't seem to come up during search.

 

This site is helpful
http://mercedes-abc-drive-carefully....y-part-of.html

 

 

Has the car been sitting for a long time?

 

I don't think so, but then again i'm not sure, i went to MB dealership today to check on prices for the lines, they're about $400 each...yup, eat my ***, i'm not going to pay that, going to visit a hydraulic shop on Monday and see if they can repair the leaking section...if i had paid 140K for this car when it came out then yeah i wouldn't mind shelling out 400 to get a hose, but i bough it for 10% of the original MSRP so that hose should be $40 to me hehe.

 

Try ordering from an online discount MBZ parts dealer, like these:

https://www.shopmbonline.com/
https://www.factorymoparparts.com/
https://www.mbpartspros.com/
https://www.genuinenewparts.com/
https://www.benzpartshq.com/
https://www.oembenzparts.com/
https://www.mercedespartsdelivered.com
https://www.mbdirectparts.com/
https://www.genuinemercedesparts.com/
https://www.mboemparts.com/

These are all authorized brick and mortar MBZ dealers that sell parts online at a discount. The reason i list so many is that no one seems to be "the cheapest". Which one has the best deal will dpeend on the part and where you are having it shipped.

 

I've searched on google and found those sites, problem is, where does the hydraulic line fall under? I looked at every sub category and i might have slight reading comprehension, but what do you click to get to the hydraulic line diagram and pricing?

 

If it's part #60 in the diagram (to right shock), then it's A2309974682. If it's #90 (to left shock), then A2309974782. When you search on those sites I listed, remove the "A" prefix.

 

Oh wow, finally found it thanks! Best price was $223 basically half the price of the local MB here. One more question, notice you're the guru around here, after driving for awhile, my expansion tank bubbles/gurgles up and spill out of the cap, i think the cap is not sealing right, as there's not too much pressure when i tighten it. Could that be the problem? Or do i have other underlying issues i'm not aware of? Thanks so much for your help man.

 

LOL! That "guru" title was a badge put there by one of the mods because I'm so "prolific" in my posts.

Is this your ABC fluid tank or coolant reservoir? If it's ABC, then it's a bad accumulator. If it's the coolant tank, then yes, I think you need a new cap/seal.

 

This is the hoses i've been trying to find the part numbers for



I traced it and it goes to the pump, one of them connects to the high pressure line that snakes around the engine/trans assembly. The other is just capped off wtf? But they seem to be two separate hoses that ends up at the pump, which i can't see clearly in there because it is a clusterf%^$


Could it be number 500 in this diagram? Looks similar but not sure where that hose in the diagram leads to, dead end. If you can find the part number for that one, it would be great!

 

Part 500 is A2303209353, called the "expansion hose". It's around $300 on the discount sites. BTW, where are you getting those diagrams? They are the same I see in EPC, which also has the part numbers. Are you using a site that only has the diagrams?

 

Well that's the thing, im just searching the forums to get these diagrams and try to match up the picture with the hoses that are leaking on my car. The leaky hoses in my car pic is 2 separate hoses, it goes back to the pump, one hose connects to the high pressure hose that goes around the back, and the short hose that is capped off, i dont' see anyone else having that hose except for me. what the heck does it do, why cap it off. i cannot for the life of me find out how to get to the ABC hoses on the mercedes parts websites, what is it under? i've clicked every single item and sub items and cannot get to the ABC section??

 

Oh wait, is this it? They both combine and go back into the pump?

 

Yes, that looks like part #60. Since it's called an expansion hose, maybe the capped off part allows it to work somewhat like a dampener? It looks like it is only used on the SL600 and SL65 (the V12's).

 

I ordered the hoses last night, you've been a great help, thanks so much! This board is pretty slow, not too many active members and not too many DIYers here, glad to know there are some informative people using the forum. I have no clue what EPC is and how to get the part numbers, i'm still at a loss on how to find out the part numbers for the hoses, as there are no ABC category on the mercedes parts site.

After these two hoses are in and a new radiator cap, i should be good to go. I've never seen such a cramped engine bay, removed the tail lights yesterday and even that was a horrible job. Nothing on this car is easy, i'm starting to think that the money the dealership charges are justified.

 

Electronic Parts Catalog is an online software to get your correct parts for your specific VIN. It used to be free now they want $75/year. It is worth it https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/home.jsp because you need the correct part number to get better prices online. These cars have the ABC system and the SBC system crammed in that space not to mention that you have 4 more cylinders on top of that. Everything is built by engineering books which means that taking them apart is time consuming. That's why the high dealership prices. Replacing the ABC pump took me several days so unless you are made of money you will be DIY. You should find enough info on this forum about almost anything although there are not too many V12. I really envy your 4 extra cylinders.

 

You don't envy the extra room they take up i bet hehe. Thanks for the info, i do not have money like most people on this forum, i bought this car because i think i can fix the stuff, let's hope that i'm not wrong. I do have access to a lift if need be, but that'll come when it comes time to do the real high pressure hose that snakes around the engine and the motor mounts. Might as well knock it all out since i have the pull the engine anyways. It's just hard to find part numbers for the ABC system because i dont know where to look.

I wish there were more DIyers on this forum, i found some thread, but 90% of them had pics not working, i hate photobucket lol.

 

Agree with comment re DIYers...but still a good info source on the site

 

Instead of $75/year, maybe you shoudl look into buying WIS/EPC on ebay. There are plenty of listings for under $30.

 

Did my high pressure expansion line today, gotta remove basically the entire front end to get access to it. The banjo bolt sucks, at the weirdest angle and with the AC lines blocking every direction...some people say you gotta remove the subframe to get to it, that's not the case with the SL, you can get to the banjo bolt from the front if you take the shroud and pulleys out.




Taking it out was easy, good luck lying up the banjo with the new stiff hoses and the brackets in the way, i want to throat punch the Mercedes engineers for this.



learning a lot working on this car, give me confidence to tackle bigger jobs later on.

 

I'm in the middle of doing my trunk lock repair. My car is an '03 so I bit the bullet and bought a new lock through Parts.com for around $250. Then I did the epoxy fix on the 5 ball bearing ends. I will probably put the lock in this weekend. Here's the thread on the lock repair - Trunk Soft Close Lock Repair

I already did the trunk gas strut replacement. Easy peasy. Get those from AutohausAZ. Replace the pair for the trunk lid plus one more for the roof mechanism. There's a thread either on here about how to do it - Trunk Strut Replacement

 

Were you the one that started a thread "nightmare SL600 purchase" i think i read that, sorry to hear about your troubles, mine are much worse compare to yours. My ABC system will need to be overhauled at one point, i have to replace the main pressure line and the front strut lines coming out of the valveblock. Also some mother effing ******* used flex seal to spray on the plastic end tank of the radiator lol wtf. It ruptured and sprung a leak so i have to replace that. My expansion tank also split at the seams, and i think, im not sure but i think my thermostat needs to be replaced. Does it throw a code if it doesnt work properly? I wonder if the thermostat being stuck closed cause the rad to rupture.