SL/R230 Refurbish one valve block or two?

Jul 6, 2018 | 04:59 PM

alk247

Thread Starter

Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2016

Posts: 271

Likes: 23

From: Kirkland, WA

2003 SL500

Refurbish one valve block or two?

Passenger side rear corner sags while car is parked, so it is clear that rear valve block needs refurbishment. Should I also refurbish front one preemptively while I'm working on the ABC? I also need to replace accumulators/dampeners. On one hand it is of the same age as the rear one, on another hand I normally follow philosophy of "don't fix what ain't broken".

It's 2003 SL500 with about 100k.

Jul 6, 2018 | 05:46 PM

fooschnickens

Junior Member

Joined: Feb 2016

Posts: 23

Likes: 5

2004 SL500

May as well. The front takes a lot more "damage" than the rears since it carries more weight, and since you're doing accumulators anyway it will all be accessible.

Jul 6, 2018 | 07:43 PM

viper1996

Member

Joined: Apr 2018

Posts: 84

Likes: 12

sl500

I am about to do the same thing...Gonna' do them both...And get it over with!

Jul 7, 2018 | 06:39 PM

bobterry99

Banned

Joined: Jan 2006

Posts: 1,982

Likes: 393

From: Atlanta, unfortunately

'09 S600, (2) R129 300SLs, '03 SL500, '03 SL55

Quote:

Originally Posted by alk247

Passenger side rear corner sags while car is parked...

You might try running 2 15-minute Rodeo routines back-to-back, Alex, and when finished consider installing a new filter in the ABC reservoir.

Jul 7, 2018 | 07:57 PM

ItalianJoe1

MBWorld Fanatic!

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 4,037

Likes: 1,012

From: Miami, FL

2003 CL 600

Quote:

Originally Posted by fooschnickens

May as well. The front takes a lot more "damage" than the rears since it carries more weight, and since you're doing accumulators anyway it will all be accessible.

Not how that works, the leakdown is from poor sealing usually due to contamination. The seals are metal on metal, so there is a slight amount of leak that's "acceptable", for example if the car is parked for weeks and sags, it's normal. If there is a speck of dirt or o-ring material in the way it can make it go down in hours though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobterry99

You might try running 2 15-minute Rodeo routines back-to-back, Alex, and when finished consider installing a new filter in the ABC reservoir.

Agreed, a good flush and rodeo solves a lot of the small issues with this system from time to time. Fluid quality and cleanliness is KEY to proper function.

Jul 8, 2018 | 12:16 PM

gafitanu

Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2008

Posts: 436

Likes: 64

From: Dartmouth, MA

1967 250SE, 2022 GLC300 2023 EQB300, 2018 AMG GT

The seals are not metal on metal. It is the job of the o-rings to be seals. There are no o-rings between the poppets and the housing but that’s how all hydraulic valves of this type are built. This is a known problem caused by the incorrect material used on early valve o-rings. It was incompatible with the Pentosin. If you replace them with viton you should have no problem.

Last edited by gafitanu; Jul 8, 2018 at 12:18 PM.

Jul 9, 2018 | 07:24 AM

bobterry99

Banned

Joined: Jan 2006

Posts: 1,982

Likes: 393

From: Atlanta, unfortunately

'09 S600, (2) R129 300SLs, '03 SL500, '03 SL55

I think we all know how these valves work, and the apparent discrepancy in the past two posts is just a matter of semantics.

The chambers in the valve housing are sealed closed from one another by o-rings. But the spool valve which controls the flow of hydraulic oil does so by creating/opening a metal-on-metal seal.

Last edited by bobterry99; Jul 9, 2018 at 07:30 AM.