joeveto

Hi, I have a (new to me) 2003 SL500. The red ABC warning was coming on after hitting moderate bumps, and over night, the car would sag badly in the left rear, and eventually the left front.

So for a start, I rebuilt the rear ABC valve block and the process seemed pretty smooth. But when I started the car after the rebuild, the left side went limp and dropped pretty low.

I have a scanner (Foxwell) and can initiate tests, such as the rodeo. When I do this, the car raises and lowers and cycles the struts normally. Additionally, the suspension will adjust to what appears a somewhat normal, if elevated level. It will even hold this level for many days (not sag over time as before). But if I push the level button, or try to drive the car, the left rear and somewhat the left front, drop to a very low level.

Any ideas what might be causing this or anything I can do to correct? This car is new to me, so I'm stumped and lack the familiarity to really dig in.

Fluid level is good, and as above, the suspension seems to go through the motions when testing the way it should.

Thanks in advance!

m-svt-amg

Maybe the pump is working fine at a standstill but failing under load?

sivikvtec

I couldn’t find the thread, but there was a guy who had weird things happen after a valve block rebuild because he plugged the cables into the wrong plugs when he put everything back together.

joeveto

I remember seeing that thread during my search.

Do you know if there is a guide for how they should route? I think I have them in the right place, but is there a method to determine what should go where?

sivikvtec

Can your diagnostic tool activate an individual corner? If so you could see if activating the right rear moves the drivers side like it’s supposed to, or if it moves the passenger side instead.

joeveto

I'm not sure I understand. My tool allows for a lot of different test and activations such as the rodeo. And it moves through the rodeo just fine, with each corner raising and lowering as I would expect.

When you say activating the right rear (which in the US would be the passenger side) moves the driver's side like it's supposed to (that's opposite of what I would expect) and moves the passenger side...I'm really confused. Are you in the UK where the driver's side is on the right?

Thanks, sorry if the above sounds dumb.

And I promise once I figure this out, I'll post back what I did to fix it -- even if it means I had the car flatbedded to a shop.

sivikvtec

lol sorry man, I meant to say left instead of right... long day. Sorry for the confusion.

I’m new to the R230 and ABC, so I’m far from an expert. I’m still in the process of getting my SDS system up and running, so I’m not 100% sure what tests are available beyond a rodeo.

Hopefully a more experienced user will chime in.

bobterry99

When the engine is started the blocking valves are closed, and these valves isolate the struts from the control valves (which raise/lower the suspension). The blocking valves open and level control can occur when the transmission is put into gear or the level button is pressed.

When level control initiates the suspension immediately adjusts to a level which is founded upon the "calibrated" level stored in the ABC controller. Therefore, I would start the engine, press the level adjustment button 1-3 times to the normal (lowest) height, and then through your Foxwell's activations I would command the suspension to move to the calibrated level and see what it does. If it is lowered on one side or has otherwise failed to respond properly, then I would perform a level adjustment followed by a level calibration and load adjustment.

Please inform the forum which Foxwell product you are using, as I would like to consider it for future recommendation.
.

joeveto

Thanks so much for this advice. I will give it a try and report back.

The Foxwell product I'm using is the NT510 Elite. The display is a bit small and I didn't find it to be (initially) all that intuitive to use, and I still find it to be slow to respond. But now, after a few rounds with it, I'm finding it to be easier to navigate through the menus. There is so much to play with, I think it's going to take me time before I'm proficient with what it has to offer.

joeveto

@bobterry99 I Hooked up the Foxwell tool and followed what you outlined. I went into the calibrations and attempted to adjust the levels. What is becoming apparent, is that the 3 corners respond (mostly) reliably They raise and lower on command. The left rear, not so much. It responds when being told to do the rodeo, but individually, with the tool, it's not very responsive at all. I was able to "level" the car via eye. But again, the moment I put the car into gear it dropped the left rear to an extreme level. The front left is responsive, but not like the right side.

I'm thinking I need to go back and check my hydraulic line connections. I must have mixed it up. My hope is I'll get in there and it will be obvious what I did incorrectly. If not...might take some trial and error.

thias

The car did sag on the same side, before you rebuilt the rear valve block. For me, the next step would be to check for internal leakage of the left rear strut. Or recheck the valve job. Maybe swap the struts from one side to the other?

joeveto

Hi All, I just wanted to chime back in and give an update to my issue. I finally found some time to tear back into the car. I ran more tests with my scan tool, but decided that the hoses may have been mixed up - the FB1 (left) for the FB2 (right). When I swapped them, my issue moved from the left side of the car to the right. Now, the left side functioned (somewhat) correctly, while the right side went limp.

In swapping the lines, I believe I also stripped the FB2 hole, because even though the nut would snug up, the hose itself would not and a large leak was created. The first time I undid it, it was really stiff, way more so than the other one. And I was careful when I threaded it back in. So who knows? Maybe a PO was in there before me. Maybe this was not a new issue, and very likely, it's why I picked the car up for a very reasonable amount.

Not having time to go any further, I put it all back together and called in the reinforcements. I had the car flat-bedded out today, and sent off to a well regarded shop in the area that has expertise in the ABC system. My thought is the valve block will have to be replaced (unless they can helicoil / time sert the threads). Also, I don't know that the valve block rebuild went as well as I thought. If I had to guess, one of the solenoids was leaking badly.

Only time will tell.

When I get feedback from the shop, I'll report back here, with the hopes it helps someone else.

Stay Tuned

joeveto

Hi All, I have my car back and it's running well. I just want to post to give guidance on what finally fixed the car and what was wrong - along with some lessons I learned along the way.

So here's the long details of it:

The key issue, most likely, was me and my inexperience with rebuilding the valve block. I bought the rebuild kit and when it arrived, it was a box of little bags of o-rings, with no guidance on which bags of o-rings went where. I watched the videos and thought this would be enough, and frankly, I thought I got it all right. But I'm pretty certain I didn't. LESSON 1 - HAVE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS OR JUST PAY THE $ AND SEND THE VALVE BLOCK OUT TO BE PROFESSIONALLY REBUILT!!!

When I reinstalled the valve block, I may have switched the hoses -- LESSON 2 - MAKE SURE YOU MARK WHAT HOSES GO WHERE!!! Use tape, or whatever. I used my camera to take photos, but that may not have been enough.

I pulled the valve block to check the hoses but may have stripped the threads when screwing the fitting back in. LESSON 3 - MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CROSS-THREAD THE LINES WHEN INSTALLING THEM IN THE VALVE BLOCK!!! I'll offer this much - the first time I removed the valve block the line in question was really difficult to remove. It may have been already cross-threaded. But I really can't say for sure. So I'll take the hit.

I had the car flatbeaded to my mechanic and he suggested a new/rebuilt valve block as a start. He tried to repair the cross-threaded valve block, but to no avail. He made progress, but it still weeped fluid. Still, this was better than the all-out gushing it was doing prior to his efforts.

Additionally, I was advised that the rear struts were bad, and while we were at it, the actuators should be replaced. Ok. So I ordered two rear Arnott struts and two actuators.

I went online and purchased a used valve block, had it sent to my house, inspected it, and then I sent the valve block to a rebuild service. I boxed the valve block up as best I could and sent it for overnight delivery to the repair service. The next day I was notified by the repair service that two actuators were damaged in shipping. I can't prove they weren't, but I had it boxed well and I shipped it via air. The cost to replace the actuators and put everything as good as new was $500. So I paid up and then sent another label for overnight delivery to the rebuilder so I could get the parts to my mechanic before I had to leave town on business.

LESSON 4: Take photos of used actuators before shipping and pack them really well. Some sort of protective cylinder placed around the actuator, or really heavy duty paper would be a smart idea. I had mine packed tight and thought it was good, but evidently, it wasn't. Or shenanigans. I really can't say.

All the parts - valve block, struts, and actuators arrived on time, and I was able to delivery them to my mechanic before he closed, with a half hour to spare. I also asked him to keep the original boxes for the old struts so I could return ship them to the vendor for my core fee. This is key, because according to the vendor I used, if they aren't in the original box, I'm SOL. Then I left town for two weeks and hoped for the best.

When I called my mechanic upon my return, he said he got everything installed and had been driving the car for a few days with no issues, no lights. I was thrilled.

I picked the car up, and have since put around 500 miles on it, with one overnight road trip. It handles great and is especially impressive on the cloverleafs where there is zero lean. I know you folks already know this, but this is my first experience with the Mercedes ABC system, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed.

I think my front struts are good for now. But if/when they go, I'll have them replaced and I'll send my front valve block out to be rebuilt professionally. If the kits came with little o-ring bags that were marked to give an indication of what goes where, I'd have more confidence. But as it is, it's just not worth the hassle to save $100.

Total Cost:
Flatbed - $200
O-Ring Kit - $80
Used Valve Block - $180
Overnight Shipping Both Ways - $100
Valve Block with Replacement Actuators and Rebuild - $500
2 Rear Arnott Struts Less Core Fee, including shipping - $1000
2 Actuators, including shipping - $380
Labor, shop fees (fluid, filter, etc) - $1850

Total - $4290

(not factored into the above - two gallons of CH11S and an ABC filter I intended to use once the valve block was sorted out)

There was a lot of extra expenditure because I got in over my head. It's possible I could have just pulled the actuator, sent it out for professional rebuilding, and installed myself (assuming I installed it correctly) for less than $300. I made a lot of mistakes and had a dose of "bad luck."

If there is a silver lining, for the most part, the suspension on this older SL is now a "known" quantity. And with any luck, I can catch my breath for awhile before anything else goes wrong with it. Additionally, this mechanic was new to me. And up until now, I really didn't have anyone I could trust with my European cars. I now know he's a good guy and I can send my stuff to him if I need to. And most importantly, I trust him to be fair and do good work. That's priceless.

Lastly, I really didn't pay very much for this car. It now looks and runs really nice (knock wood). And with the attention I'm giving to the little details here and there (paint chip restoration, leather clean-up, headlight restoration, bluetooth install, Weathertech mats, paintless dent removal, etc), I might just end up with a really nice driver I can plow miles onto and have some fun. If I decide to get rid of it, I'll probably not lose too much.

I hope the above feedback helps!!

m-svt-amg

Where is this mechanic located? I would promise my firstborn to have my abc fixed for that price

joeveto

North Chicago Suburbs. I don't know what the forum policy is on this sort of thing - referencing providers, so I was purposely vague as to where I sourced my stuff. If you want to send me an e-mail, I'll be happy to provide you with the business information. Just as an fyi - I'm not affiliated with the business, I don't get any kickbacks, and can't promise you'll have the same positive experience I had...

Mario MBCL

Hi joeveto,
you write that you can call the "Rodeo" function with the Foxwell scanner, this is very important information for me, because I need a scanner just for the rodeo test and for calibrating the horns.

Please tell me the number of this scanner, because I see that Foxwell has many models.

Until 2009, I ran a chain of workshops and used dedicated "Kombajna" and now I help my friends with ABC and I need Rodeo for rinsing, and I don't want to buy a star or another completely unnecessary expensive scanner.

I will be very grateful to you for the information.

Tom Manning

Fowell NT510 Elite will do rodeo.

Mario MBCL

Thank you very much for the information, it changes a lot.