SL/R231: Replacing A/C Condenser
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 492
Likes: 162
From: Philadelphia area
2014 SL65 AMG, 2018 S560
Replacing A/C Condenser
While under my SL65 pulling the alternator I discovered a leak in the A/C condenser. This wasn't a total surprise. This past summer the A/C started blowing warm air, so I did a recharge and it fixed it. Of course, there's a leak somewhere so I also injected leak trace dye. What I see on the bottom of the radiator housing looks to be greenish dyed compressor oil. The good news, I suppose, is that I found the leak.
I consulted my trusty WIS for the procedures to remove/replace the A/C condenser. The problem is what they show doesn't seem to match up with what's on my car and so I doubt the procedure will work. Every video I've watched so far of people replacing a condenser they took off the front bumper.
I have an estimate of $3K+ from my friendly local MB dealer to replace it. Still waiting for estimates from a couple of local indy shops.
I'm half considering doing the job myself, but I don't trust WIS on this one. Does anyone know the actual procedure to use to replace the A/C condenser on an R231 SL?
Thanks.
I consulted my trusty WIS for the procedures to remove/replace the A/C condenser. The problem is what they show doesn't seem to match up with what's on my car and so I doubt the procedure will work. Every video I've watched so far of people replacing a condenser they took off the front bumper.
I have an estimate of $3K+ from my friendly local MB dealer to replace it. Still waiting for estimates from a couple of local indy shops.
I'm half considering doing the job myself, but I don't trust WIS on this one. Does anyone know the actual procedure to use to replace the A/C condenser on an R231 SL?
Thanks.
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 7,847
Likes: 3,498
From: Maryland
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
I don't, but it can't be rocket science. If you need to remove the front end, I'm sure WIS has a procedure. For $3000, I would certainly try. ($3000 is an obscene amount. BOHICA!) A/C systems are pretty simple. Since your refrigerant has leaked out, there should be none to recover. That makes things a little simpler. You will need to have the system evaluated before replacing the refrigerant, and probably should replace the drier. You will want the system to be vacuum tested for leaks (which should be part of the recharging process). Search YouTube.
You could try to do everything yourself, but you will need to invest in the right tools (vacuum pump, pressure gauges). Depending on the other quotes you get, it may be worth letting them recharge your system.
You could try to do everything yourself, but you will need to invest in the right tools (vacuum pump, pressure gauges). Depending on the other quotes you get, it may be worth letting them recharge your system.
Last edited by JettaRed; Nov 5, 2024 at 09:29 AM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 492
Likes: 162
From: Philadelphia area
2014 SL65 AMG, 2018 S560
I have the alternator on order and have to get that back in first. We'll see how that goes before making a decision.
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 7,847
Likes: 3,498
From: Maryland
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Member
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 109
Likes: 13
2015 SL63 AMG (R231)
Hi well my car The Lemon my 2015 SL63AMG has needed 2 condenser coils since 2020 one under warranty the other I had to pay for at an indy or here an approved STAR partner just over 2 years later so AMG will not contribute as its out of the 2 year warranty despite the fact its garaged from November until March since I owned it despite the coil has no stone damage and a huge patch of yellow dye on the face off the coil. Oddly one of AMG complaints reason for not paying is they made no err profit on the work....err but you sold the coil so no logic at complaints
do STAR partners pay them for their registration I bet they do and a lot.
Here on the other side of the pond in the UK the Mercedes main dealer sourced coil was £660, the STAR garage labour £264 and the re-gas £90 making just over £1000 or $1300
I am a retired Building Services consultant with lots of experience in AC in large and small buildings but never worked on car but its all the same just different bits in different places that's still true in varying building designs and the old coil is so feather-light in weight far more than it needs to be and a common fault in coils is whats known as sand holes from tube construction.
If the coil had been hit by a stone, as taking it to a main dealership, agreed I would not contest Mercedes should at least make contribution as its at best a poor manufacturing fault!
Makes me wonder how often these coils fail regularly so what caused your failure a stone dent on the face of the coil??? If not why would it fail my car since I owned it sunny days only so its not corrosion from road salt etc
do STAR partners pay them for their registration I bet they do and a lot.Here on the other side of the pond in the UK the Mercedes main dealer sourced coil was £660, the STAR garage labour £264 and the re-gas £90 making just over £1000 or $1300
I am a retired Building Services consultant with lots of experience in AC in large and small buildings but never worked on car but its all the same just different bits in different places that's still true in varying building designs and the old coil is so feather-light in weight far more than it needs to be and a common fault in coils is whats known as sand holes from tube construction.
If the coil had been hit by a stone, as taking it to a main dealership, agreed I would not contest Mercedes should at least make contribution as its at best a poor manufacturing fault!
Makes me wonder how often these coils fail regularly so what caused your failure a stone dent on the face of the coil??? If not why would it fail my car since I owned it sunny days only so its not corrosion from road salt etc
Banned
Joined: Aug 2024
Posts: 32
Likes: 28
Joe,
You can do this yourself. When I purchased my 2013 SL550 in Sept. 2014, the sales manager lied about curb rash on the bottom of the front bumper cover. They reimbursed me for the repair. So when I go the car home, (bought out of state) I pulled the front bumper off and had my friends at the MB dealer body shop do the repair. You will be amazed how fast you can have the front cover off the car. If you have it on jack stands and the front section of the wheelhouse liner off or loose and the bottom engine cover removed it's a 5 minute job. There will be one plug on the driver side, two 10mm (socket size) bolts visible in the grill and 2 or maybe 3 bolts on each side where the bumper cover attaches to the fender. Then you'll grab the top edge of the bumper cover with your finger tips between the headlamps and pull real quick and firm and she'll come undone. You'll see, really easy. When I prepared my bumper cover for the body shop it took me probably an additional 2 hours to undo the grills and lights and remove the Distronic sensors and parking sensors. My hands were worn out trying to unclip all the grill parts. You won't have to worry about that because you'll be going after the condenser. You can by a vacuum pump at harbor freight. Gauges are inexpensive there too. Keep us posted!
Thor
You can do this yourself. When I purchased my 2013 SL550 in Sept. 2014, the sales manager lied about curb rash on the bottom of the front bumper cover. They reimbursed me for the repair. So when I go the car home, (bought out of state) I pulled the front bumper off and had my friends at the MB dealer body shop do the repair. You will be amazed how fast you can have the front cover off the car. If you have it on jack stands and the front section of the wheelhouse liner off or loose and the bottom engine cover removed it's a 5 minute job. There will be one plug on the driver side, two 10mm (socket size) bolts visible in the grill and 2 or maybe 3 bolts on each side where the bumper cover attaches to the fender. Then you'll grab the top edge of the bumper cover with your finger tips between the headlamps and pull real quick and firm and she'll come undone. You'll see, really easy. When I prepared my bumper cover for the body shop it took me probably an additional 2 hours to undo the grills and lights and remove the Distronic sensors and parking sensors. My hands were worn out trying to unclip all the grill parts. You won't have to worry about that because you'll be going after the condenser. You can by a vacuum pump at harbor freight. Gauges are inexpensive there too. Keep us posted!
Thor
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 492
Likes: 162
From: Philadelphia area
2014 SL65 AMG, 2018 S560
Joe,
You can do this yourself. When I purchased my 2013 SL550 in Sept. 2014, the sales manager lied about curb rash on the bottom of the front bumper cover. They reimbursed me for the repair. So when I go the car home, (bought out of state) I pulled the front bumper off and had my friends at the MB dealer body shop do the repair. You will be amazed how fast you can have the front cover off the car. If you have it on jack stands and the front section of the wheelhouse liner off or loose and the bottom engine cover removed it's a 5 minute job. There will be one plug on the driver side, two 10mm (socket size) bolts visible in the grill and 2 or maybe 3 bolts on each side where the bumper cover attaches to the fender. Then you'll grab the top edge of the bumper cover with your finger tips between the headlamps and pull real quick and firm and she'll come undone. You'll see, really easy. When I prepared my bumper cover for the body shop it took me probably an additional 2 hours to undo the grills and lights and remove the Distronic sensors and parking sensors. My hands were worn out trying to unclip all the grill parts. You won't have to worry about that because you'll be going after the condenser. You can by a vacuum pump at harbor freight. Gauges are inexpensive there too. Keep us posted!
Thor
You can do this yourself. When I purchased my 2013 SL550 in Sept. 2014, the sales manager lied about curb rash on the bottom of the front bumper cover. They reimbursed me for the repair. So when I go the car home, (bought out of state) I pulled the front bumper off and had my friends at the MB dealer body shop do the repair. You will be amazed how fast you can have the front cover off the car. If you have it on jack stands and the front section of the wheelhouse liner off or loose and the bottom engine cover removed it's a 5 minute job. There will be one plug on the driver side, two 10mm (socket size) bolts visible in the grill and 2 or maybe 3 bolts on each side where the bumper cover attaches to the fender. Then you'll grab the top edge of the bumper cover with your finger tips between the headlamps and pull real quick and firm and she'll come undone. You'll see, really easy. When I prepared my bumper cover for the body shop it took me probably an additional 2 hours to undo the grills and lights and remove the Distronic sensors and parking sensors. My hands were worn out trying to unclip all the grill parts. You won't have to worry about that because you'll be going after the condenser. You can by a vacuum pump at harbor freight. Gauges are inexpensive there too. Keep us posted!
Thor
I found issues with the WIS procedures to pull the alternator, which I now have out of the car and am awaiting a new replacement. For example, the procedure said to pull the alternator out in an upward direction. Well, that didn't work but it came right out the bottom of the car without risking damaging the cooling system radiator. The photos in WIS are also very misleading. In many cases they're showing you a photo of a car with components absent that were not removed as part of the procedure.
You bring up another topic of interest. I also have considerable scraping on the bumper underside. Pulling the bumper and bringing it to a shop for painting is an option I have considered. Most body shops I've consulted want to do a "collision" repair - get a new bumper and paint it and half the hood and fenders to blend the color. This approach is what I consider to be their inability to correctly match paint color. I won't do it. I guess it helps to have friends at the shop. I think I'll need to find a restoration or customization shop to do the job if I go that route. For now I've covered the bottom of the bumper with PlastiDip matte black paint, and it actually looks pretty good (photo attached). If I get the bumper paint repaired I would most likely re-coat the bottom part of the bumper with a peelable matte black paint.
What color is the car and how did the bumper paint job match up? Thanks.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 492
Likes: 162
From: Philadelphia area
2014 SL65 AMG, 2018 S560
Hi well my car The Lemon my 2015 SL63AMG has needed 2 condenser coils since 2020 one under warranty the other I had to pay for at an indy or here an approved STAR partner just over 2 years later so AMG will not contribute as its out of the 2 year warranty despite the fact its garaged from November until March since I owned it despite the coil has no stone damage and a huge patch of yellow dye on the face off the coil. Oddly one of AMG complaints reason for not paying is they made no err profit on the work....err but you sold the coil so no logic at complaints do STAR partners pay them for their registration I bet they do and a lot.
Here on the other side of the pond in the UK the Mercedes main dealer sourced coil was £660, the STAR garage labour £264 and the re-gas £90 making just over £1000 or $1300
I am a retired Building Services consultant with lots of experience in AC in large and small buildings but never worked on car but its all the same just different bits in different places that's still true in varying building designs and the old coil is so feather-light in weight far more than it needs to be and a common fault in coils is whats known as sand holes from tube construction.
If the coil had been hit by a stone, as taking it to a main dealership, agreed I would not contest Mercedes should at least make contribution as its at best a poor manufacturing fault!
Makes me wonder how often these coils fail regularly so what caused your failure a stone dent on the face of the coil??? If not why would it fail my car since I owned it sunny days only so its not corrosion from road salt etc
do STAR partners pay them for their registration I bet they do and a lot.Here on the other side of the pond in the UK the Mercedes main dealer sourced coil was £660, the STAR garage labour £264 and the re-gas £90 making just over £1000 or $1300
I am a retired Building Services consultant with lots of experience in AC in large and small buildings but never worked on car but its all the same just different bits in different places that's still true in varying building designs and the old coil is so feather-light in weight far more than it needs to be and a common fault in coils is whats known as sand holes from tube construction.
If the coil had been hit by a stone, as taking it to a main dealership, agreed I would not contest Mercedes should at least make contribution as its at best a poor manufacturing fault!
Makes me wonder how often these coils fail regularly so what caused your failure a stone dent on the face of the coil??? If not why would it fail my car since I owned it sunny days only so its not corrosion from road salt etc
MB World Stories
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
7 Craziest Things AMG Gas Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
New Electric Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe Unveiled: 10 Things You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
6 Mercedes Models That Did NOT Age Well (But Are Somehow Still Cool)
Verdad Gallardo
Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Verdad Gallardo
8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction
Verdad Gallardo
Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 492
Likes: 162
From: Philadelphia area
2014 SL65 AMG, 2018 S560
Nissens is generally considered OE quality. Try www.rockauto.com.
