Burkekernen

I know this has been posted many times and I have tried to read through all of them. I am getting ready to replace all of my accumulators. I've gotten all the parts and advice from this forum (thank you very much BTW). I still have questions though. Is it better when removing the accumulator to plug the hose and try to keep the oil in the system, replace all of them then do a flush? Or should I completely drain first? How do I relieve the pressure before I start for either method?

Thanks again for all the help.

Burkekernen

Never mind. I did a few more hours of research and finally found a post that told me the system depressurizes itself after sitting for 30 minutes. And the fluid won't just come rushing out. Only an ounce or so comes out in total.

The best I could do in shopping around was $1,000 for the 4 accumulators, 2 filters and 10 liters of pentosin. Just in case anyone wants to know current pricing. It was a combination of autohausaz and amazon.

Thanks again.

AMGenema

Thanks for the info. Never enough info on ABC.

kcmcuda

Let us know how the job goes and how long it takes you to replace them all. I know my 55 will be do for the same soon, so any additional info would be appreciated.

Burkekernen

Well, it took me about 3 days, 8 hours a day to replace 4 accumulators and 4 hydraulic lines. But I also made mistakes which caused me to repeat a few steps. I also had to work out how to work on these cars with my tools. I don't have access to the high end stuff like full cart lifts etc... but I do have for jacks and most wrenches.

Some things that will save you time. If you only hand a floor jack, run out and get a 3/4" grade 8 bolt at least 6 inches long (not cheap as far as bolts go). This will allow you to use the jacking points to lift while still giving room for safety blocks under the bushings just inward of the jacking points. This is only if your want to lift one side. There is a center making point in the front about 2 feet in with a small rubber block meant for this purpose if you want the whole front in the air (this will also allow you to put in blocks). I wish I had figured out the center lifting point before I started but it was still handy to be able to lift only one side.

You will have to remove all the wheel well covers on the driver's side front and back. You will also need to remove the wheels. The first big accumulator is in front of the driver wheel and is relatively easy to remove (17mm open end wrench for the line and 10mm for the mounting nuts). Not much oil is spilled when removing the lines from any of the accumulators but I had decent amounts when I started removing multiple lines from the valve blocks. This was likely due to the weight still being on some of the struts in the system.

The picture sucks but you can see it hiding in there. It looks bad but isn't there's room to get to things.

the pulse damper is behind the driver's wheel and not to bad to get to. But, here is where my saga got interesting. The damn damper was seized on so tight that I had to disconnect all three lines and take the block to a vice to get it off. You will need a 22mm wrench or just use a crescent of you get it out in the open line I did. There are also 3 10mm nuts on rubber mounts that mount the block to the car as well as needing to remove the line clamps for flexability (10mm plastic nuts, metal strap and rubber block). This turns out to have saved my bacon as while doing this I found a bulging line. All three lines are short so I replaced them all. It is easiest if you remove the lines from the block by most exposed to least. The last line is a banjo bolt (I don't remember the size). All the hard lines into blocks are 17mm. If you get the lines rebuilt make sure to get the orientation of the ends correct or get them to put connectors on them so they can be swiveled. I had issues with the retaining clamps due to slight differences in the rebuilt lines but they ultimately worked.


Two of the lines from the pulse damper go here.

Now we get to the back. Ahh, the f$%^ing back. It should be the easiest but for some reason kicked my a$$. The final two accumulators are in front of the rear driver's wheel. What I didn't know was that the entire block is designed to slide out once the lines are off. There is one 10mm nut near the top and a slider rail at the bottom. The lines have a quick disconnect that if you have the mercedes tool will supposedly make the job total cake. I did not have this tool or the patience to wait for it. So I cleverly decided to make a pickle fork out of a 14mm open end wrench by grinding it at a taper. I don't know if my disconnects were seized but this was a spectacular failure. I gave up. I removed the lines from the block the hard way, which involved removing the line clamps (including the three under the car,which forced me to remove all the skid plates) to get enough flexability to partially pull the block out. Be careful not to break the slide while doing this. Ask me how I know. This method will create a spectacular mess. Once the block is out you can replace the second large accumulator and the small return one with no problems. Spoiler alert! The only bad accumulator I had was the second large one. Which, by the way, was on the direct line to the one that had bulges on it up front and lead me to check the flex line on this same line in the rear. Guess what? It was also bulging. So I replaced it but not the others (they looked really good and I was fed up at this point). Put it all back in reverse and go to the chiropractor.

You can tell I was spitting fire at this point because I stopped taking pictures.


I added fluid and then ran a rodeo. Don't add to much or you get another mess. Again ask me how I know.

The upside? Fantastic handling! The car rides in rails and no more intermittent red warning abc light. Total cost in the $1200 range. $1000 for accumulators/10l of fluid/2 filters. $200 for hoses. The extra fluid and filters is for a flush I haven't done yet. I used about 2.5l of the fluid just replacing what I lost.