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OH NO!

4K views 33 replies 11 participants last post by  antboss 
#1 ·
hello and sad day.

recently i had the rear shocks changed in the 92 600sel V12 with non hydrolic shocks. they did good and the car feels fine. then i was traveling the other day and the car started squeeling and then imediatly shut down. come to find out the power stearing pump (they say the part) didnt have hydrolic fluid in it and it was bone dry. which caused the power steering to have problems cause its a single pump for both the steering and the rear level hydrolic fluid.

the mercedes folks said that since the front portion had been dry it damaged it to the point where i have to get whole unit not just seals. can this be seen without taking off the part itself?

they also say in the 36 years they worked on mercedes they have never replaced with non original hydrolic part. so they dont know if plugging the rear spots would be safe for car. so they want me to take new ones off and get the originals back on there.

does this sound like im getting played for a fool or are they correct ?
 
#2 ·
Well, if the pump squealed until it seized and killed the motor, then it doesn't seem anyone is jerking you around. I doubt that the shop that "converted" the system will take ownership of the problem and set things right, but it certainly won't hurt to inquire. Start shopping for a new mechanic/shop and new/used pump.

Good Luck
 
#4 ·
they didnt cap it right and the fluid leaked out as i was driving. queels once then fails.

the main thing im worried about is that the seal is the only problem which is 150$ fix or what they say is i need new whole unite which is 1600$ fix. can they see if it needs new unit by just looking at it or would they have to take the part off to see that it is failed for sure. right now they are just saying it is leaking out the front portion which is the ride control. i want to make sure im not being ringed out here like the tranny people did to me.
 
#5 ·
the mercedes folks said that i wouldnt have seen a sign of leak when parked cause the pump activates when car is moving up and down over bumps trying to control hidth in back. so i didnt even know it was leaking. you know the cheap little caps you can get at parts store thats what they slid over the fitting. the mercedes said the preasure behind it was too much for the system and popped the cap off shooting the liquid out ruining the pump in fast manner :(

if they had put something on to hold the cap sealed and tite they say it might have held b
 
#10 ·
lol thanks all for assistance. but after what i just saw at the mercedes shop this car is coming back home to me and sitting for a while. went to parts counter to order new pump. the guy thats suposed to work on my car was at counter trying to get a hose for a nissan truck he was working on. took 30 minutes for him to figure out it was a vacume hose. then the service counter guy says " its two completely seperate pumps" which the tech told me it was a single pump with two jobs. no one seems to know so im going to wait till my friend can get some time to knock it out. no one seems to know much of anything bout this thing. also all data says 4.3 hours to replace the pump. they are quoting me 10 hours at 110$ an hour just in labor just for the pump.
 
#11 ·
Honestly, I don't even know how people just go to the dealer and are okay with getting screwed over. Only time I would if it was under warranty.
The mechanics there might actually be worse than your regular Indie car who has knowledge of many different vehicles than just one brand. Experience is what matters, not just some test that the dealer mechanics pass and call it a day.

I have so many dealer stories this thread will never end..my favorite is when I took an Aurora (back in 2000) to get a new trans put it. It cost 5k.
Fine paid it, left it at the dealer...Got the car back after a week...only to find the steering was making noise. Took it to a family member's shop...just to find out the whole steering unit was loose, the trans was not mounted right.
Another time I went to get free recall repair ...got my car back with a F**cked up alignment...etc etc etc


Get a pump from a salvaged car for half the cost or look for it online. Have someone that you trust install it and make sure the lines are plugged correctly.
Also make sure the fluid you use is specific from the MB. When I had to replace my rear accumulators, there was nothing close to that specific fluid.
 
#13 ·
lol thanks all for assistance. but after what i just saw at the mercedes shop this car is coming back home to me and sitting for a while. went to parts counter to order new pump. the guy thats suposed to work on my car was at counter trying to get a hose for a nissan truck he was working on. took 30 minutes for him to figure out it was a vacume hose. then the service counter guy says " its two completely seperate pumps" which the tech told me it was a single pump with two jobs. no one seems to know so im going to wait till my friend can get some time to knock it out. no one seems to know much of anything bout this thing. also all data says 4.3 hours to replace the pump. they are quoting me 10 hours.
 
#14 ·
To save some money why or how come you don't do the job yourself ,I would somehow . The amount of money that you spend on labour alone would buy you all the tools you ever need to do the job ,plus the experience you get to work on your car.
When you go to the MB dealer/service depo with a w140 these days ,by what I know ,its the same as if you go to an independent mechanic that does all cars anyway ,at MB they don't have the tools to fix the 140's anymore ,the staff doesn't have any knowledge were to put there hands in them as well because they are to young ,yet they charge you the same rate as if they are working on a W222 S class ,don't get sucked in antboss .:thumbsup:
 
#15 ·
Okay, I have personal, up close, recent experience with this issue ($$$) I hate to break it to you but I think you should get back to the original hydrolic shocks, IMHO. Also take the pump off and order the part from what you have on the car. There is a reason for this and I will explain:

The system in the car is just like the system in a low rider or hot rod with bags, instead of the pump, air tank switches being in the trunk Mercedes took it apart. the power steering pump is a duel pump. One side for the shocks. The accumulators are the (tanks) and the switches are the ride level switches in the rear. When it's right it is the best, smoothest ride around.

About the pump, my vin on my car says it has a NON-vickers pump. I have an original, one owner car with a service history. It came with a vickers pump! Sometimes you just have to put parts on the bench and look at them.

Once you started changing only half of the suspension from hydrolic to standard there are alot of thing off. Think of it this way once you get it back stock specs you'll be good for 100-150K miles no problem.
 
#16 ·
thank you. the reason i got it out of there is cause the people charging the hours swore it was two parts. the tech said it was a single with two jobs. so the people arent talking to each other so they are confused and rude. they were saying the whole pump was demolished before even seeing it in hand. all they did was add a little fluid and saw a leak from the front pully. the thing is around here we dont have true "mercedes" i think nearest one is about 100 miles eather way from me. this used to be a mercedes dealer but we dont have money round here like that so they closed. also closed bmw and cadillac dealers. no one will touch the euro cars it seems. even have all the "euro " specialist turning all our cars down.

i would gladly do it myself if i had access to a lift. i have done all other work on this car myself so i do know what im doing. so i think im going to rent a spot from a friend with lift and do it myself.

the warrentee ticks me off also. new $1600 pump has one yr 12k miles. the remanned $980 is the exact same. which says to me that the parts cant be that good or they would have the warentee like my tranny did 300k or 3 yrs.

i should have put the used shocks i got here from someone on the car in first place :( but the cost to replace scared me away. im marking this as bad desission making :(
 
#19 ·
got the air intake out and am now able to see pump. i was hoping i could find model number without taking out, but i dont know where the info is located. i did get the info off the filler part for power steering. decided if im going to have to do this might as well do it right and put new hoses and such in also for the system.

do i have to go from bottom or top to get this thing out? can anyone tell what model pump is by pictures?

thanks again.
 

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#22 ·
Yes, you can however didn't you just change the rear shocks to non-hydrolic but you still have the hydrolic shocks on the front? What are you going to do about the accumulators?

Here is my suggestion, stop what you are doing, if you can find someone you know with a w140 with the ride leveling suspension working correctly and then see if you want to make a lot of modifications.
 
#23 ·
i didnt see any fitting for the front. looks like normal struts in front. it was working fine if the fluid didnt leak out cause they didnt plug fitting correctly. i dont know anyone that owns mercedes other than here. if i fix this pump problem its all good, drove fine. drove more smooth than having the hydroshocks on it for sure.
 
#24 ·
Pop the hood and look at the top of the struts, if there are hydraulic lines present then your front struts are hydraulic (I thought the 140 only had rear hydraulic, Sachs SuperTouring).

Jack your front driver's side wheel up and remove it. Remove the engine side cover as well as the big square bottom engine cover.

There is a riveted rectangular tag on the left side of the tandem pump that will tell you everything you need to know.
 
#28 ·
The only W140's with pressured front struts are those with adaptive damping, as previously posted there will be a button and I think, a warning light on the dash if this is fitted. I believe it was more common on later W140s.

In any case if you go onto Pelican Parts or similar you can find a kit for the pump. One reason they may be suggesting a new pump is because when it locks up there may be more damage than just overhauling it with the kit, which is really about fixing leaks.

I would get a 2nd hand pump (checking the part #'s match) and then install the seal kit into this - you're taking some risk with an older used pump but you're not paying the price of a new one.

You then need to make sure the lines are plugged off, I think there are some DIY's for doing this if you search for the SLS to standard conversion for example.
 
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