[pchansen1]

Well, I took the plunge and replaced both accumulators tonight. Followed most of the DIY write-ups located here and at Mercedesshop.com. Pretty straight forward except there seems to be differing opinions on how or if you need to bleed the system after the procedure is complete.
We all know that your going to end up with an unholy mess when you remove the old accumulators. This time was no different. I even managed to lay my head in the drip pan! The rest was pretty painless.

I followed ALLDATADIY.com on the last step in the procedure. It calls for ensuring that there is adequate oil in the reservoir. So I poured about a half of a quart into the reservoir. Disconnected the level controller lever and moved it to the FILL (F) position. Started the car and and ran it for about a minute. Shut it down and checked the oil level again. It was way down. Added another quart to bring the level up into spec. I then moved the lever to the EMPTY(L) position. Heard a hissing sound followed by a squirting sound-followed by a dripping sound! (Car still off and still up on jack stands). Hustled around to the front of the car and saw hydraulic fluid squirting out of the top of the reservoir[:0]
Had to siphon out about 6oz to get the fluid level within spec. This is not counting the large oil stain on my garage wall.

What the hell happened?

After I cleaned up my mess I took the car for a spin. Rides much better now. Oil level is perfect.

Any comments?
Paul

PS Both accumulators had zero pressure- had a lot of "seafoam" when I removed the hyd lines on the old accumulators. Car has 95,000 miles on it.

 

[pcmaher]

When the car is lifted in the F position, lots of fluid is pumped into the struts. In all likelihood, your car will never ride that high. So when you checked the fluid in the reservoir, it looked low. Then, when you lowered the car to the L position, all the fluid that was in the struts is put back into the reservoir, along with the oil that you added. It simply overflowed because there was too much oil in the system. Always check oil level with the car running and at normal weight (ie not with 500 pounds of bricks in the trunk). Good job on your succesful project! Doesn't that oil smell bad? And it takes days to get it out of your hair.

 

[pchansen1]

Yeah I ended up sitting in the hot tub after just adding a lot of chlorine. My wife says she like he smell of chlorine better than hydraulic fluid.[]

On a more serious note. I now have about 50 miles on the new accumulators. I guess that they have helped a little. I'm defiantly not avoiding manhole covers like I was, but the ride is still not perfect. Maybe I'm just being anal. Next is new struts up front and new tires. That should (I hope) do it. I'm going to try Toyo Proxes TPT tires on the stock 16" wheels. they seem to get pretty good reviews and was wonderingif anyone has had any experience with these tires.
Paul

 

[pcmaher]

I also am not happy with my ride quality. I suspect an ADS problem. I hope I don't need to change shocks, as mine run about $650 each for the fronts, and $550 each for the rear. Ouch. I have a pretty long thread going on ADS, with lots of good input from our buddies on this forum.

 

[bc2885]

Thanks for the update on accumulators. On the Toyo Proxes...I know people who have raced w/ these tires and they do rate very high. I used to run bridgestone so3's on my clk, only got 12k miles out of em.(offset rims). The toyos seem to yield better treadwear and less $ too! Good luck