Sl500 ABC fault plus central locking fault!!!

[wizzman]

Craig, there is no email link on the dropdown menu on your user name. Or is there another way to pm you ? plus I am useless on computers:roll:

 

[Craiglxviii]

Craig, there is no email link on the dropdown menu on your user name. Or is there another way to pm you ? plus I am useless on computers:roll:

Is there no option to send private message..?

 

[wizzman]

I have to get pm facility ok'd on my user account. will try tomorrow. cheers

 

[Gkinghorn]

The above is why I don't buy another SL .... scary


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[rexemper]

The above is why I don't buy another SL .... scary


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Hang on, weren't you one of the people encouraging me to get the SL500???

 

[Philedge]

Interesting thread here and a warning to all SL owners. Can I just but in and ask Craigxviii about the O ring kits. I would like to rebuild my valve blocks this year to try and stop the SL sinking down after a few days. Could you maybe PM me Craig with some cost details ?

Cheers

Ian

The lock solenoids that seal the fluid in the struts when the engine is off use a metal to metal seal to hold the fluid in so will probably just need a clean and brief lap to get them sealing again. Thats all mine took to stop one corner dropping.

Unlike the control solenoid, the lock valves open when you start the car and close when you stop it so do very little work and are unlikely to wear the O ring out on the valve stem.

 

[Submariner1]

The lock solenoids that seal the fluid in the struts when the engine is off use a metal to metal seal to hold the fluid in so will probably just need a clean and brief lap to get them sealing again. Thats all mine took to stop one corner dropping.

Unlike the control solenoid, the lock valves open when you start the car and close when you stop it so do very little work and are unlikely to wear the O ring out on the valve stem.

I guess they might even be working just locking off wherever each individual strut is.

Just a guess?

 

[Submariner1]

The above is why I don't buy another SL .... scary


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When I bought my last SL 500, All 500s just came with ABC.
Its now a chargeable extra, and quite expensive .... so in 3 years you might be able to pick up a used one without ABC.
Be a joke if they have a higher residual value?

I think Mercedes should as a minimum sell all ABC stuff at cost, and prefereably subsidise the cost until at least 75,000 miles.
IMO a big engined S, CL or SL should run without any major issues until 75,000 miles. (TBH 100,000 miles).

Why? ... because it would help residuals, encouraging new sales, and do wonders for the Brands image.
I personally know 6 guys .. long term big Merc owners, who would have bought a new car to retire with. But won't ... because they dont trust the reliability, and the enourmous parts elements of the repair bills . E.g. $1,376 for a drivers door window? Not even fitted.
Come on, thats ridiculous. At that rate a complete CL500 would be over a million £.

 

[Craiglxviii]

When I bought my last SL 500, All 500s just came with ABC.
Its now a chargeable extra, and quite expensive .... so in 3 years you might be able to pick up a used one without ABC.
Be a joke if they have a higher residual value?

I think Mercedes should as a minimum sell all ABC stuff at cost, and prefereably subsidise the cost until at least 75,000 miles.
IMO a big engined S, CL or SL should run without any major issues until 75,000 miles. (TBH 100,000 miles).

Why? ... because it would help residuals, encouraging new sales, and do wonders for the Brands image.
I personally know 6 guys .. long term big Merc owners, who would have bought a new car to retire with. But won't ... because they dont trust the reliability, and the enourmous parts elements of the repair bills . E.g. $1,376 for a drivers door window? Not even fitted.
Come on, thats ridiculous. At that rate a complete CL500 would be over a million £.

Well one of the car mags back in the 70s costed up a Mini Clubman at something like £14k when bought as spares and assembled..!!!

It's common to charge anywhere from 500-5000% of cost(yes the decimal points are in the right place!) for service parts and there seems to be little rhyme or reason as to why

 

[Philedge]

I guess they might even be working just locking off wherever each individual strut is.

Just a guess?

If Wizzmans car is taking a few days to drop, then they are almost certainly working and the sealing faces just need a clean.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Hang on, weren't you one of the people encouraging me to get the SL500???

Yeah but you were called Raj then

 

[rexemper]

Yeah but you were called Raj then

That made me laugh!

 

[Gkinghorn]

Hang on, weren't you one of the people encouraging me to get the SL500???

I tell everyone to buy one ....


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[PHUNN]

Very interesting and useful posts.
I am new to the ABC (and SL) 'club' and am told (and have the Merc invoice for the part) that my (recently acquired) SL500 has a new pump. The fluid reservoir is topped to the mark of green (ish) liquid.
All seems well with the car. The AA carried out a full pre-purchase check for me and pronounced it 'lovely' and detected no problems whatsoever.
I find stable, smooth ride progress, steering, braking, noise are all very good (after about 500 miles, and the dawning realisation that Merc, like other motor manufacturers, are congenital liars when it come to declared fuel consumption. Mid twenties mpg if I resist the temptations spread before me, like the imagined sound of velvet silk while accelerating...!)
There is an occasional 'pumping' noise when first climbing into the brute. Hopefully that's normal behaviour?
I have not observed an obvious change in the ride height over the five weeks since acquisition ( including over two weeks of no use at all).
However, while parked, the car does seem to sit rather high on its' 18 wheels. A (fairly rough) measurement of the distance between the top of each tyre and the wheel arch is 4 to 4.5 inches. And there is an anomaly: near side front(left in the UK) and off side rear are 4.5 inches while the off side front and near side rear are 4 inches. So the ride height (where the car is presently parked, on reasonably level ground) of the wheels matches on the diagonal?

Any thoughts on that topic would be most welcome.

 

[Craiglxviii]

The centre point of the wheel arch should be 70cm from the ground when the car is parked on flat level and ride height is set to normal. If your car is higher than this at any point then I'd strongly suggest you need to get the car on Star with an Indy who knows ABC, and have the ride height reset. It loses its "zero" over time, mine needs redoing after around 4K of driving for instance.

Cost- £60 for a Star session.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Ok, the noise you're hearing is more than likely the SBC pump waking up. I had it quite often in my SL500 too and it isn't a problem.
The ride height is intriguing. I never experienced anything like that, seems odd that they match diagonally!
Does the car cycle up and down smoothly?
Sounds like the fluid is fine and if indeed the pump is new that shouldn't be an issue.
Probably needs a reset of some sort
Oh on the MPG, i very rarely got 20, so youre doing better than i did!
I'll be listing some winter tyres later in the year if you're interested...

 

[PHUNN]

The centre point of the wheel arch should be 70cm from the ground when the car is parked on flat level and ride height is set to normal. If your car is higher than this at any point then I'd strongly suggest you need to get the car on Star with an Indy who knows ABC, and have the ride height reset. It loses its "zero" over time, mine needs redoing after around 4K of driving for instance.

Cost- £60 for a Star session.

Many thanks for this info. And what, pray, is a 'ride height reset'?! Does it involve blood letting?!
The car seems to float along quite well, whatever the height might be. Last evening I 'warmed' the rear tyres emerging from a roundabout 'con brio', much to the surprise of a Q7 which had sped past me earlier on the motorway and the old girl tucked in her tail and took off very well thank you very much! So I don't think there is much (anything: fingers tightly crossed..) wrong, sez he, tempting fate...
I shall go and take the measurement from the ground level (always provided I a can determine 'The centre point of the wheel arch'), when it gets light. Thanks again for the tip.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Use a tape measure and measure vertically through the centre of the wheel. That is central in X to the wheel arch so will meet the top centre...

A ride height reset just involves plugging the car into Star and adjusting each strut to the correct ride height, then setting that as the datum. Like I said, £60 for a Star session.

 

[PHUNN]

Use a tape measure and measure vertically through the centre of the wheel. That is central in X to the wheel arch so will meet the top centre...

A ride height reset just involves plugging the car into Star and adjusting each strut to the correct ride height, then setting that as the datum. Like I said, £60 for a Star session.

Excellent info.
So I've measured the dimensions and find that none of them is less than 74cm (but then, none of them is more than 75cm either!)
And I will take a further measure of relief from your post which reveals unto me that the struts can be individually adjusted. Therefore (as in all the other cars I've owned to date) there is no likelihood that an undetected bent chassis/subframe/suspension member might be the root cause of the mismatch around the wheel arches! Big sigh of relief.
It might also explain why the car does seem to ride 'tall'; rather like Elton John in stilted former days...
I have already reported that the 'stickability' seems fine. I look forward to experiencing the handling when the ride height is reduced by nearly 6%.
Maybe the guys who replaced the ABC pump on the car neglected to finish the job properly or carry out the last necessary adjustment.
Any idea about a local (Carmarthen in West Wales) recommended personage who might be up for the adjustment job as a precursor to a long and happy maintainenceship?

 

[PHUNN]

It's always nice to give credit where it's due.
So many thanks to 'Cerebral Cambs' man, (Craiglxviii) and the 'Wirral Wonder' (John Laidlaw) following whose intervention I today took the motor to an Indy. There a judicious plugging took place. I watched, bemused, as the 'Star' computer screen scrolled its way through a multitude of 'faults', 99% of which could be cancelled and put down to a period of around six months earlier this year during which the car lay dormant at the back of a barn.
The ABC area on the PC screen showed (confirmed!) the weird diagonal ride height match (mentioned in my post of 1 July).
And then came the 'magic' moment. We fired up the motor and with a tap (and I really do mean ONE tap) of the relevant button on the computer screen..., 'just like that', the old girl settled into a level, lower and much, much trimmer trim!
Ride height is 69cm all round and the car seems transformed.
So maybe the price of potential (and doubtless actual) ABC trauma gives a little upside too. 'So far ,so good'... as we plummet on our parachuteless sky dive past the 25th floor of the Shard!
What's more, the Indy price was 'on the button' (£60ish) unlike the £300+ quotation received from the MB franchise...
So, once again, many thanks guys!