I feel like overhauling my ABC plumbing

[Conor]

Hello all

Has anybody had a go at this?

The car is nearly 19 years old now.. and with a leak around the front valve block. Technically you can still drive it if you keep the system topped up... but I am taking that as, as fair a shot across the bow as you can get on this car/system.

You might recall the pics from the last time I had to troubleshoot some pressure related errors. -- I know the general consensus was that the pump might have gotten low on fluid. I know that's bad for the pump but I don't think it's shot.. and if it is i'll replace it.

Anyway.. this whole area started off dirty, I cleaned it.. now it's back to same dirty state again.

I have a fantastic place to work out of at the moment indefinitely so I'm thinking about getting this up on stands for some resto work before next spring/summer.

My ideal underside restoration would be:

- Drop both subframes (Is engine support from top feasible on these?)
- Clean up and treat rust then seal underside. Something like wire wheel/Bilt Hamber products, paint then BH wax or something.
- Tidy up subframes and re-paint with suitable coating.
- Replace brake lines with Cunifer
- Replace ABC plumbing (lines / fittings) and rebuild the valve bodys. I suppose it would be worth replacing the three spheres also.

It feels to me like a BIG list and a LOT of work.. but the most substantial piece of work by far would be the ABC work which is the highest priority. Once the car has been stripped to do that work, it feels like the other stuff wouldn't be massive as everything should be easily accessible.

Question: They say the "car killer ABC pipe" that runs under the engine, requires engine removed to change. Where exactly does it run? If you supported engine from top and removed the subframe would you be able to change it?

Also, if I do this - what kind of stuff am I likely to need to purchase? For starters I am thinking:

- All the hoses / pipes, to / from valve blocks, pump, shocks, spheres etc..
- 3x Spheres / dampeners. Rear / Front and return
- Valve block repair kit x2

I plan on removing all the hoses/pipes and having copies made up by a hydraulic hose specialist. I won't be going near MB for them as I genuinely don't see the need. I see a lot of people re-using the fittings this way. I would clean mine down on a wire wheel, treat and paint.. as I am sure these are MB custom and hard to replicate?

It would be great to hear from anybody who has really gotten down to nuts and bolts on the underside of this car.

I think it's worth it.. this is a fantastic car which I really enjoy driving in the summer months. The way I see it is that the car is approaching 20 years old now.. and this work done would give it a very good chance of being reliable for another 20 odd years or so.

 

[ajlsl600]

I think I would re route a correctly rated flexible before taking engine out to replace a metal pipe. But it sounds like u want something to do?
U will almost certainly have pts that won't easily shift and clips fittings that break. So I would only remove what I can get at without complicating the issue further or involving further avoidable expense

 

[Conor]

I think I would re route a correctly rated flexible before taking engine out to replace a metal pipe. But it sounds like u want something to do?
U will almost certainly have pts that won't easily shift and clips fittings that break. So I would only remove what I can get at without complicating the issue further or involving further avoidable expense

Hey AJ

Ha yes, while I don't particularly enjoy being in the trenches of seized nuts and bolts... I feel like this is worthwhile preventative maintenance as the alternate is having significant down time during the summer when something goes wrong.. and it inevitably will...

Fair point on the seizure of bits. I'm going to make up a shopping list of parts and see what the cost is and come up with a budget.. see where I am then.

P.S. I've also noticed an issue with rear valve block in the past month or so. When I park up, the drivers rear strut raises up. And as soon as I drive off it lowers back down. So that's my warning shot for the valve body rear. I reckon it's time to overhaul really.

 

[ajlsl600]

Secret is prep and understanding marking everything. And not being in a hurry what ur proposing is not rocket science but it's a fair job.. Whilst my Vdoz had abc and had best ride roadholding I ever had I won't be getting another abc. Its too fickle and my days of crawling about under cars is near over age and lack of interest. If I went back it would be Sl350 or slk350.

 

[Conor]

I think it will take a while this job.

I'm really unsure about doing it on axle stands lol.

 

[00slk]

Sounds like you will be taking on a major mission Conor

 

[alexanderfoti]

Be basically what I'm doing on the 215. The abc lines were over 3k. Some could have been made by the local hydraulic line place but some would struggle.

 

[peterws1957]

I think it will take a while this job.

I'm really unsure about doing it on axle stands lol.

It's probably a couple of years ago that Tavarish on You Tube removed all the lines on his SL. May give you an idea where the lines run etc although he did cut some out. He replaced with spring/shock arrangement, although some say this ruins handling etc. Sounds like a big job if you go like for like - good luck. Me I've long since gone the route of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach.

 

[horatio]

Legitstreetcars made some excellent vids messing about with the ABC on a CL65.

I think the key to this project is access to a lift!

Honestly I would wait for it to break then replace it with a mix of SL350 & Bilstein parts… but I am a philistine not a connoisseur!

 

[horatio]

Scary thought… how long until NLA starts appearing next to these ABC parts!

 

[alexanderfoti]

Scary thought… how long until NLA starts appearing next to these ABC parts!

Sooner than you think

 

[Richard Moakes]

Did something similar to my R129 when the ADS lines under the rear subframe failed due to corrosion.

It was a big expensive job, but worth it knowing they had all been replaced and were covered in rust proofing wax. Shame someone else is benefitting from it now, I still miss that car 9 months after selling it

 

[Wighty]

As mentioned Conor , you could spend £ thousands doing all the work and then get hit by unavailability of another part ? I’m beginning to worry about that on both my 2009 cars .

 

[alexanderfoti]

I feared this, so I ordered all the ones that had an ominous stock status first. Most of them took 6-8 months to turn up

 

[Flyinspanner]

Have you tried nipping up the unions, it cured weeping valve block on the CL I had.

 

[noonboots]

There is at least one person on a Facebook group who had every major ABC component changed on his car about 3 or 4 years ago at huge cost. He recently posted that he is having problems again.
ABC is an over complex system and great when it works. However, no amount of work or money can gaurantee reliability. It wasn't reliable when Mercedes built it, how can an owner repairing it make it reliable ?

 

[Mark Q]

Have you tried nipping up the unions, it cured weeping valve block on the CL I had.

I'm currently testing my 'independents' attempt at this, done about 350 miles since over 5 trips so far so good, also had two valve blocks and a pump this year so really don't want any more outlay on the ABC system, or anything else.

 

[Mark Q]

P.S. I've also noticed an issue with rear valve block in the past month or so. When I park up, the drivers rear strut raises up. And as soon as I drive off it lowers back down. So that's my warning shot for the valve body rear. I reckon it's time to overhaul really.

That's where my issues started, then it started to do it whilst moving then the warning lights came. I put it down to it being grounded over lockdown and only being moved in and out of garage whilst we did various things. if only I'd followed Boris's lead and just done what I wanted to do with it.....

Good luck with all that work..

 

[Simon Barry]

I feared this, so I ordered all the ones that had an ominous stock status first. Most of them took 6-8 months to turn up

Any modules of interest in your list that would be of interest or warning to other 215 owners perhaps?

 

[alexanderfoti]

Are you referring to the availability of the lines or ABC system in general?