SBC unit refurbishment

[Ollie2805]

Good evening all

Has anyone had their SBC pump rebuilt/reset by Autotronics? Or have any recommendations of where to get it done please?

Mercedes E class, SL & CL Class SBC Pump Repair

If you are experiencing issues with your Mercedes E-Class, SL, CL, CLS Class SBC Pump Repair, our highly-skilled engineers can repair it for you. Quick & easy!

www.autotronics.co.uk

thanks in advance

 

[LostKiwi]

What's wrong with it?

 

[Ollie2805]

What's wrong with it?

The SBC unit has “failed operating time check” so was looking at having it rebuilt as a posed to £2005 for a new one from Mercedes.

 

[LostKiwi]

That the 249F error that comes up in white.
As a temporary reprieve you can probably reset the counter to a higher value (MB do this in the US I believe).

If you're competent with spanners you can possibly rebuild your own as the usual failure points are the accumulator (ball shaped thing next to the motor) and motor brushes. There's a YouTube video showing how.

I was going to do mine but spotted a brand new one on eBay for £360 which I've now fitted.

You will need STAR diagnostics to bleed the braking system afterwards and also a pressure bleed system.

 

[Ollie2805]

That the 249F error that comes up in white.
As a temporary reprieve you can probably reset the counter to a higher value (MB do this in the US I believe).

If you're competent with spanners you can possibly rebuild your own as the usual failure points are the accumulator (ball shaped thing next to the motor) and motor brushes. There's a YouTube video showing how.

I was going to do mine but spotted a brand new one on eBay for £360 which I've now fitted.

You will need STAR diagnostics to bleed the braking system afterwards and also a pressure bleed system.

The funny thing is, I don’t have any warning messages, and there are no fault codes in the SBC system. They just told me it hadn’t passed its operating time check.
I can get it rebuilt by autotronics for about £370, I don’t have star, but my friend has a top of the range Snapon scanner and said he can bleed the system for me.

 

[LostKiwi]

I'd be getting it scanned again.
If it's up to the count you should be getting a white SBC warning on the dash.

Have your friend with Snap On scan it. If there are SBC codes post them here.

Ask Autotronics what they refurbish.

 

[Ollie2805]

I'd be getting it scanned again.
If it's up to the count you should be getting a white SBC warning on the dash.

Have your friend with Snap On scan it. If there are SBC codes post them here.

Ask Autotronics what they refurbish.

So I have spoken to the Mercedes specialist. There are no codes because there are no faults at present, but Star warned that the SBC unit was close to it‘s service limit. So I am thinking of having it rebuilt as a preventative measure.

 

[LostKiwi]

When it gets close it logs a C249F code (been there, done that). I'd question how Star is warning it's close. How many miles has it covered?

Brake defective Stop Vehicle! SBC Brake Failure Error CODE C249F Fault – MB Medic

www.mercedesmedic.com

It would be useful to know what the actuation count is.

 

[V6Matty]

When it gets close it logs a C249F code (been there, done that). I'd question how Star is warning it's close. How many miles has it covered?

Brake defective Stop Vehicle! SBC Brake Failure Error CODE C249F Fault – MB Medic

www.mercedesmedic.com

It would be useful to know what the actuation count is.

I’d be thinking if star is saying it’s near its service life it’s not actuations but pressure fill rates getting too long.
As you know C249F can be extended, but should only be done if the fill rates are within spec, if they are getting out of spec then it’s better to go the refurb route

 

[Ollie2805]

I’d be thinking if star is saying it’s near its service life it’s not actuations but pressure fill rates getting too long.
As you know C249F can be extended, but should only be done if the fill rates are within spec, if they are getting out of spec then it’s better to go the refurb route

Their exact words were “failed operating time check”. There were no faults other than that.

 

[V6Matty]

Their exact words were “failed operating time check”. There were no faults other than that.

That does indeed sound like it’s struggling to make pressure in the set time, you’re doing the right thing in getting it refurbished

 

[Ollie2805]

When it gets close it logs a C249F code (been there, done that). I'd question how Star is warning it's close. How many miles has it covered?

Brake defective Stop Vehicle! SBC Brake Failure Error CODE C249F Fault – MB Medic

www.mercedesmedic.com

It would be useful to know what the actuation count is.

I did ask them that, and they said they don’t know as star doesn’t tell them the actual amount or how close to the limit it is. It has done 72000 miles.

 

[Ollie2805]

That does indeed sound like it’s struggling to make pressure in the set time, you’re doing the right thing in getting it refurbished

Do you have any recommendations as to where to get it rebuilt please? Also, if it had failed a pressure test, would that not store a fault code in itself?

 

[LostKiwi]

I did ask them that, and they said they don’t know as star doesn’t tell them the actual amount or how close to the limit it is. It has done 72000 miles.

Even my cheap third party diagnostic kit can tell me the count! Star definitely can as I read it in my new one when i changed to pump.
Star will tell both the limit setting and the current count.
Any failed test will log a code.

Also 72k miles is very early. In general they fail between 80k and 120k and if the limit is increased will go further. My own pump alerted with C249F at 105k and failed at 114k miles (for a failed accumulator not a failed motor).

I'd be getting a second opinion before spending money on a refurb.

Which part of the country are you - we may be able to suggest a reputable place to get a second opinion.

 

[Ollie2805]

Even my cheap third party diagnostic kit can tell me the count! Star definitely can as I read it in my new one when i changed to pump.
Star will tell both the limit setting and the current count.
Any failed test will log a code.

Also 72k miles is very early. In general they fail between 80k and 120k and if the limit is increased will go further. My own pump alerted with C249F at 105k and failed at 114k miles (for a failed accumulator not a failed motor).

I'd be getting a second opinion before spending money on a refurb.

Which part of the country are you - we may be able to suggest a reputable place to get a second opinion.

Oh really, I'll plug my diagnostic in tomorrow and see if it will tell me the count.
That's interesting that yours alerted at 105k and didn't fail for another 9k miles. I am on the Isle Of Wight, I took my car to MBS in Southampton.

 

[LostKiwi]

Hmm. MBS are good - they've looked after my SL though now I use someone else as they're too far away. Oh well if they say it needs doing I'd go with it. I'm very curious they can't get the reading out though.

What diagnostic have you got?

As I said previously mine failed not for the motor actuations but something else.

 

[Ollie2805]

Hmm. MBS are good - they've looked after my SL though now I use someone else as they're too far away. Oh well if they say it needs doing I'd go with it. I'm very curious they can't get the reading out though.

What diagnostic have you got?

As I said previously mine failed not for the motor actuations but something else.

I called up specifically to ask and that’s when they said they can’t tell me the count, they were really good to deal with though.

I have got an icarsoft CR pro diagnosti tool.

 

[LostKiwi]

Not sure if that will read it. If it can it will be in the live data from memory. I'd go look on mine again but it's chucking it down.

 

[ajlsl600]

I did ask them that, and they said they don’t know as star doesn’t tell them the actual amount or how close to the limit it is. It has done 72000 miles.

Sounds like dealer"blindness"

 

[V6Matty]

If you’ve been to MBS and they say it’s struggling to reach the limits then go with them, they are on the forum and a trusted Indy for many.
@Cole@MBS might know the reason for them not getting the count, it may be a simple explanation like they didn’t make note of it as it wasn’t actuations but pressure it was failing from.