Help needed with rotten SLS lines? - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

n0rt75o · #46 01-02-2008, 10:19 PM

sls valve is what is crumbling on mine from rust and corresion, how much is a new one? tia

Chad300tdt · #47 01-02-2008, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by n0rt75o

sls valve is what is crumbling on mine from rust and corresion, how much is a new one? tia

I didn't price the valve myself but read of others who got a price of around $600 from the dealer. I would go to a junk yard and pull one to rebuild if yours is that bad. I believe Biodiesel300td (andrew) will have the o-rings for the rebuild available soon to members here. I don't think the rebuild kit from the dealer is available anymore, so you need a valve with a good piston assembly to start with.

I would like to see a pic of your valve. I believe they are made from aluminum and the bracket is steel. There can be quite a bit of corrosion between the two, but if it hasn't breeched the halves of the valve body it should be OK. You might need a new bracket, but they are an easy find.

cestes · #48 02-03-2008, 11:15 AM

Great material in here!

Does anyone have the sizes for the flared fittings used on the hard lines for the SLS?

I'm relocating my reservoir to the other side of the car and need to extend the return line over there. Can I just put a barbed fitting and use hydraulic-rated hose? Regardless, what size fitting do I ask for? Can I buy them at McMaster?

Thanks!

cestes

Chad300tdt · #49 02-03-2008, 02:41 PM

Save the fittings that are on the end of the line now and reuse them.

Get some 6mm line, 2 flare nuts and a matching union. The place you order the line and fittings from can make sure the nuts and the union match. As long as you don't damage the fitting as you remove it from the reservoir, you can bubble flare it on to the new spiced line.

When I damaged a flare nut, the only solution for me was to mail it to the place I ordered the lines from and have them match it. It pays to be very careful in the first place.

barry123400 · #50 02-03-2008, 08:57 PM

For the time it takes I usually take thick grease and coat the metal brake lines especially. The local climate takes quite a toll. This is on usually older vehicles I expect to have a long time. I just use a paint brush to apply.

This could be extended to the leveling system metal lines if one expected to have their car for a long time. The grease seems to stay on pretty well and slows oxidation down to almost nothing. It also seems to travel a little or the oil in it does. So even if you do not get perfect coverage it still covers well. Worth the effort in my opinion.

Chad300tdt · #51 02-03-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

For the time it takes I usually take thick grease and coat the metal brake lines especially. The local climate takes quite a toll.

This could be extended to the leveling system metal lines if one expected to have their car for a long time. The grease seems to stay on pretty well and slows oxidation down to almost nothing. It also seems to travel a little or the oil in it does. So even if you do not get perfect coverage when brushing it still covers well.

That's a good tip.

The brake lines are the only lines that didn't rot through under my wagon. It's been in salted road winters since 1985 and everything under the subframe was shot (fuel and SLS). I guess some kind of spray would work best to get to the lines under there.

barry123400 · #52 02-03-2008, 09:20 PM

You could mix a little oil with the grease if you are going to spray it. Heating it up in a container of very hot water will help to further reduce the viscosity for spraying. . A schultz or rocker coating spray gun will work. Cheap item new or a guy might loan one.
The mix will kind of sputter out the nozzle and deposit up to a foot or so away easily.
I have a hydralic gun designed to spray straight grease from a twenty gallon bucket. The schultz gun will not quite handle that viscosity.
We have used the schultz gun as well several times. . Reduction with oil went well. A little slow but just doing lines does not take all that long.
Drive the car on a dusty road after spraying with the thinned down grease. The dust will tend to increase the viscosity again.
We found over the years that nothing reduces the rate of corrosion better than petroleum products applied over it. In fact most other methods tend to speed it up.

asnowsquall · #53 02-03-2008, 09:29 PM

http://www.swagelok.com/ makes excellent fittings, and you can locate a distributor here http://www.swagelok.com/distributors/locate_dist.aspx.
I had a line go bad on me and I already had some 1/4" line so I purchased two 6mm to 1/4 couplings. I think that was the size. They have 6mm to 6mm also. Worked good. I tried do brake lines like this and when it was inspected for a sale the guy said thats a no no for brake lines even though it works. Not sure if its a no no for the hydraulic lines for the suspension. I believe the fittings are rated for high pressure for this application. It worked for me and saved me from messing with fittings on the control valve which were hard to get to.
If nothing else this will buy you time. Myself, I'd do this before any epoxy or jbweld, just my oinion.

barry123400 · #54 02-03-2008, 09:40 PM

Couplings are a safety issue on brake lines. No safety issue on the hydralic suspension. Even just good compression fittings might get by on them.
The unit pressure is very high but the cross sectional area is very small. I very much doubt that there is more than 100lbs effective pressure to separate the coupling with such a small line internal cross section.
I guess I could do the calculations to be exact. The line pressure is say 1500 lbs per square inch. You are dealing with an area much smaller than 1/15 of a square inch.

tobybul · #55 02-04-2008, 11:59 AM

I wonder if copper tubing will work in this application?

barry123400 · #56 02-04-2008, 04:47 PM

Copper tubing can fatique with time and vibration. Also harder to get a subtantial mechanically strong coupling as it is so soft compared to steel. Does not mean it would not work only that the steel line is a more of a sure thing in my opinion.

C Holmes · #57 04-15-2010, 11:24 AM

I am doing the same job, replacing lines. I have however have decided to change to reg hydraulic flexible hose. My hydro shop has a fitting that fits the accum. and adapts it to JIC but the male on the end of the steel line I am having trouble getting. Anyone know where I can get this fitting? I suppose I could run hose right to the hydr shock but I think it is the same size.

vstech · #58 04-15-2010, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Holmes

I am doing the same job, replacing lines. I have however have decided to change to reg hydraulic flexible hose. My hydro shop has a fitting that fits the accum. and adapts it to JIC but the male on the end of the steel line I am having trouble getting. Anyone know where I can get this fitting? I suppose I could run hose right to the hydr shock but I think it is the same size.

why in the world would you change the fittings? they are standard, and they are simple... just change the hose.

C Holmes · #59 04-15-2010, 02:40 PM

The fittings are metric and the shop here does not have one of them. I needed the size to see if I could find them. Turns out they are 16x1.5mm It is not so much the size but the way they seat

gsxr · #60 04-04-2013, 11:12 AM

Links to two related threads with additional information about repairing SLS lines, flaring, tools, etc, etc:

Tips for Making Successful Bubble Flares

metric flare tool, fittings?