I am starting to feel like a "newbie" with all these questions, but I am new to the W124 chassis. I was looking at the various hoses coming from what I thought was the power steering pump, and saw a hose that goes to the bottom of the hyd. fluid res. Yet there are also lines going to the steering box itself. So I am a bit confused. Is the power steering pump also the hyd. pump for the leveling system? I was about to replace a leaking power steering return hose and put in a new filter and fluid. However, the pwr. steering fluid is different than the hyd. fluid. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Also a another question, how do you get the main fuel filter off. I mean I know how to unscrew the filter, but how do you physically get the filter out from it's location, it's in a bit of a tight spot.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

1) It's known as the tandem pump - two pumps in one! Just the power steering pump and the suspension pump driven off the same pulley and shaft. The pumps themselves are actually separate.

Anyone know if there's a rebuild kit available for this thing? Mine slings a bit of fluid - not even sure which one - from just behind the drive pulley. It's not much, but it doesn't take much to make a mess.

2) You have to loosen the mounting bolts for the piece to which the fuel filter attaches (what's its name?). It's been a while, I can't recall whether just loosening them or removing them is required. One caveat - check your injector return hose. If the long section from the number 1 injector to the fuel filter is brittle, it will break when you move things around while changing the fuel filter. You're then stranded until it's replaced. Don't ask how I know this...

- JimY