SL600 Leaking water and no power steering???

[leejxxxxx]

Tonight was not a good evening. I was sitting at the airport and hit the REST button to see how it worked while I was waiting.
Anyway, my wife's plane comes, I start the car and hear a small pop and when I backed up I noticed that the P/S wasn't working so I went to a light and thats when I noticed the water leaking. I decided to try and put water in by going to the AM/PM but the temp gauge was getting near the red zone no matter how much water I put in.

Two questions?
1) What happened to the power steering? The serpantine belt is still turning.

2) Was hitting the residual (REST) heat button a coincidence?

I'll post the dealer's answer tomorrow, any ideas?

At least my ADS light hasn't come on in a while!

[BBADGER]

WOULDNT THINK REST BUTTON WOULD HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WATER LEAK OR LOSS OF POWER STEERING. INTERESTING...PLS POST FINDINGS. ALSO WOULD BE INTERESTED IN YOUR ADS PROBLEMS, IM EXPERIENCING SAME PROBLEM, ADS LAMP LIGHTING INTERMITTENTLY BUT NO DIFFERANCE IN HANDLING OR RIDE. ANY INFO APPRECIATED...1998 SL600

[leejxxxxx]

I had the intermitent ADS problem where the warning light would go on but I didn't notice any difference either. It would always come on after a re-start but it hasn't happened since it got colder here in Northern Ca.
A tech pulled the code and it said steering angle senser. Turning the wheel from lock to lock never seemed to help. The light would always be out the next morning. I'm going to have them look at that while the car's there.

[leejxxxxx]

I received the update from my personal service advisor.

Anyway, the water pump seized which stopped the power steering pump from moving which is weird since I watched it run. The cost of the water pump is less than I expected at around $380. I don't know if the warranty covers it yet.

He says there's four codes on the ADS so he can't accurately diagnose it until the car is moving again. Badger, I'll let you know the result of the ADS issue.

[BBADGER]

Leejxxxxx...glad To Hear Your Problems Werent Too Severe. Could Have Been Worse. Kind Of Thought It Would Have Something To Do With The Water Pump. Pls Post Me On Your Ads Problem. On Mine The Weather Doesnt Seem To Affect It, The Problems Is Always There After I Drive About Five Miles. Then It Goes Out After Restarting Car But Comes Back On After Another Five Miles....weird Problem Huh? Where Are You Located In Northern Ca? My Son Lives In Foothill Ranch, Southern Ca. Hes A Jr Executive For Walt Disney In Anahiem...just Retired And Love Ca But Its Not Affordable Any More. Should Have Bought A House There Five Years Aga When I Was Looking!!! Too Late Now...guess Ill Have To Stay Here In Northwest In And Freeze!!! Best To You...

[leejxxxxx]

I heard from my service advisor and they should have the car running tomorrow. Once it's on the road they'll check the ADS. They're also replacing the motor mounts since they're collapsed.

I live in Elodrado Hills, Ca.

[leejxxxxx]

BBadger, I got the car back on Saturday. They didn't see any problems with the ADS except for a loose connector. Unfortunately, the problem came back on Sunday. I also got a check engine light ten minutes after I picked up the car. No big deal, I figured something was loose, this used to happen on my Rx-7 all the time. WhenI got home a hose was unhooked. I took it back today and they cleared the code. This time the check engine light came on an hour later. Ack!

I also had them replace the motor mounts since they were collapsed. It makes a huge difference.
The bill?

$1650 was paid by my warranty.
I paid $700 but I also had them do service on the transmission and engine so not bad. The only thing the warranty didn't cover was the serpentine belt and the tranny mount.

If your car is noisier on acceleration than it used to be you might want them to check for collapsed mounts. From what I've read it's the age not the miles that does it.

Had to put the hard top on today. Wish I had a panorama top though.

[lowanover]

I too have had the ads lite come on frequently in my 96 SL600. The first time the dealer told me it was the front rt side acceleration sensor. which they replaced. It still came on but not as frequently. I took it back and now the code suggested the left font acceleration sensor. Haven't replaced it yet until i find more about the system as it could be a money pit.

The check eng lite will prevent you from passing the state emission chk. The obvious possibilities are a loose gas cap, a faulty O2 sensor, or according to the workshop manual there is a directive to check the hoses from the charcoal canister. The dealer should have already done this as it was a mod directive. Please let me know what you find out about both problems as i've had them both.

[leejxxxxx]

Have you tried rotating the steering wheel from left full lock to right full lock when the ADS light comes on?

It never resets the light for me though. They couldn't replicate the problem at the dealer. The check engine light was a broken hose and a disconnected valve. The dealer fixed it with no problem and no charge.

I'm going to get an OBDII reader so I can pull the codes.

[BBADGER]

I Have Tried The Steering Wheel Trick Many Times With No Results. While Car Was Under Warranty They Replaced The Electro Hydraulic Control Unit/shift Valve Body, Steering Angle Sensors, Turn Rate Sensors, Level Control Distributing Valve And The Complete Engine Control Module, All With No Results. So I Agree Totally With Lowanover That This Problem Could Be A Bottomless Money Pit. Since Mine Is No Longer Under Warranty Guess Ill Have To Live With The Ads Lamp Coming On. Obviously This Technological Masterpiece Is Too Much To Handle For Mb Dealers. I Cant Imagine What Repairs Like This Would Cost If Not Covered By Warranty. Its Not Even Spending The Tons Of Money For The Repairs But It Dont Seem Like They Can Diagnose And Correct The Problem Without Rebuilding Half The Car!!! Thankfully Mine Doesnt Have Any Adverse Driving Conditions When The Lamp Comes On So I Can Live With The Problem. The Darn Light Just Aggrevates The Heck Out Of Me Because Its Irritating And Mb Cant Seem To Solve An Ongoing Problem!! With Only 42000 Miles On My Car Whats It Going To Be Like When It Has Higher Mileage?? If Anybody Out There Has Any Suggestions Id Appreciate Them!! Leejxxxxx... Glad You Have All Your Problems Solved. I Didnt Think It Got Cold Enough Around You To Put On The Hard Top For The Winter! I Just Put Mine On Too. It Gets So Cold Here I Never Take The Car Out In The Winter So I Dont Even Know Why I Bother To Put The Pano On!! Its Nice But Youd Sure Get More Use Out Of It Out There Than I Do Here...lowanover Good Luck And Post If You Have Any Luck With That Ads Issue....thanks All

[leejxxxxx]

From the parts list you gave, it doesn't seem like the dealer's doing ANY diagnostics, just parts replacements. That's why I want to get an OBDII reader so I can at least see the codes and go from there.

You should call an M-B rep and tell them the dealer never fixed your problem when it was under warranty and demand they fix the ADS problem once and for all. With that parts list, it's pretty obvious the mechanic was clueless.

Today's new problem: I got in the car after a short drive and now the two
LED's for the suspension height switch are on, the LED for the firmer shock setting is on, no gauges work and none of the switches change the LED status plus the ESP switch does nothing. I wonder if the ASR is completly off now, I should see if I can spin the tires and whether that at least will activate the ESP light in the speedo. Another funny thing is that the odometer and trip odo are lit, but the number don't increment either. I guess if you could go with out gauges you could fraudulently disable the odo.

I hope it's only a blown fuse, It's too dark to check tonight.

Finally, I bought a new antenna mast because it stopped going up and down, when I put it in it never catches so I took the antenna apart and there are two nylon gears inside and one had a little tab break off. New antenna from dealer, $600! I ordered the gears from antennaworld for only $30.

Fun stuff.