87 560SEL Level Control Valve, Failure?

[skylane]

I have been attempting to restore the MB ride to this vehicle. Replaced accumulators. Improved the ride for about three days, then back to bump and thump. Feels like a dead rear axle.

Bleed the control valve. Got some foaming oil out then ran clear. Bleed each of the accumulators. Left was normal. When I loosened the line on the right accumulator nothing came out. Completely removed the line and hardly any oil in the accumulator. I disconnected the line from the control valve to the accumulator, blew it out with compressed air. Reconnected everything.

Decided to bleed the top of the struts. Took out the seats, etc. Started the engine. When I cracked open the left strut line I got a little burst of air then a lot of oil. Thought that looked ok. When I opened the right strut line hardly any oil. I removed the nut on the hyd line completely with the engine running. The oil coming from the line was no more than what would go through a soda straw.

My conclusion. The control valve is bad. Something is blocking the port to the right side.

Question. I am curious if these valves fail very often? I want to get the ride back but I keep throwing money at this with no results. I have been through six liters of oil in the process of accumulator replacement, fluid flush and bleeding.

When I first looked at the valve the control arm was bent slightly out of line with the link to the sway bar. Could something have hit it and caused internal damage.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any thoughts are appreciated.