A guy on another forum who lives in northeast Florida has a '99 SL600 and is very frustrated with correcting a problem with his ADS. He took the car to a local shop to have it checked-out, the shop performed a Rodeo routine and stated they found nothing wrong. When the owner asked if they checked the system hydraulic pressure, the shop stated that they checked it with SDS and it was okay.

My question: can SDS or the HHT measure system pressure? I say no, because looking at the schematics for ADS there is no pressure sensor in the system. If I'm correct this customer will likely take his car to Gainesville and have Continental Imports fix his problem.

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For Sale: many used R129 parts from a white '92, black interior. Send email if interested.

Rodeo is done on a ABC system to bleed it. SDS can check for codes but not pressure on a ADS2 system. That would be done with a gauge

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Thanks for confirming what I suspected.

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For Sale: many used R129 parts from a white '92, black interior. Send email if interested.

I have taken my car to Steve's shop in the past. They are highly recommended and their staff is great! Well worth the travel time.

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J.H.
'86 300E

The car is a 2001, I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but other than that Bob is 100% correct. I have been to 3 shops plus the dealer and none of them have been able to get to the bottom of the issues. This last time, they told me the SDS said the pressures were ok, which is obviously not true since you evidently can't check them with that system.

I will give Continental a call today.

The suspension system is ABC (Active body control / hydraulic) if it is a 600 and it definately has a pressure sensor they are common to leak and we keep the seals for them in stock. with the SDS you would click on whatever code it had in memory and it would lead you throug a guided fault test. ADS refers to the shock absorber adjusting system on this car. What was the car actually doing or not doing? there is a service bueltin for random lowering that is related do defective acceleration sensors. I have seen about 5 of there and they are hard to diagnose unless ou know what to look for. Steve at continental will finde the problem.

jason athanas
autobahn performance inc
ft.lauderdale florida
jason@autobahnperf.com

Took Bob's advice, car was dropped off to Steve Brotherton at Continental Imports today. I hope they can sort out this problem, it's so annoying it makes the car virtually undriveable. Other than the trip to Gville today, I don't think I've put 20 miles on it in the last 2 months.

As to Continental Imports, that place is pretty impressive. Steve (nice guy) gave me a tour of the facilities, and it's huge. They must have 20-30 service bays, and in one of them they have their own dyno embedded in the cement floor. They have their own alignment rack, all the different diagnostic computers for MB, BMW, Jag, etc. They are better equipped than any dealer I've seen.

At their shop while I walked around were about 5 different SL's, what must have been 10 different M3's (though I won't hold that against them ), a CL600, a few S-classes, a couple Rolls Royces, and about every other kind of expensive car you can think of. Nice showing of eye candy, although admittedly it makes me uneasy about what the final bill will be.

In all seriousness, nice folks and a nice facility. I'm sure they will get to the bottom of it.