Ok, I had good intentions of taking pictures at every stage but it was pretty damn tight and messy underneath there.

All in all, it was a pretty straightforward job. Have a variety of open-ended metric wrenches ready, as well as a #11 flare nut wrench.

1. Get your pan ready: hydraulic fluid will come out immediately upon removal of the lines.
2. Remove the 2 hydraulic lines (use the 11 flare nut wrench for the smaller one).
3. Using the longest extension possible, you can easily reach the nuts holding the accumulator to the chassis. Remove them.
4. Remove the accumulator (hydraulic fluid will come out of the holes as you remove it)
5. Mount the new one, hand tighten nuts just a few turns.
6. Reattach hydraulic lines.
7. Tighten the nuts holding the accumulator to the chassis with your socket and extension.

Once that's done, double check and tighten all nuts and hydraulic lines, then do the other side. Then go under the hood.

1. Locate the hydraulic oil container. Unscrew the lid with the filter.
2. Using your thumb and fingers, compress the wire "spring" and you will be able to see that it simply attaches to the bottom of the lid via a "hook". Remove by gently twisting.
3. Replace the filter by sliding a new one down over the wire.
4. Compress again and reattach to the lid.
5. Fill with the correct hydraulic fluid to the "MAX" level and replace the lid.
6. Load up the rear of the car: sandbags, furniture, friends (feed 'em a lot first!).
7. Start the car and let it idle. Monitor the fluid level. It is self-bleeding and will continue to go down, supplying the system in the rear.
8. The "books" say that the capacity is 3.5 liters...depending on how much you lost during the change, it may or may not need that much so just monitor the level over the next few days until you are satisifed that it is full.

OK, now for the glitch I ran into:
I could not, for the life of me, remove the smaller hydraulic line from one of the accumulators while it was attached to the car and the rest of the system. I tried everything but to no avail. Believe it or not, I actually traced that line to the actuator, carefully observing its path in relation to surrounding lines, removed it at the actuator, and then extracted the whole assembly. Once out, I was able to get enough leverage with a vise-grips to get the nut loose without stripping it (ok, I stripped it a little....:-))

Then I carefully threaded it back through and to the actuator. I attached the accumulator by 1 nut, loosely, just to keep it from falling down. I had to manhandle the line a little to get it back into position for attaching to the actuator again but the line is pretty malleable and tough at the same time.

Everything seems to be alright: no leaks, the car rides good and NO BOUNCING!!!
There is a particular stretch of highway which usually nauseates us so I'm going out that way tonight for the ultimat test!

Congrats on this job. This is for your 1981 300TD?

I had it done on the 95 wagon and it made a big difference.

Haasman

__________________
'03 E320 Wagon-Sold
'95 E320 Wagon-Went to Ex
'93 190E 2.6-Wrecked
'91 300E-Went to Ex
'65 911 Coupe (#302580)

Thanks a lot! I think my 85 TD is due for a pair of spheres. I was thinking about doing this myself.

How long did this take you?

Did you need to buy anything except for the accumulators and the fluid?

How much fluid did you need?

Where was the difficult fitting located?

Congrats and
Thanks!

__________________
Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)

The accumulators are semi-circular. Both hydraulic fittings are on one end and exit the sphere more or less 90 degrees from eachother. The big one was easy to get around. The smaller one was the difficult one, this is the one which actually goes to the actuator/ lever mechanism, and this is the one which you will want a #11 flarenut wrench for.

I decided to replace the filter, too, it's pretty inexpensive and good insurance.

I ended up using around 2.5 liters but I'll continue to monitor over the next few days, it may require more.

I put the car up on ramps. Be prepared, once you relieve the pressure, it will drop significantly and it's pretty tight under there. Another forum member said that it only took him 45 minutes. I'm only a moderate DIY'er and, along with the glitch I ran into, it took me around 4 hours with replacing the filter, loading up the cargo area, adding fluid, and bleeding the system.

Good Luck!

Yes, yes and YES! Same thing here. We have a parts car, and so far have only removed the accumulators from it. One of the smaller lines was just as you described, impossible to remove. Since it was the parts car, my hubby decided to cut the line, but obviously on the 'real' car that won't be an option. That's an excellent tip on following the line to the actuator.

Did you use MB hydraulic fluid? We have a jug of some generic brand. Do you think there's much difference? Also, stupid question time... what filter where?

This gives me great hope that we too can one day be rid of the bouncy bouncy bouncy. It's almost comical... we know all the bumps on the way to work, and just before we hit them we each grab our coffee mugs!

Thanks for the help!

Natalie

__________________
Natalie

I'm not sure whether there's a difference or not, really, but I figured while I was sending away for the accumulators and the filter I might as well purchase the MB-approved fluid at the same time.

I guess you could say that I considered it removing a variable to the equation. I.E. if I replaced the accumulators and put in fluid other than MB-approved, and if I was still bouncing, I would then wonder if it was because I used the wrong fluid: viscosity can make a big difference in the way fluids work! I wanted to do everything "by the book" for this job (although I don't mind improvising for other things.)

I usually don't go for the scare tactics used by most dealer or parts profit centers. Heck, I don't have a warranty to void! A lot of times the parts and fluids you find locally are just as good, if not better, but in this case I didn't want to take that chance.

The filter is hidden inside and attached to the screw-off cap of the hydraulic fluid reservoir under the hood.

Good luck!

Natalie:

Get new accumulators, the nitrogen is most likely gone in the used ones as well, and this isn't enough fun to do twice.

Use only the MB fluid, generic may not be compatible with either what is in there nor with the rubber diaphrams in the accumulators. I only used a liter, cost me $12.

On the W124, it's a bit more complicated, as the acumulators are inside the passenger compartment, under the floor panel immediately behind the rear seat. There are four or five sheet metal screws holding the panel in place -- two along with sides of the "ears" beside the folding backrest of the third seat (or the panel that takes it's place) and two buried in the carpet, about halfway between the front a rear edges. May be one in the center of the rear seat panel opening too, I don't remember.

The accumulators are in two "pockets" under the panel, nuts that hold them on are under the car.

I took several tries to get the lines back in, the order you put the lines in the fittings makes a difference on how easy it is to get the other end started.

Still, an easy fix.

I recommend putting the car up on jack stands under the jack points rather than on ramps.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Replaced the cells on my '87 560SEL a few months back. Ride had just gone all to heck. Took about 2 hours, including changing the filter and pulling all the old fluid out of the tank. I've got a complete set of metric flare nut wrenches and had no real trouble getting the lines loose. Was amazed how much fluid was inside the cells. The new ones sure were a lot lighter when holding them up to the body to re-attach. Didn't seem to use much fluid at all. less than 2 L. I've heard that if the cells are bad and you don't replace them, you can destroy the shocks from the pounding they will take.

Tell me about it! I did this with my 86 560 SEL before taking it on a 1200 mile road trip last week. I also had the entention of taking pictures of the whole process but only got a chance to take a pic of the new cells ($165 for the pair) next to their authentic MB boxes, and the underside showing my old cells prior to replacement. I suspect that the PO replaced these already with used ones because they both had the yellow markings on them (like they do at salvage yards-at least I think that was the case).

Anyway, I jacked her up and put her on stands and removed the rear wheels for room ( my daughter cleaned the inside of my wheels-thanks babygirl!).This way it wouldn't collapse sending fluid all over the place and freak me out at the same time. I then bled the system from the adjustment valve which helped control the fluid loss as I loosened each line.

Leaving the valve open, I loosened all lines to the point I would be able to take off by hand. I then used a long extension for the 3 screws that held the accumulator to the body and although still a messy operation, it was pretty easy (and worth it to get rid of that darned bouncing-I was thinking of how much better life would be for me and my 560 when this is done-ahhh, no more of my HEAD touching the ROOF).Total time I spent was about 3 hours total (and that's because I cleaned and dressed all of my lines and undercarriage).

I only had one setback with this process that slowed me down a bit and that was the fitting for the hydro line that I had to remove from the old cells and install on the new ones. I drove about 5 minutes down the street to Advance Auto with my old and new cells and used their vice to remove the fittings without stripping them.This helped out a lot because I could also install the fittings tightly without any problems either. Each cell was covered with padding to protect it from scratches from the vice's teeth. Installed the lines before attaching the new cells to the body by hand and once that was done I tightened up everything, closed up the adjustment valve, installed wheels, lowered her and started her up.

I was able to test her out immediately because by then the trunk was packed anyway and had over 300 lbs of records and cases in her so... I let her run as I laid down and watched for leaks. It actually worked out for me perfectly because she ROSE to the occassion . I didn't replace any fluid yet because when I opened up the hood the level looked fine and was circulating. I did take my MB fluid on the trip just in case I needed to fill it but so far she's riding smoothly and I could hit a cow and wouldn't feel it (if it was already laying down anyway) :p

__________________
1997 E320
1986 560SEL
1983 300SD
1972 220D
1970 250C SOLD
1971 250C SOLD

I recently purchased a 1986 560 SEL and it is awesome, however the rear end of the car is lower than the front...sort of like Im traveling with a football team in the trunk. I checked the Hydraulic fluid in the resevoir and it is full, and it is circulating. I replaced the Nitrogen filled accumulators thinking that this would fix my problem. Sadly, it didn't. The car did not rise at all and I really cannot tell the difference when going over bumps, still feels pretty hard. So....my question(s) are this. I can move the lever to the load leveler (actuator?) I can move it up and down and it does move when the vehicle is loaded, however, moving it up or down causes no change. Nothing happens. When I did put the new accumulators in, I expected the Hydraulic fluid level in the resevior to drop as the spheres where being filled and to make up for the fluid lost during the installation, the fluid level stayed the same. Soooo, My guess is that I have a bad actuator or load leveler or whatever they are called...the thing that has all the hydraulic lines going to it. My guess is that its bad..or blocked thus not allowing any hydraulic fluid into the accumulators and not providing my expected softening and lifting. The struts are not leaking, the springs look fine. Am I way off? Is there a way of checking the actuator or should I just replace it? I love my car but I'd love it more if it didnt ride like I had dead bodies in the trunk! Thanks in advance...and if anyone is interested in the steps for installing the accumulators, let me know..they were very easy. Thanks ....Jeff

I think you need some help from someone with some skeelz, dog........
Jeri's gonna' kill you...

Really though.....HELP!
He's gonna' have me helpin' him work on this thing...

__________________
'62 VW Bug (just sold)
'69 Porsche 911T (in Germany-still there?)
'72 280 CE, 5-Spd (with the Porsche?)
'90 VW Corrado G-60
'89 560 SEL 93K

I am preparing to tackle this on my wagon. can someone elaborate on how to access the accumulators?

Also, is Bilstein OEM for these parts I saw some for 90/per from the ******** in Arizona. Any advice on whether this is a good source or should I go with the 127$ from the dealer.

Thanks, this is my first post and my first DIY on the Benz

I was a Toyota guy before this but happily have joined the MB fold.

psfred spoke of this earlier in this thread. Look at his posting. The w124 wagon is the same wagon as yours, that is just the body style (124).
Thanks
David

__________________
_____________________________________________

2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

_____________________________________________

I am sure that your accumulators are near the rear axle, as with previous models. You will probably need an 11mm flare nut wrench, which is like a boxend wrench with a gap in it which fits over the line so you can get it on the oil line fitting and grab the nut with 5 of 6 sides. Any decent auto parts store will have one of these. Mine cost $5.99.

As for the parts, the dealer will probably charge more for the same paccumulator, the difference being only the star lock stampred on each one. Check out the prices at the sponsors website, perhaps adsit.com or Rusty in Atlanta, whose address is surely available by searching for it here. Caliber Motors discounts parts. I seem to recall I paid $90 each for these from Rusty. Get a qt of hydraulic fluid (Mercedes approved) as well.

Do a search on accumulators and you will find all you need to know here, This forum is a trove of useful info.

Good luck!

__________________
Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)

May I ask where you found such price on the accumulators ?

Thanks in advance!
Frank.

__________________
'86 560SEL | Silver Ext. / Blue Int. | 201K miles (Apr. 05) | 204K miles (Feb. 06)