Hydraulic pump re-seal
 

'89 560sel, 113,000 miles. front of suspension pump leaking. I've seen several threads mention re-sealing the pump, nothing about how or whether there may be a repair kit. Does not seem to be leaking into the engine, only all over the outside. Thanks.

Never seen an external leak from any of those pumps, all the same way back to 1976!
Only replacement parts are an O-ring, shaft seal, & mounting gasket.

Thanks Doc
 

Kind of figured that given the low number of posts. Have had a little fluid in that area for the 3 years i've had the car, but everything was clean after the timing chain job, and i can see that only the bottom half of the susp pump is getting oily. hydraulic reservior lowers slightly each day, and the drips dropping from the trans cooler line have that sticky feel of Febi suspension fluid. P/S fluid is staying level and the loss would be too small to notice in as engine oil rising. Don't see the mounting gasket as a FastLane item, and there are 5 or 6 pages listed in PartShop when i search for "gasket", no clue which of 50 or so it might be!! Would a gasket sealer work there?

MB part numbers are 001-997-01-47 for the pump shaft seal.
010-997-43-45 for the o-ring.
114-236-00-80 for the mounting gasket.

greenacres,
DId this exact job, The problem is that the seal is done through good machining with rubber only working to support the good tight machine fit. I had no luck resealing mine. It slowed down but did not stop. I found a used pump for $100 and popped it on, now the engine is dry as a bone. I talked to my mechanic and he said when these usually leak from the front seal they are almost impossible reseal. The rear seal is easier to do and can be rebuilt more sucessfully.
m

Thanks guys
 

I'll keep an eye out for a used pump. If the failure rate is very low, should be a safe bet when i find one.

Maybe not suspension pump
 

Spent much of saturday chasing little drips. In the process, i'm thinking it is more likely P/S fluid than hydraulic fluid. The P/S pump was pretty clean, but the area around the low pressure return hose is the wettest. Since the P/S fluid looks so much like the hydraulic fluid, is there any way to dye one of them to get a better feel? Given the location of the seepage, the fan blows it all over once it's out. Thanks.

not sure of using a dye, but low pressure hose replace ment is easy and very cheap@$15 for the hoses and 40 mins to do the work.
m