Greetings to all!
I have a 1998 ML320 that my wife drives and just before Christmas it developed a groan in the steering at about 60k miles (out of warranty). I was out of town, heard the noise over the phone and I thought it was the power steering pump running low on fluid. There was no sign of fluid leaking on the garage floor. Wife took it to the dealer and they replaced the entire steering assembly (total cost $1200). I thought it was just a leak and they should have tightened a hose and top off the fluid. The told me on the phone that "steering leaks cannot be repaired due to safety issues". I thought they were bs'ing me but had no option at the time. Now a friend has received a recall notice in the mail for power steering fluid leaks for his 2001 ML and I am wondering if I had gotten the same problem. I never received a recall in the mail for my 98 ML. The truck has always been serviced in the same dealership (the only one where I live) so I guess they should have fixed the problem in one of my visits there. Any ideas? Should I pursue it for a refund?
Thanks in advance

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TJ

1998 ML 320
2002 Jag X-type

are you the original owner of you ML? the recall centers around a hose that runs from the pump to the radiator blowing off, spilling out all of your PS fluid and in turn desabling your power steering function. it is possible that if this happened and the vehicle was still driven, the pump may have been damaged, and possibley later on, the internal seals in the steering rack. that's a lot of variables though, and if you've brought your vehicle to the dealership for regular service, the hose (or at least the clamp, if it was done early on) would have been replaced at no cost. it's probably not related, but if you have the service history for your vehicle, you may have a case, but i would not hold your breath.

I have the service history of the vehicle since day 1 and I will check for all steering related service entries. There was a steering related repair done under warranty in 2001 for a noise that I was hearing while turning the wheel, but the entry in the receipt did not mention replacement of hose or clamp, if I remember well. I will check again this weekend when I return home.

When the power steering pump started making a noise, I was told that the internal seals of the rack and pinion were leaking and these cannot be fixed. That's why the entire unit was replaced. The power steering pump was making a heavy ticking noise (as if it was compressing air instead of liquid) and there was a groaning noise too on top that. I heard these over a cell phone so I did not have first hand observations.

I will try to connect the dots this weekend to see if prior history warrants a refund request from MB. I agree that it might be difficult to prove.

Thank you very much for your response.

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TJ

1998 ML 320
2002 Jag X-type

right on...i hope all goes well. good luck with the dealer and let us know the outcome.