119 motor power steering reservior HELP!!! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

88260e · #1 10-24-2010, 07:05 PM

So I F**Ked up!!!! I got the old return hose off and now realized I can't get the new one on without removing the power steering reservior on my 400E, and then I realize that I don't know how to remove this damn thing! Found some wonderful reverse type torx head bolts inside the reservior?? Car is now out of commission until I replace the damn hose! Why Mercedes has to make it a NASA project to remove the power steering reservior I don't know??? Also why I was DUMB enough to start to tackle this on 3pm on a Sunday is just as stupid!!!!! PLEASE HELP

Gilly · #2 10-24-2010, 07:27 PM

Yes, the reverse torx come out, you might need to remove that center bolt that the lid cap screws on to as well. You can often get a regular 6 or 12 point socket to get those external torque-headed bolts off, in a pinch (like now!). That's JUST to get the reservoir off, you don't want to remove that short connector hose off as well do you?
Gilly

88260e · #3 10-24-2010, 07:52 PM

I allready took it off !!!!!!!! So know I screwed until I figure out how to get that reservior off!!!!!

Gilly · #4 10-24-2010, 07:58 PM

You said you took it off, but screwed until you figure out how to get it off??? Not understanding. The reservoir is the "cup" that holds the fluid. WHAT are you trying to take off??

emerydc8 · #5 10-24-2010, 09:41 PM

Some of the pumps (I can't remember if it was the Vickers or ZF) have the reservoir welded to the bracket, so you have to take the whole bracket off. This is not fun, but the links below will give you some help taking the pump and bracket off. I know the return line hooks up behind the reservoir (first picture in first link). I don't even know how you managed to get the line off.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=1979072&postcount=4

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=164607&highlight=400e+power+steering+pump

emerydc8 · #6 10-24-2010, 10:36 PM

I hope you have a Vickers/LUK pump and not a ZF pump. Check out step 3 at the bottom of the attachment.

88260e · #7 10-25-2010, 12:03 AM

Gilly I got the hose off not the reservior,now I need to take the reservior off to add the new hose

88260e · #8 10-25-2010, 12:16 AM

AHHHHHHHHHHHH form what I just read I need to take the pump off and bracket to replace a three inch hose AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ishould have just let it leak!!!!!!

Gilly · #9 10-25-2010, 04:57 AM

Just adding to the confusion.

If the 3 inch hose is the one connecting the reservoir to the pump, you take off the reservoir (the 3 external torx bolts), then loosen the clamps on the 3 inch hose, then the bottom of the reservoir bracket, there is a nipple that screws in to that plate, you unscrew the nipple, then the hose can pull off the pump.

emerydc8 · #10 10-25-2010, 05:29 AM

88260E:

If you have the ZF pump where the reservoir is cast onto the bracket and you cannot remove the reservoir, you may still be able to get away with not removing the bracket itself.

In the second link in post #5 above, GSXR pointed out that it was easier to remove the two hex bolts in the back of the pump that hold the pump to the bracket, rather than trying to get to the two 13 mm bolts that mount the bracket to the engine (I am pointing to the two bolt holes in one of the pictures in the first link in post #5 that mount the bracket to the engine).

I can attest that taking the bracket off is not fun. You will have to remove the exhaust manifold elbow on the front left of the engine just to get to the 13 mm bolts. Your fingers will beg for mercy by the time you are done. In the second link in post #5, GSXR stated that it is easier to just take out the two smaller hex head bolts that hold the pump on from behind. Once the pump is out, you can slip the 3" hose on and reinstall the pump.

Seems like a much easier way to go. Good luck.

Gilly · #11 10-25-2010, 05:24 PM

No, no! The 3" long hose that connects the reservoir to the pump?
The part that the hose clamps to under the reservoir unscrews from the bracket. You take off the reservoir, then the nipple that the hose clamps to unscrews from the bracket (being sure to loosen the top clamp first). Then remove the lower clamp and the hose comes off. Install the new hose, with both clamps slipped on to the hose loosely. Tighten the lower clamp. The nipple then is inserted into the bracket and in to the hose, tighten the nipple, then tighten the upper clamp and reinstall the reservoir.

Gilly

ashedd · #12 10-30-2010, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88260e

AHHHHHHHHHHHH form what I just read I need to take the pump off and bracket to replace a three inch hose AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ishould have just let it leak!!!!!!

I don't have anything useful to add but this is why I am not touching my leaky pump with a ten foot pole. Sounds like a HUGE PITA. I will just keep pouring atf in there every week. I am sacrificing my 400e for the interior next spring anyway.

PS.. I thought I was going to drive it in the winter... but driving it in the rain has proved the non ASR 400E is down right dangerous in wet conditions.

Goodluck with the leak.

Ferdman · #13 10-30-2010, 04:53 PM

ashedd, I guess you realize you should only be using Type F ATF in your power steering pump, otherwise power steering fluid.

ashedd · #14 10-31-2010, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferdman

ashedd, I guess you realize you should only be using Type F ATF in your power steering pump, otherwise power steering fluid.

Yes I am aware of that.. I bet type F is getting in there at least half the time

It's an old car I bought for the interior. No worries here.

emerydc8 · #15 11-05-2010, 02:47 AM

I finally changed the hose on the bottom of my reservoir today. The directions in the post above are pretty straight forward. The hardest part was getting the old hose off. It was hard and brittle and I ended up having to take it off in two pieces. The replacement hose was 15 mm ID.

You will have a lot more room to work with if you take off the plastic cover for the left distributor, the left air intake hose and the poly v-belt (to get to the hose and clamps below). I thought I had run into trouble when I got to the big hex plug/connecting pipe at the bottom of the reservoir because I didn't have an Allen that big. It turns out that a T-60 torx worked perfectly. The v-belt required an E-10 torx socket for the tensioner. The four bolts at the bottom of the reservoir require an E-8 torx socket. I unscrewed the long stud in the center of the reservoir so I had room to get a ratchet and torque wrench on the plug.

Getting the connecting pipe back into the hose was initially difficult until I realized that I could use the handle end of a 1/4 ratchet to line the hose up with the hole from the inside of the reservoir. I coated the connecting pipe and the hose with a light coat of Vaseline and it slipped right on.

The gasket at the bottom of the reservoir was in good shape and I think I could have reused it if I had to. Also, the aluminum washer under the connecting hose plug could probably have been reused as well, but since I had the new parts I went with them.

Thanks to Gilly and 88260E, it turned out to be a fairly easy job. All of it can be done in a driveway without jacking up the car. It took me about 2 hours, but almost an hour of that was wrestling with the old hose trying to get it off.

(Pictures)