E500 PS Fluid Leak
 

Just got back from the dealer after getting a quick oil change. While the car was up on the rack, I took the opportunity to climb under with technician. There was a great deal of PS fluid all over the place (but then a little goes a long way). The technician told me that there is a small piece of tubing that connects the resevoir to the pump, and that he has replaced this many times and it cures the problem. He called it a usual problem in the 124 series.

My concern is all of the dialogue here about 500E PS issues. Is the technician correct, do I just need this $1 piece of hose replaced, or should I have him check for other issues while this is being addressed? The car is Starmarked for one more year.

Thanks

Steve

Yes, replace the hose. That's usually all there is to it in my experience. For once, a cheap fix. I also had my PS fluid flushed for good luck.

I believe he is partially correct. The hose that your Tech is speaking of is only 3-4 inches long and is sort of "S" shaped. To replace it IMO requires tearing 90% of the pump apart, and if you are going to do this you may as well replace all the internal seals and so forth (kit is less than $20). The pump has to come out of the car basically and labor is the biggy here.

This is what I dicovered doing the job myself in my garage. Other fellow 500E owners may have some different slants on this?

There are 2 hoses that could need replacement-one under the reservoir, and one going into the side of the reservoir. I urge you to replace the one going into the side (it can cut itself from within, as mine did catastrophically), but you might only need to tighten the other one.

Good luck!

Thanks for the quick feedback.

Since this should be covered under my Starmark warranty, it sound like I should take this detailed info with me and have the whole job done right. It sounds like a biggy indeed, likely a full day in the shop. I'll make sure it is covered before I move onward.

1. Remove and rebuild seals in PS pump
2. Flush all fluid and replace
3. Replace both hoses

Is there anythinbg else I'm forgetting?

Your american express, don't leave home without it!
 

Just in case it is NOT covered.;)

mbsteve-

my understanding is that Starmark covers all fluid leaks....

in the event this is NOT covered- please let us know- - by the way how many miles on the odo of your E500?

-fad

I'm hoping to get it in next Friday, so I'll keep you posted on my experiences. The ODO currently reads 63,875.

If the car is Starmark, I would request that the pump be resealed. It is not that much more work once the work is done to get to the reservoir hose.

The reason is I have seen many of these front seals leak as well!

WHATTT????!?!?! You don't need to pull the pump apart to replace ANY hose. I've replaced ALL the hoses in the power steering system on my car (119 engine, 1992 model) with no problem whatsoever. It'll take you 15 minutes tops to replace that 3" hose.

Satish

Hey Satish welcome back.

15 minutes huh? OK I believe you, if you can transplant a 500E M119.974 engine into a 560SEC than you know the deal. :)

So what's the general feeling on this one, hoses only or have the pump rebuilt at the same time as well?

Pump rebuilt?!?! For god's sake WHY???!??!??!!!

Just replace the hoses.

Satish

Satish,

I think Benzmac's point is that, since it may be a Starmarked car, the resealing of the pump is preventative maintenance that will cost the owner zip. The pump is 8 years old at this point, and if Benzmac's seen many leak, I believe him. I mean, my pump doesn't leak on my 500, but it's the only one I've seen-Benzmac does this stuff EVERY DAY, or at least an order of magnitude more frequently than you or I, so, please don't be discourteous and flame Benzmac's recommendation, okay?

What I failed to mention in my above postings is that the P/S pump on higher mileage cars do end up leaking at some point, this being caused by the rubber seals hardening up. Since Steve's car is not a high mileage car , I would have a dye introduced to the P/S fluid and then determine if the pump is indeed leaking from the pump halves. Most likely it is one hose leaking or a combination of hoses. I believe if we go into the archives and perform a search on "500e and power steering" we will find that this a issue that does come up.

If warranty is going to flip the bill, why not have the preventative maintenance performed? Keyword is preventative.

Should have been more clear in my statements before.

First off, did the technician claim that the pump was leaking? No. He did NOT. He said it was the small hose under the reservoir and THAT'S IT. MB is NOT going to cover resealing ANYTHING for ANY preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is NOT a part of the manufacturer's warranty NOR Starmark. Therefore, since the technician did NOT diagnose the pump as being leaky, it will NOT be resealed unless the customer pays for it. Do you honestly think MB is going to reseal the pump just to do it and foot the bill for that pump if it's not leaking but perhaps MAY in the future at some point?

Therefore, my point was, since there was no initial diagnoses from the tech that your pump was bad, it would have to come from your own pocket to reseal it. Therefore, why pay for it now, just wait till/if you need to do so in the future. Once again, Starmark does NOT cover preventive maintenance.

Satish