Does anyone know what the flat rate time is to remove, reseal and reinstall a W124, 1995 E420 power steering pump? I found some articles indicating removal and reinstall of the pump on this V-8 model takes a lot more time than on the 6 cylinder E320 but no specific hours mentioned.

About 4-6 hrs

You can do it yourself in less than two hours and $25 for the reseal kit. The whole pump does not need to come off the car--only the six bolts holding the front on, then the front pulls off and you can change the shaft seal, which is usually the one that's leaking. The are quite a few posts on this with excellent pictures.

__________________
1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

Thanks for the replies. I had searched previously but only used 124 and E420 for the model numbers. It looks like I should have used 400E in my search.

Why does the flat rate go at 4-6 hours? Do they not recommend trying to remove just the front for some reason? I'm trying to decide if I want to tackle this myself or have it done. I don't want to pay for more time than the job actually takes.

I suspect the dealer likes to charge 4-6 hours for a job that they can easily do in less than an hour without taking the pump completely off the vehicle. I am not even a mechanic and I could do it in less than 1.5 hours now.

__________________
1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

Honestly I am a mechanic and it has never even occurred to me to try and take it apart in the car. I will have to looks at this. The pump is very hard to remove on a v8 in a w124 or any of the v8 cars for that matter. The other thing is that when you are a technician and something goes wrong, no matter if it is your fault or not and you are flat rating the job like that then people start pointing fingers. Of course you messed it up doing it that way. Most especially the customer. Price one of those pumps and decide what you would do. There are many jobs like this that if you give the customer the break on labor and do it this way it would be better for most. It is just that like I said when things go wrong fingers start pointing.

Indeed shops often can't take some of the shortcuts that owners can, which doesn't make anyone right or wrong. Sometimes compromise is necessary on 15 old cars with little market value. For example, a power steering pump would have to have one hell of a leak for me not to start with stop leak.

IM sorry i thought the quote was for steering box, yes steerng pump reseal is probably 2-3 hrs at the most , real easy for diy just need all the tools.

Great information. I did try the Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak. I'm not sure what if any secret ingredients it has, but it is a very thick fluid. The leak stopped almost immediately and I at first thought it was great stuff. The problem is it made the power steering pump groan until it warmed up.

It might be OK if you lived in a year round warm weather climate. I sucked out enough thickened fluid to quiet the pump down and replaced it with the MB fluid. The leak is now back so I don't think the Lucas stuff actually revives the seals. Maybe I should have left it in the pump longer.

It's always worked for me, and never had any side effects. But it won't work on really big leaks or hoses. Do you know this is not a hose leak?

It appears to be leaking out of the front pump seal. I didn't think the stop leak products would fix hose leaks.

None of the stop-leak products worked well for my leaking power steering pump. The shaft seal is hardened plastic.

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles