I Installed a MAGNETIC FILTER to Make my ABC Suspension Last Longer & then My Car BROKE AGAIN
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- Опубліковано 17 лис 2022
- Another UA-camr recommended installing a magnetic filter on my 2004 Mercedes-Benz SL500 Active Body Control system, so I did, successfully. This video shows the entire installation process.
After driving the car over 1,400 miles with the filter installed, I take it into the local independent mechanic to get the ABC fluid exchanged, and that’s when a host of new problems arise.
Zädow Automotive (Manufacturer and Retailer of the Magnetic Filter used in this video): zaedowautomotive.de
This gives me a lot of satisfaction. Many of us use this filter to upgrade our ABC systems instead of going the coil over route. You made installation look so easy. This is a very valuable video not only because the filter worked well but because your production quality is excellent. The ABC fluid overfill is an easy fix.
I'm glad you found it helpful! In my opinion, the active body control is one of the greatest features of this car. The ABC eliminates all of the body roll and lurching, and makes the car feel incredibly stable. Personally, I would rather maintain the ABC system as best as possible over deleting it and installing passive coil overs.
Ummmm, IF you do not flush the hydraulic fluid and change the 3 micron filter every 30k miles, THEN what ends up happening within the system over time is the rubber seals start to crack and break into pieces. These rubberized pieces then get stuck within the system either in the: 1) valve blocks 2) accumulators or 3) in the piping....thereby rendering the system useless. Once the ABC system doesn't work, depending on which side of the car is lowering but for arguement sales let's just say the WHOLE car is lowered due to startup, then one must extricate both valve blocks and 3 accumulators. Replace the 3 accumulators with new ones and RE-SEAL the valve blocks as each valve block has 4 servo motors. They sell kits for the valve blocks with new rubber seals. Flush the system with new hydraulic fluid and a new 3 micron filter located in the hydraulic fluid reservoir.
I have never witnessed or read of metal shavings in the abc system. It's either a bad accumulator(s) or a reseal in the valve block(s) or both.
I have a 2009 SL550 with AMG package.
Thank you for this information. I agree that it is very important to replace the hydraulic fluid after the service interval has passed. When I purchased the car, it needed a full valve block rebuild and new accumulators to get the ABC system fully functional again. The mechanic used the kit that you mentioned. It's been quite a few years, and several road trips, and the system is still holding up great! Regarding the metal shavings, I imagine that's not a common thing, but I have heard that when a metal component fails, it can send metal shavings throughout the ABC circuit, destroying the fragile seals. I believe the magnetic filter is installed to help prevent this from happening in the event that one of those metal components does fail.
Also, congrats on your ownership of the 09 withe AMG sport package. That's a very nice car!
The abc dip stick has no low or high markings. It clearly days "engine on" and "engine off"
The only mod I'd make on this suspension would be to replace all hose for hard lines and use some more damper sphere to absorb the extra pressure.
All hard lines would be a great upgrade to the ABC system - I wonder if it's possible, or if there are some areas of the car that require it to flex. Additional accumulator capacity would be nice to absorb more shock - maybe they would last longer if that was the case.
When the car is not running the abc fluid should be filled to the top line. After starting the car it should drop exactly to the lower line . If the accumulators are all working fine
Interesting, thank you for sharing. What will the level do if the accumulators are blown?
waiting for update from istanbul-turkey, if its really useful i can order for mine too. keep us updated :)
I will post an update after a few more months, but so far, so good!
Good video, the leak looks more like coolant than ABC fluid. Did you get it rectified?
You nailed it - it was indeed coolant. I made the mistake of thinking it was ABC fluid because of the similar color, but the coolant has more of a bluish hue to it while the ABC fluid is green. I replaced the radiator which turned out to have a leak, and that fixed it. Since I had the shop do it, I didn't make a video on it.
So what part of the ABC system is iron? The blocks are aluminium, along with strut chambers and the pump is stainless...most feel this magnet is a gimmick...
I believe the magnet is to help protect the soft parts from metal debris if the pump explodes. I'm no scientist though, so I couldn't tell you if it actually works or not. I basically put it on because it was recommended to me and I try my best to keep my systems protected and maintained as well as possible.
The metal parts are in the pump problem is it would have to circulate all the way through until it hits the filter and watch that filter can leak and I think is a bigger problem than help. I installed one on my 04 cl500 which leaked after 1 year. I now have a 05 Cl55 Amg and didn't bother to install. The reason I originally installed was more to see the color of fluid than the magnetic part.
@JamesMalone-ox5tv having worked and owned the 03 thru 06 S, CL, and now SL...all my ABC woes have been major failures in the lines....only now in the SL did I finally have a pump failure...love this suspension, the SL is the easiest ABC to work on in my opinion. Ty
Exactly, there are no ferrous metals to be magnetically attracted
Hey man, Great Video. Any updates on performance and over a year of use?
Thank you! Yes, I literally just checked it out. I have been driving and racing the car, and the ABC system has been performing flawlessly. No errors or problems. The ABC fluid has turned light brown instead of green like it's supposed to be, but there's no metallic flakes in it. It's honestly hard to tell if the filter is doing anything at this point, but I can say that I have peace of mind knowing that it will capture any metallic debris from an exploded pump bearing (or similar) before it cycles through the system and shreds up my seals.
Do you have a link for the manufacturer of the filter? Would like to get one for my CL500.
Whoops, I meant to add one in the description. I definitely recommend one for your CL. Here it is: zaedowautomotive.de
Did you ever find the new issue causing the leak? My 2004 SL500 is currently on jack stands, the ABC high pressure line blew causing a leak similar to what you experienced. This is located in front of the front driver's wheel well beside the front accumulator (nitrogen ball). Instead of the INCREDIBLY expensive solution of removing & replacing the hydraulic line (all the way to the rear of the car - around $4,000 service), I am trying a company in Florida where they will rebuild the blown section of the hydraulic line and send it back with new pressure couplings. Should make the repair under $200 (plus $100 in fluid).
Yes, the leak at the end of the video was actually coolant from my leaking radiator. I mistook the bluish fluid for the green hydraulic fluid. The repair you mentioned above was done on my car, although it was slightly less, like $2500. The shop had to remove the subframe just to get to the line. I suspect this line is exposed to the elements and probably ages and fails on many of these cars. I'm very curious to see how you splice in a section of this very high pressure line. Maybe you could make a video and save other SL owners from having to pay 4 digit bills on a fluid line replacement 🙂
@@rollingstocks OMG, my Radiator replace was 2 years ago - Plastic cracked where the radiator hose connects. Drivers side front. LOL - definitely a labor of love this car. Maybe I will post something about the ABC line repair and link it here. The rebuilt hose with pressure couplings should be back any day now. New accumulator (for rear) and new filter just arrived via FEDEX. Guess that will be the project for this weekend. Cheers!
@@echaintechnology8486 best of luck with the project! Would love to see a video of how it's done in case I ever need to do it again 🙂
Did you figure it out? Dont take to any dealer or shop if you have some mechanical inclination. If you can identify the leak I can help you out. Nearly Everything in the ABC system is repairable except of course the Tandem pump and the struts ofcourse but those are actually not common to go bad.
I’d like to see an update on this if you have one? To see if I collected any metal
I'll consider doing a video on it before my next ABC fluid exchange. So far, it doesn't look like it's caught anything yet.
No the lower mark is with the engine running and at operating temp. The upper mark is engine off. That leakage area appears to be the pump is leaking, maybe.
The leakage turned out to be my radiator actually. It's fixed now 🙂
Awesome idea 👍
Big thanks to @Lawrence Fearon for recommending this in the comments section of my previous video on the R230 SL: ua-cam.com/video/UnVAFJd_cn4P/v-deo.html
Does any engineering back this up? Where would metallic particles come from? Not an engine with combustion and possibly detonation happening. Not knocking it, honest question. I would think the problems would come from chemical changes and water contamination. ????????
Serious questions, new to me 06 this month. :)
From what I understand, it's more of a preventative item, specifically for the ABC fluid, that will catch metallic pieces of the ABC/power steering pump bearings and/or seals if they ever fail. Those little bits of metal can apparently wreak havoc on your struts and valve blocks. Mine has never failed (probably because I'm diligent in changing my ABC fluid), so I can't say if it actually works or not.
"Bruchgefahr" is like "breaking danger" or "danger of breakage" or simply "fragile".
Figured it meant something like that. Thank you for the translation!
Yea no ABC errors but seems u having a central lock issue lol 😊
So , please give a report ! Is it better ??? Thanks !
Well, I just went out and checked my fluid. It's brownish instead of green like it should be, but there are no metallic flakes in it. Hard to say if it's working without any catastrophic failures, but I have peace of mind knowing that if my pump bearing explodes or something, the filter should capture most of the debris before it cycles through the system.
Check abc fluid with car running
Whoops, is that how it's supposed to be done?
More misinformation than information
It would be great for the community if you could share the information that you consider to be more accurate.
Accumulators are bad. Non running is lower mark. Car running is high mark in stick
Interesting prognosis. I had the accumulators replaced a couple years ago, so hopefully they're not bad again already. They were throwing a code last time (red ABC warning light). Will they fail to throw an error code when they go bad?
No interest to buy this filter... Its only to sold something... The alone ABC filter is finer... Why Mercedes never make this choice? This filter is a joke made to spend your money.
Certainly respect your opinion. I personally prefer to know that I have tried my best to protect my ABC system in the event of an event such as a pump failure that can cause metal shards to enter the hydraulic fluid.
This is not for any magneto ride but yours, right?
I believe these magnetic filters can be installed on ANY Mercedes-Benz car that has a hydraulic ABC (Active Body Control) suspension system. I'm not 100% sure though, so please double check with the manufacturer to verify this.
Also, these older "ABC" systems used hydraulic fluid rather than the newer systems (like those found on the Lexus LC 500 and Corvette C8) which use the magneto fluid. I imagine that the magnetic filter would cause problems/blockages with any system that is using magneto fluid.
@@rollingstocks ahhh ok. That would cause some havoc in my 2023 Porsche
@@doriangray2347 Yeah, I definitely wouldn't recommend putting one on your new Porsche! As far as I know, these filters are specifically designed for the Mercedes-Benz 2000s era cars with hydraulic active body control.