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- 8/06/01 Jon,
As an admirer or old Benz, I love the site and wish there were more people
like you out there helping out us guys who feel better about putting the
wrench to stuff ourselves. My dad and I bought a '72 300SEL 4.5 that is in
absolutely pristine original condition. There are only two things that
don't work, and one of them, the clock, I know how to repair. The air
suspension system is the big problem. I understand this is notorious,
but I'd love to fix it to make the car perfect. Specifically, the car
inflates and moves in and out of all the positions as it should.
Everything works as long as the car is running. If you turn it off,
say for 20 minutes or so, then start it again, the indicator light turns on.
As I understand it, this means the storage tank has lost pressure.
After 5 minutes of running, everything back to normal. The car then
will completely deflate overnight - front first, followed by the rear. I've
done the soap test on the storage tank as well as on every other component
of the system and that isn't showing me any problem area. The car is
in such beautiful condition, that the air bags look like new, so I don't
think they're the problem. Is there any other testing I can do to
narrow down the problem area or component, or are we just forced to suck it
up and spend the $1500 for the refurbish kit? Can I cap off lines to
each of the leveling valves one at a time and see if that shows me the
faulty component? Are the refurbish kits worth the money? No one
around my area wants to work on this problem because it's such a pain!
Thanks in advance for any tips you might be able to give us!
Ernie
- Thanks for the email. Sorry it has taken so long for a reply. Summer is
extremely busy here. We are backed up about a month for service. It has been
a while since I have serviced the suspension system like your car has. I do
however have one here now that is doing the same thing but only the rear
sinks. Most of the time the leak is on the main control valve on the LF
fender well. At one time I removed the entire front sub-frame assembly on
one
and rebuilt the entire system. I promised myself I would never do that
again. The front frame member had cracked and I had to replace the member
itself and switch everything over.
The best thing to have before you start is the manual that
covers the
suspension and read through it completely. If there is a kit available
the
rebuild the system that is most likely your best bet. I don't wish that job
on anyone. Just have patience with it. You might be able to find the manual
at www.booksforcars.com. JON
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