It's better to have, than to be in need.

After the mistress, including the entourage, has gone away for a summer freshness, the opportunity to perform an extended maintenance sweep was given.

There were a lot task waiting to be done on the Mercedes SL:

• The torn rubber caps for the fuel pump connections have to be replaced.


• The automatic transmission is leaking. So, the O-rings on the modulating aneroid box and the filler pipe have to be replaced and the warped oil pan cover needs to be aligned again. On this occasion, a complete oil change of the gearbox, including a change of the oil in the converter, should be done also.


• All brake calipers should be removed, disassembled, cleaned and all gaskets and dust covers replaced. The brake pads of the parking brake and the brake fluid should be changed too.


• The steering gear has too much steering play. So it is necessary to dismount and submit it for complete revision. The high-pressure hose from the power steering pump to the steering gear box is leaking and has to be changed too.


• Finally, the cruise control lever and the power window switch should be replaced. The symbols are worn out - not readable anymore.

Because the aforementioned summer freshness will last only two weeks, the temple servant is allowed to hurry up.

According to It's better to have, than to be in need I prepared myself, by collecting the required equipment within the last weeks. Appropriate jack stands, a professional car lift, a mechanic's creeper and a brake bleeding unit are now waiting for their mission.

First of all, the vehicle has to be lifted up to a reasonable working height so that I could work relaxed - with the mechanic's creeper below the car - as also to reach the engine compartment from above/aside. The jacking went very well. In a small video you can watch this nice job.

Torn dust cuffs and stuck brake pistons showed me that the decision to disassemble and clean everything was correct. The exchange of the brake fluid with my new brake bleeding device worked like a charme.

On the other hand, it wasn't supple at all, when I have to dismount the steering gear. Of course, a stubborn ball joint of a steering linkage rod asked for a portion of extra treatment. Unfortunately my new Hazet ball joint puller got broken. Should not happen with a quality tool. OK, Hazet did not spent a lot of time in zipping around and immediately sent a replacement.

The revision of the steering gear was the right decision, because only through new balls it was possible to remove the unwanted end play. Including round trip shipping, the complete revision took just less than two weeks. During installation, I verified that both, the steering gear and the steering wheel, are exactly in the middle position, but still the steering wheel wasn't proper aligned after everything was assembled and installed. A workshop for wheel alignment and adjustment has corrected this. Maybe the steering gear wasn't installed exactly in the middle position before.

The effort was worth it. The transmission is tight, no more squealing brakes and a perfect steering behaviour now pleases the simple temple servant.