Thought my 6.9’s hydraulic pump crapped out

[cdw904]

Suddenly the lever on the dash became unresponsive completely. I did not have any suspension light on the dash until I placed the valve under the hood in maintenance mode which dumps hydraulic pressure (That way I could tell the dash light was working correctly and apparently the system was producing pressure when taken out of the M position).

I got to investigating and realize that the old linkages had worn out — the plastic became brittle and fell out. Both the front and the rear linkages were disconnected from the SLS valves.

I was very lucky two find two replacement linkages on pelican parts. Thank goodness some other MBs like the W123 share this part so availability is still okay.

Not sure if anybody else has experienced this before. Perhaps time, heat and fluids took a toll on them since 1980 :-)

[nathan]

the cable on your dash will often become sticky. very few 6.9s have nice smooth moving dash cables anymore and the cable is no longer available. 
the levers from the valves to the controlling arms are still available and only about 50 dollars from memory from Mercedes directly.  it is very common for them to degenerate and simply fall off when handled after years of service!

[rumb]

you can still buy just the end pieces from MB.

[nathan]

i dont think it was much more for the whole thing Rum, and ive found that if one end is buggered, odds are the other one is too!