The other night when I was pulling in my garage, I noticed a ticking noise coming from the engine. It kind of sounded like a pulley going bad or something - it was loud enough to be heard / felt through the cabin. I took it to Mercedes Benz the other day, they heard the same noise, and the shop foreman gave me the explanation that the noise I'm hearing isn't uncommon in the CL500's. That its coming from the area of the Power steering pump & ABC suspension Unit. Now, my car is a 2000 CL500 with 46,000 miles on it. I told the foreman that the noise was pretty loud and didn't seem "normal" to me, but he told me that if I took my car in under warranty for this noise, they would reject it because its not out of the ordinary. Has anybody encountered this problem? If so, what was the problem? I just want to get rid of that darn noise, it's rather annoying, especially at idle.

 

Upon further inspection of the engine with a stethoscope, it appears the noise is coming from the A/C Compressor - which works fine, but noisy as hell.

 

I have heard intermittent noises from A/C compressors, and they generally get worse. How long is your warranty? I noticed you said it was a 2000 model?? If you do still have some sort of warranty on your car, make sure you get documentation from your dealer to say that you have complained about it, although this doesn't always help!!

These compressors are not cheap, and if it does fail, make sure that your dealer flushes the system out. If the compressor fails, it will probably spit its components into the lines in the form of a metalic paste. You can normally tell this by pouring the remaining oil out of the compressor and checking it for discoloration. If the system is not flushed (cleaned) your new compressor may have a short life. The paste that comes out of the compressor can also block the condensor which is the part in front of the radiator.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Did you noise from the AC Compressor get louder? What did you end up doing? I am hearing the same noise from my 2000 CL500 with 69000 mile

 

you need a new compressor.

 

or belt tentioner,or ABC pump...

 

I went the the dealer and the technician checked the AC Compressor, power steering pump, suspension compressor, belt tensioner, sprayed the belt. The noise is only at idle with the AC off. Once I turn on the AC or rev the engine the noise goes away. The MB technician said everything is OK.

 

the mb technician said noise is OK??????