95 SL320 AC problem

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Charles Dvorak - 09 Dec 2004 18:10 GMT

I have a 1995 SL320 in Connecticut with 50K miles.
It runs terrifically well and I am satisfied. However in
August and September the following problem occurred.
When driving more than an hour on the highway in warm
weather on the highway, the AC would start smoking.
Not Camels. When I stopped a significant amount of
white smoke would come out from underneath the car
front and rear for 2-3 minutes.

I brought it to Mercedes and they could not reproduce
the symptoms - idling it for an hour at their garage.
The car came off warranty a few weeks later.

Any comments would be appreciated. I'm considering
selling it back to them except I really like the car.

Thanks - Charlie in CT

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Tiger - 09 Dec 2004 21:21 GMT

OOoh... ahhh... I wanted one of these... however, no white or black car
please... hehehe.

It could be a temporary coolant system leak... does it smell like
antifreeze/sweet smell?

Don't try to sell back to dealer, they will eat you alive on depreciation
cost and plus they will only pay you the lowest wholesale price... robbing
you of thousands of dollars.

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Martin Joseph - 10 Dec 2004 18:24 GMT

> I have a 1995 SL320 in Connecticut with 50K miles.
> It runs terrifically well and I am satisfied. However in
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> white smoke would come out from underneath the car
> front and rear for 2-3 minutes.

This is probably a small amount of anti freeze that was ejected from
the cooling system, although front AND rear seems a bit odd, I guess it
might have travelled on the winds??

It doesn't take much AF to produce a BUNCH of smoke. Perhaps the
cooling system was slightly over full...

Just my guess.
Marty

> I brought it to Mercedes and they could not reproduce
> the symptoms - idling it for an hour at their garage.

This would have made hotter then driving in most cases.

> The car came off warranty a few weeks later.

Yikes.

> Any comments would be appreciated. I'm considering
> selling it back to them except I really like the car.

I think you'll be all right for now. Watch the coolant level.

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pool man - 10 Dec 2004 23:41 GMT

it is frosting up.

as it gets cold its not steam your seeing its the coil starting to
freeze up.

turning it to EC will give it a chance to thaw out. if left on it will
start to move less air. my truck does it and once i left it on and it
turned in to a block of ice. keep your windows closed

bet it was real hummid out that day.

the case, minus a few cans!

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