A160 (W168) Power Steering Pump

[bmoses]

Hi All,

Christmas Eve, and we noticed a couple of clunks coming from our little 1999 A160; sounded odd, but we thought nothing more.

The next day (yes Christmas), the power steering wasn't conspicuous by its absence. I was taken back to my Mark 1 Cortina days.

Our MB dealer advises that a new pump is needed at a cost of $1,600 (New Zealand dollars). Adding labour puts us at around $2,000 +gst.

Could my fellow MB owners please tell me if this sounds reasonable to you all??

Luckily we decided to purchase a 3-year second hand car warranty with the car, so I'm going to make sure its covered. Just sounded a little excessive to me - but most things to do with our MB seem a little 'premium'.

Cheers from NZ.

Bill

[BruNo]

i sold my A160 six years ago, but i remember, i replaced my power steering pump back then at a cost of around US$700-800. mb power steering fluid was around US$13

if you are mechanically inclined, it is a fairly easy install that will take around 30 minutes to an hour. its located at the bottom behind the front bumper and could easily be accessed from the bonnet. its sized like a 1 liter bottle for soda.

[hotml350]

I have a 1999 A160 in Australia, and the power steering failed. It was AUD$2200 for part and install.

The starter motor failed before christmas, it virtually requires the engine to be removed, and that was $2k as well.

Apart from those two things (which represent 40% of the purchase price of $11k I paid 2 years ago) the car has been reliable.