AMG OMG What have I done?

[Johnny Samerthrace]

Morning all. Recently treat myself to a beautiful 2003 Terilirium blue, cream leather SL350... kept it dry and salt free for 3 months over winter. Trickle charged it , read to to it, stroked it!. Now the suns out it won’t “convert”.
Got the “close boot separator”..code. It IS closed . Checked the switch.. perfect. Checked the terminals on the hydraulic and pneumatic pump...perfect. Still I’m getting that plaintive “ping” for trying to open the roof. Any more suggestions please ?. The rest of the mechanism is tight , flaps are not loose etc.
John

 

[alexanderfoti]

Does the central locking work ok? If so, the boot separator switch may be gummed up, try cleaning its internals with contact cleaner.

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

Hi and thanks for the reply. I’ve had the circuit board out and cleaned it with lighter fluid. Tested it for volts . Seems fine ... I feel it’s something else. If I push the roof operating flap down in the car it feels like it’s trying to close but won’t open when I pull it back.
Hello to everyone in Mercedes land. It’s my first day here!
John

 

[alexanderfoti]

Hold on...... When you pull the flap does it say "close boot seperator" or does the pump run?

 

[LostKiwi]

The separator switch is drivers side where the separator latches. Listen carefully for a click from the microswitch. It's not unknown for the switch big to be operated by the separator (wear on the areas responsible) or the switch to fail.

 

[SL63 Mark]

Welcome to the forum, and the world of SL ownership. Sounds like your microswitch is finoperable, try the contact cleaner as above. Have you tried shorting it ?

 

[Flyinspanner]

Tickle the micro switches - you’ll have to google/youtube check the locations.
probably just a sticky switch.
check connections to switches and control unit are ok.

check hydraulic fluid level.

if None of the above work, then get the fault codes read on a proper STAR. diagnostic.

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I’ve had the switch out, cleaned it with lighter fluid. Tested it for continuity and volts. Seems fine . Tested the relay with s 9v battery across terminal. No pump noise when I pull the lever in the car only a noise when I push it down. Roll bar goes up and down. Tried just about everything .
Took it to an indy in Huddersfield this morning !!. Let’s see what happens .
John

 

[00slk]

We had this issue with our last SL, had it on Star and it wasn't telling us much at all. We kind of abandoned the car and bought an SLK. After sitting in the garden we decided to move it and it was dead. Charged up the battery and hey presto the roof worked again

 

[Flyinspanner]

The micro switches are not the ‘operating‘ switch.

they are switches around the hood which ‘allow’ the hood to operate correctly, think there may be one or two which tells the brain the boot separator is in the correct position.
if they stick, the roof won’t move.

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

The micro switches are not the ‘operating‘ switch.

they are switches around the hood which ‘allow’ the hood to operate correctly, think there may be one or two which tells the brain the boot separator is in the correct position.
if they stick, the roof won’t move.

Thanks for the reply. I’ve sent it to an independent MB garage now. Let’s see what they say.
John

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

We had this issue with our last SL, had it on Star and it wasn't telling us much at all. We kind of abandoned the car and bought an SLK. After sitting in the garden we decided to move it and it was dead. Charged up the battery and hey presto the roof worked again

Thanks for replying. I’ve heard that the boot separator code could be a load of different things. I’ve sent it to a MB indi garage to get it fixed. Might move it on now it’s had hydraulics pneumatics and that ridiculous braking system fixed .
John

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

Hold on...... When you pull the flap does it say "close boot seperator" or does the pump run?

Thanks for replying. It seemed to try to close but pinged close boot separator when I pull and no pump noise. I’ve sent it in to get fixed now. I tried all the suggestions you guys sent , me many thanks.
John

 

[Flyinspanner]

Tough call Johnny, .... Sod’s law will be you’ve fixed all the gremlins, and it will be trouble free now!

 

[00slk]

When we had the first message it was 'close boot lid' but fixed that buy charging the battery.
When we had another issue 'close boot separator' it was the micro switch. It was removed and stripped right down and refitted by my auto electrician and it work great since.
One other issue was a broken wire in the C Pillar, but those symptoms were that the windows would not fully close. That fix was expensive
The first two were free
Hope they don't find anything expensive

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

Morning everyone....thanks for all your input trying to help me sort out the roof problems with my SL350...I took it to the independent MB garage and they diagnosed it was the pump. It works a treat now . Hellish expensive pump.

 

[SL63 Mark]

Morning everyone....thanks for all your input trying to help me sort out the roof problems with my SL350...I took it to the independent MB garage and they diagnosed it was the pump. It works a treat now . Hellish expensive pump.

You might as well keep it now Johny, as it's had all the expensive stuff fixed.

 

[Johnny Samerthrace]

You know what?... I think I will. It’s just about had a refurb during the last 3 owners.
Brake unit
Water pump
Batteries
Pneumatic pump