More R129 roof problems.

Tangis

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Hi.

I’ve searched a bunch of forums and not really found a working solution for my problem. This forum has more about it than any of the others I have found, so here we go...

The car is a 1990 model 300SL that had the hardtop on over the winter. When it was time to remove the hardtop it wouldn’t release all the locks, so we removed it manualy with the tool that came with the car.

So far so good, but when I try to close the soft top, the windows and roll bar went down, and that’s it... I then try to pull the putton backwards a little, and the windows and roll bar goes a bit up and down again before everything stops.
I then notice that the LEDs in the roll bar button are flashing and so is the roof button then i press it forwards. Didn’t get it to work, so I put the top on manualy at that time.

When starting it later I notice that the roof button is lit all the time , and there are some noices comming from the rear. Kind of the sound of the vacuum pump for the locking system, only it takes way too long for it to stop. When I manualy remove the top and all locks are on, the red light in the button goes away and the flashing in the roll bar button comes back.

I’ve disconnected the battery for a while to reset everything, and tried all the reset tips I have found with windows and roll bar. Roof still not working.

Do you think the ECU is defective, or what could it be? Any tips?
 

MB TECH WARRINGTON

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Hi.

I’ve searched a bunch of forums and not really found a working solution for my problem. This forum has more about it than any of the others I have found, so here we go...

The car is a 1990 model 300SL that had the hardtop on over the winter. When it was time to remove the hardtop it wouldn’t release all the locks, so we removed it manualy with the tool that came with the car.

So far so good, but when I try to close the soft top, the windows and roll bar went down, and that’s it... I then try to pull the putton backwards a little, and the windows and roll bar goes a bit up and down again before everything stops.
I then notice that the LEDs in the roll bar button are flashing and so is the roof button then i press it forwards. Didn’t get it to work, so I put the top on manualy at that time.

When starting it later I notice that the roof button is lit all the time , and there are some noices comming from the rear. Kind of the sound of the vacuum pump for the locking system, only it takes way too long for it to stop. When I manualy remove the top and all locks are on, the red light in the button goes away and the flashing in the roll bar button comes back.

I’ve disconnected the battery for a while to reset everything, and tried all the reset tips I have found with windows and roll bar. Roof still not working.

Do you think the ECU is defective, or what could it be? Any tips?


Prob just needs a full manual reset, sometimes with persuasion and fault codes erasing first.
 
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Tangis

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Prob just needs a full manual reset, sometimes with persuasion and fault codes erasing first.

Ok. That means that I have to go somewhere they have diagnostics equipment? It is not something we can do "at home" so to speak?

BTW. Do you know where the diagnostic socket is on this car?

Thank you for your quick reply.
 

television

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Hello and welcome,, as the roll bar light is flashing,,this would be a good place to start looking,,the roof seems to re set OK as the light stops flashing when it is locked.

So does the roll bar work OK and goes up and down, you car has 2 sensor switches for this on the rear axle, one at each end, these give the most problems if the roll bar is not working
 

meanie

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I've just sorted out an XK 8 roof fault, which although not the same is similar.
Having changed the oil in the reservoir the front catch still struggled to open automatically. With manual assistance the rest of the roof operation was a lot faster though.
So I the stripped out the area at the top of the screen to gain access to the front catch, cracked off the hydraulic unions to it & found the fault. The oil in just one of the pipes had degraded to the point of having the consistancy of treacle, very thick treacle!
I had to remove the front catch piston, immerse it in a bowl of hydraulic oil & operate it manually to clean that out.
I disconnected the pipe at the pump end also & sucked it out using a hot air gun to warm up the exposed sections of pipe. I sucked it out because I didn't want any accidents with hydraulic oil & leather.
Like yours, the roof on this car is used infrequently.
 
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Tangis

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Thank you for all the feedback.

I have tried to manually assist the roof, but there is no movement except from the power I apply.

The previous owner said he never had the hardtop off, because he liked the look of the car better with it on. This means that the soft top has not been used in a while, so I am thinking about what Meanie write about degraded oil. But I can’t help thinking that SOMETHING should move. Yesterday when I tried to close the roof, the plastic cover popped up from the locks, but did not move up. I then moved the plastic cover up manually and tried again with the button… Nothing. This makes me think that if we are talking about badly degraded oil, this would have to be the case in several lines for both the cover opener and roof opener not to work (just throwing out some thoughts now).

Another thought. I have not worked too much with the R129 ever before, so I’m really not familiar with how the roof works. But Meanies post made me think. If the roof is hydraulic, there must be hydraulic oil. I feel really stupid to ask this question, but where is the hydraulic oil container for the roof on this car? Could there be a leak or something? I’m just thinking since the roof is reset correctly and all the noises are there when I push the button forwards…

Then my thoughts go back to the ECU since the cover does not always pop up when I try to close the roof. Yesterday when the cover popped up and stopped, I tried to pull the button back again and the cover was pulled down and locked in place…

Regarding the roll bar. It works sometimes. I guess this is connected to a few other things, but I haven’t been able to see the connection yet. For now it seems like if the driver door is closed and the roll bar button flashes it works, but I haven’t figured out what makes the button flash.
 

television

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Put your E mail address in your profile and click save at the bottom of the page and I can send you some test sheets.

Yes you can top up the roof fluid oil
 

Alex Crow

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the hydraulic pump assembly is located in the center of your spare wheel well. check the fluid level and see if the pump runs. degraded oil is unlikely in my opinion and i have repaired many of these roofs.

if you have manually set the roof in the open position and the red warning light is extinguished then you have pretty much reset the basic position. it is worth checking the end contacts of all the torpedo fuses in the boot, and the screw contacts on the main pump fuse below.

on your model blink type fault codes can be read and erased from, i think, socket 7 of your 16 pin dlc under the n/s/r of your bonnet. you can read these codes with a power probe or an led and piece of wire. this is done with ignition on but engine not running by shorting pin 7 to earth (pin 1) for 1-5 seconds to read each code then by 5-10 seconds to erase. when the module gives one blink only this means no faults are stored. often erasing codes is necessary to restore roof function. if you find one particular code returns then cross check this with the look up table on the web - i'm not sure where to find it but television will probably know.

failing all that a microswith fault is likely, particularly the one in the o/s/f of the stowage area, but there are many such switches - go with the fault codes. all this supposes that the ecu is ok and the car has not been jump started!! good luck
 
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Tangis

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Put your E mail address in your profile and click save at the bottom of the page and I can send you some test sheets.

Yes you can top up the roof fluid oil

Email added. And thank you.
 
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Tangis

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the hydraulic pump assembly is located in the center of your spare wheel well. check the fluid level and see if the pump runs. degraded oil is unlikely in my opinion and i have repaired many of these roofs.

if you have manually set the roof in the open position and the red warning light is extinguished then you have pretty much reset the basic position. it is worth checking the end contacts of all the torpedo fuses in the boot, and the screw contacts on the main pump fuse below.

on your model blink type fault codes can be read and erased from, i think, socket 7 of your 16 pin dlc under the n/s/r of your bonnet. you can read these codes with a power probe or an led and piece of wire. this is done with ignition on but engine not running by shorting pin 7 to earth (pin 1) for 1-5 seconds to read each code then by 5-10 seconds to erase. when the module gives one blink only this means no faults are stored. often erasing codes is necessary to restore roof function. if you find one particular code returns then cross check this with the look up table on the web - i'm not sure where to find it but television will probably know.

failing all that a microswith fault is likely, particularly the one in the o/s/f of the stowage area, but there are many such switches - go with the fault codes. all this supposes that the ecu is ok and the car has not been jump started!! good luck

Thank you. I have checked the fuses, all ok. I'll have a look at the other things and give you all feedback.
 

television

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I have sent you around 12 Emails,,they will keep you busy for a while,,they include topping up the fluid
 

television

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I bet we do not here from Tangis with all of the info I sent him for a few days:D:D
 
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Tangis

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I bet we do not here from Tangis with all of the info I sent him for a few days:D:D

You were right about that :)
And I've had way too much to do at work. And the other day the differential on the SL started making noise, so I have been focusing on that "more sereous" problem, especialy since we are planning a 3000 mile trip with it.
Seems to be hard to find a replacement differential, since it HAS to be for a 300 with ABS and ASD. And the ratio seems to be different than any other R129, 3.2 the MB shop said. Maybe I should start a new thread with this... Someone could have some good ideas.

And thanks again for all the documents!!
 

television

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Why not have it rebuilt
 

toffysox

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i have an issue with my r129 500sl 1991 roof as well

what issues does jump starting the vehicle
cause
 


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