Conor
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2019
- Messages
- 2,544
- Reaction score
- 1,637
- Location
- London, UK
- Your Mercedes
- 2010 S212 350 CGI // 2004 R230 500
Hi all,
I recently encountered a well known issue with my R230 SL, where when you try to lower the roof and the boot separator is already closed, the car tells you to close the boot separator... the most common reason for this is an inoperative microswitch in the boot separator latch.
Here is how I troubleshooted and resolved the issue.
TLDR: I took dismantled the latch, and swished it around in some contact cleaner .. the switch was back working a few hours after cleaning it.
First off, once I discovered the problem, I was 90% sure that it was the microswitch .. so with this in mind, I removed the latch housing as shown below.
With the latch removed, I cut the wires coming from the latch/switch housing and joined them together. With this completed, the roof worked as expected. This was a good temporary fix and also confirmed the root cause of problem.
Once back at my workshop, I dismantled the latch mechanism.
Remove the two screws shown below, along with the connector, to reveal microswitch mechanism on PCB.
In order to clean the conacts, PCB and microswitch, I sprayed some electrical contact cleaner into the lid of the spray bottle. I then submerged the PCB and switch in the cleaner and swished it around a bit..
I also de pinned the connector and cleaned those pins too.
I then waited a while for the contact cleaner to evaporate off and tested the mechanism.
Please note: The switch operates contrary to what people might think. Microswitches come in various guises, and this one is a "normally closed", meaning when the switch is not pressed, the circuit is closed (wires connected).. when it is pressed the circuit is open, and current cannot flow. Also, when the boot separator is open, the switch is pressed, meaning there is an open circuit. It is only when the boot separator is closed and the microswitch is not pressed that the circuit is closed and current flows. This is why cutting the wires and joining them by hand works.
I recently encountered a well known issue with my R230 SL, where when you try to lower the roof and the boot separator is already closed, the car tells you to close the boot separator... the most common reason for this is an inoperative microswitch in the boot separator latch.
Here is how I troubleshooted and resolved the issue.
TLDR: I took dismantled the latch, and swished it around in some contact cleaner .. the switch was back working a few hours after cleaning it.
First off, once I discovered the problem, I was 90% sure that it was the microswitch .. so with this in mind, I removed the latch housing as shown below.
With the latch removed, I cut the wires coming from the latch/switch housing and joined them together. With this completed, the roof worked as expected. This was a good temporary fix and also confirmed the root cause of problem.
Once back at my workshop, I dismantled the latch mechanism.
Remove the two screws shown below, along with the connector, to reveal microswitch mechanism on PCB.
In order to clean the conacts, PCB and microswitch, I sprayed some electrical contact cleaner into the lid of the spray bottle. I then submerged the PCB and switch in the cleaner and swished it around a bit..
I also de pinned the connector and cleaned those pins too.
I then waited a while for the contact cleaner to evaporate off and tested the mechanism.
Please note: The switch operates contrary to what people might think. Microswitches come in various guises, and this one is a "normally closed", meaning when the switch is not pressed, the circuit is closed (wires connected).. when it is pressed the circuit is open, and current cannot flow. Also, when the boot separator is open, the switch is pressed, meaning there is an open circuit. It is only when the boot separator is closed and the microswitch is not pressed that the circuit is closed and current flows. This is why cutting the wires and joining them by hand works.
