R230SL Roof - Again! And now central locking aswell!

[LostKiwi]

Some of our Indy's can inject the joint with resin to fix the balljoint issue. They also fit a grease nipple to allow maintenance as well.

 

[c270 cdi]

Yeah I've spoken to an indie up near York and he's got a way of replacing the balljoint with the suspension strut in place - just got to sort out getting the car up to him. I was going to send them off to the guy in Liverpool but he needs the struts off the car and after failing to undo one of the bleed nipples on the ABC system and then not being able to release the so-called "quick release" connector off the other I gave up on that job!!

 

[ajlsl600]

hope you get sorted,and yes the r230 is about as fickle as they get , perfection on the r230 is like an MOT it was ok AT THAT POINT AND THAT TIME ten min later can be a whole different matter .my latest job, when i put up the d/s window and close the door it drops again a few mm ,enough for a wind noise,and how i noticed it ,was not like that when i put it away ? and batts always on ctek ? if i hold the door button under the lock in, the window goes full up but when i let go and close the door it goes down that couple of mm, blxxxy annoying and the car has only moved out of the garage once in three months ! think this car just likes attn....if anyone seen ,solved this do advise before i start the familiar head scratching session......

 

[c270 cdi]

I feel your pain, I love the car but I have to say I don't think it's MB's finest work - I'm sure the newer ones are much less problematic. I think they like being used not put away but convertibles don't do so well in our dodgy climate!!
No clue as to your window problem: could it need resetting, although I'm sure you've already tried that?

 

[LostKiwi]

Andy, try disconnecting the consumer battery for 5 mins then reteaching the windows (and steering angle sensor).

 

[c270 cdi]

Update to the roof problem - today I fully charged the rear battery, disconnected it for an hour then reconnected it again. Now I've got the following additional problems: rear window demist not working (little orange light goes on for about half a second then off), boot release doesn't work off the door, and the vario roof switch is on steady red and flashes only when I try to operate it. When I started the engine the dash came up with "in operation" for the roof which it wasn't doing before.
I've checked every fuse on the car and all are good, and so I'm thinking even more that the overhead control unit is defective (still got no reading lights, no vanity mirror lights, and can't turn on the interior lights above the mirror - and when I go from one seat memory position to another the rear view mirror does not change position).
So, in light of that, I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a new overhead unit - does anyone have a part number for it or any ideas as to where I could possibly go from here before ordering one?

 

[McDonald]

+1 for Peter's advice. Get it on Star before buying parts. Sorry you're having trouble. These are wonderfully complex machines, only made simple by pure expertise.

 

[ajlsl600]

Andy, try disconnecting the consumer battery for 5 mins then reteaching the windows (and steering angle sensor).

cheers will try dat in de am...

 

[ajlsl600]

Update to the roof problem - today I fully charged the rear battery, disconnected it for an hour then reconnected it again. Now I've got the following additional problems: rear window demist not working (little orange light goes on for about half a second then off), boot release doesn't work off the door, and the vario roof switch is on steady red and flashes only when I try to operate it. When I started the engine the dash came up with "in operation" for the roof which it wasn't doing before.
I've checked every fuse on the car and all are good, and so I'm thinking even more that the overhead control unit is defective (still got no reading lights, no vanity mirror lights, and can't turn on the interior lights above the mirror - and when I go from one seat memory position to another the rear view mirror does not change position).
So, in light of that, I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a new overhead unit - does anyone have a part number for it or any ideas as to where I could possibly go from here before ordering one?

good luck. these cars are just TOO complex for their own good .... only good thing ,loads here on trying to wriggle out of various dramas so knowledge database here becoming vast and in my view often superior to the dealers who in most cases seem to give the cars a wide berth after 3/4 yrs with what seems, from their point of view, good reason.

 

[ajlsl600]

Andy, try disconnecting the consumer battery for 5 mins then reteaching the windows (and steering angle sensor).

ref steering angle, you mean ,wriggle steering lock to lock .right ?

 

[LostKiwi]

ref steering angle, you mean ,wriggle steering lock to lock .right ?

That's the one. At least 10 degrees either side of centre.

 

[brianbrian]

Are the batteries good?

 

[c270 cdi]

good luck. these cars are just TOO complex for their own good .... only good thing ,loads here on trying to wriggle out of various dramas so knowledge database here becoming vast and in my view often superior to the dealers who in most cases seem to give the cars a wide berth after 3/4 yrs with what seems, from their point of view, good reason.

Yeah well you've hit the nail on the head there - I used to work in the motor trade and the level of knowledge at the place I worked at (Vauxhall) was absolutely pitiful. The dealers are called "stealers" for a reason and I would NEVER take any car I owned to a main dealer. And I agree the SL is an incredibly complicated vehicle - in most cases I'm pretty confident I can fix the problem, the issue with this one is actually finding what the problem is. I usually start work at between 4 and 5 in the morning and don't get home til about 6 or 7 if at all so getting the car diagnosed on STAR isn't a simple thing to do. But I will, and I'll sort the problem, and then I'll get it sold. I absolutely love the car but I'm struggling to justify keeping it for the sake of about 2000 (max) miles a year.

 

[LostKiwi]

If you were nearer I'd happily reset any codes for you but although I regularly visit friends near Lincoln I'm not sure when we're next up that way.

 

[ajlsl600]

Yeah well you've hit the nail on the head there - I used to work in the motor trade and the level of knowledge at the place I worked at (Vauxhall) was absolutely pitiful. The dealers are called "stealers" for a reason and I would NEVER take any car I owned to a main dealer. And I agree the SL is an incredibly complicated vehicle - in most cases I'm pretty confident I can fix the problem, the issue with this one is actually finding what the problem is. I usually start work at between 4 and 5 in the morning and don't get home til about 6 or 7 if at all so getting the car diagnosed on STAR isn't a simple thing to do. But I will, and I'll sort the problem, and then I'll get it sold. I absolutely love the car but I'm struggling to justify keeping it for the sake of about 2000 (max) miles a year.

frankly, for those who intend keeping a SL for any length of time, i recommend getting a version of star, i know mine has saved me 3/4 times its cost , one must expect to take a while to go through it ,thankfully i am ok with the basics due to the use of cat/hitachi/.iveco ,volvo systems. but i still think 3x before pressing any key or delete function. maybe guys in close proximity can share the cost of a system ? and arrange weekends to jointly educate each other , if in fact this is not already happening.

 

[c270 cdi]

Appreciate that, don't get me wrong the car's not riddled with problems - in fact far from it. Since I changed the rear battery and got the PSE pump rebuilt it's been fine and before I laid it up for winter everything was hunky dory. From a driving point of view I absolutely love it, quite possibly the best car I've ever owned, but as I don't use it very often I think this is what has led to the current problem. From experience I know it's going to be an easy problem to fix, once I get the opportunity to suss it out - like I said earlier on in the thread I know of someone who can put it on STAR for me but it's getting round to it.

 

[Peter Moran]

Love to know how this story ended. Update pleeease...i cant sleep.... what was the problem in the end ?