SL600 R230 Boot soft close not working

Paul Sander

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Hi all, Got a humdinger for you, so get your thinking caps on...

So....its a bit difficult to explain...

  1. The soft close will work if I close and open the boot continuously within 10 seconds of each operation.
  2. But...if I leave the boot shut for more than a couple of minutes the soft close doesn't work afterwards. (It opens fine but the softclose doesn't work)
After a bit of investigating I have come to realise that if I disconnect the battery in the boot and reconnect it, it seems to reset something and the softclose starts working again and as per the above conditions.

Then I found if I close the boot and leave it I can hear a pump running at the lefthand side for around 15 seconds then stops...then after maybe 10 seconds it starts up again, runs for 15 seconds and stops again. After this the soft close will not work unless I disconnect/reconnect the battery as above.

To me it looks like there is some sort of timeout occurring which only then resets after the battery has been disconnected..

I have bought a new lock assembly from MB as someone said it must be this but I have the identical issue.

Any ideas?

Paul
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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If its a vacuum set up the pump maybe going bad pal
Hi, thks for the reply..

I thought that it could be the pump as well, but I can literally open and close the boot all day if I wanted as long as I don't leave it for a few mins...so the pump looks ok...just wonder if there could be a air leak somewhere...
 

ajlsl600

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My money on leak. But check pump is dry there's a distributor involved an posts on here on gluing cracks that appear on this my memory a bit suspect, it's something to do with gluing up bearing balls in lock latch mechanism which are famous for allowing leaks. Google or wait for someone to send you the link. Also believe the pump times out if too much leaking, to protect pump.
 
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LostKiwi

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Soft close is particularly demanding on the pump.
Any leaks and it will fail. Similarly if the pump is getting tired it may not be able to provide sufficient vacuum.
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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Hi, Have checked around the actual lock assembly for leaks and there are none. As mentioned earlier, I even replaced it with a complete new lock so I wondered if there can be a leak else where. Or is there a micro switch that tells the pump that the lock has fully operated and to stop pumping?
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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Soft close is particularly demanding on the pump.
Any leaks and it will fail. Similarly if the pump is getting tired it may not be able to provide sufficient vacuum.
Hi, As mentioned earlier, I can open and close as long as I want, as long as it is done continuously so I don't think the pump has issues...to me it may be that the pump is not being told to stop....?
 

peterws1957

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Hi, thks for the reply..

I thought that it could be the pump as well, but I can literally open and close the boot all day if I wanted as long as I don't leave it for a few mins...so the pump looks ok...just wonder if there could be a air leak somewhere...

Do you mean in your first post you bought a new locking mechanism, fitted it, and the problem remains? If so I would guess at a leak in the line as well. First to check would be the connections on the pump. Could be the pump failing as well. (if it's the original it is 17 years old)

Also I found that a low consumer battery tends to affect the boot mechanism on ours at least.
 

LostKiwi

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Hi, As mentioned earlier, I can open and close as long as I want, as long as it is done continuously so I don't think the pump has issues...to me it may be that the pump is not being told to stop....?
The pump will stop once the pressure switch internally is tripped by the system pressure.
An air leak or weak pump will mean that never happens and it will continue to run until it times out. Once it times out it will shut off that port to protect the pump.
If you put it on Star you'll probably find an error code relating to a leak.
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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Do you mean in your first post you bought a new locking mechanism, fitted it, and the problem remains? If so I would guess at a leak in the line as well. First to check would be the connections on the pump. Could be the pump failing as well. (if it's the original it is 17 years old)

Also I found that a low consumer battery tends to affect the boot mechanism on ours at least.
Hi,yes exactly...new lock made no difference.
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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The pump will stop once the pressure switch internally is tripped by the system pressure.
An air leak or weak pump will mean that never happens and it will continue to run until it times out. Once it times out it will shut off that port to protect the pump.
If you put it on Star you'll probably find an error code relating to a leak.

What you say makes sense so I'll have to see what code comes up. Cheers

BTW: Do you have any other aids/guides? You sent me a training aid in PDF format for how the roof mechanism works and I wondered if there is a place online I can go to get others?
 

LostKiwi

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I have stacks of files I inherited from Television before he passed away but haven't been through them all yet - it took me 4 hours just to order them by model type or tech info. I tend to look at them if someone asks for a specific file he's emailed in the past or if it's something I need to look at myself. Unfortunately I don't have details on the r230 PSE pump - my knowledge of them comes from experience and much googling.
 
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Paul Sander

Paul Sander

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I have stacks of files I inherited from Television before he passed away but haven't been through them all yet - it took me 4 hours just to order them by model type or tech info. I tend to look at them if someone asks for a specific file he's emailed in the past or if it's something I need to look at myself. Unfortunately I don't have details on the r230 PSE pump - my knowledge of them comes from experience and much googling.

Many thanks for the info...much appreciated
 

ajlsl600

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I have stacks of files I inherited from Television before he passed away but haven't been through them all yet - it took me 4 hours just to order them by model type or tech info. I tend to look at them if someone asks for a specific file he's emailed in the past or if it's something I need to look at myself. Unfortunately I don't have details on the r230 PSE pump - my knowledge of them comes from experience and much googling.

There was something on them on here some time ago. Showing the process on sealing around those ball bearings that leak. I am sure I printed it out
 

LostKiwi

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There was something on them on here some time ago. Showing the process on sealing around those ball bearings that leak. I am sure I printed it out
He's already put a new latch in so won't be that.
 

ajlsl600

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Found it. Twas mbworld. Org/forums/sl-class-r230/355467-have-trunk-soft-clos...
 

ajlsl600

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Right! Tired pump then? Just tried that link, can't be found? But sure if you go to mbworld. Org forums a little search would find that and maybe more info. I have about 1000 pages all things/dramas r230.
 

ajlsl600

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Xactly. I have hard copy but the original was moved..
 

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