SLK general maintenance

ctayler

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Good evening to you all.

I've just taken the plunge and am now the proud owner of a '98 SLK.

Does anyone have any pointers for me with regard to routine bits and pieces that might need a little attention between services. I was thinking particularly about the roof mechanism. As it probably won't get too much use over the next few months, should I be lubricating any of the mechanism or seals? Just preventative measures I'm thinking about.

Any suggestions welcome and thanks in advance for your help.

Col
 

antijam

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Hi there and welcome!

It can't do any harm to waggle the roof up and down occasionally - the mechanism is generally very reliable but microswitches have been known to fail, usually through lack of use.

The roof mechanism linkages shouldn't need lubricating, but wiping the rubber seals with a silicone grease is always a good idea.

As with any car at this time of year, keeping the underside reasonably clean is very desirable. In particular clean the mud from the wheelarches and keep a weather eye open for rust - sadly they can and do!

Enjoy your car. Any specific problems do post here. There are plenty of very knowledgeable and helpful people on the forum.
 

television

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2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Ho col and welcome,,what you can do is to get some silicon grease and lubricate all of the rubber seals on the roof, and make sure the the water drains in the front are not blocked,,I can give you the info on this job
 

n1xxl

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Ho col and welcome,,what you can do is to get some silicon grease and lubricate all of the rubber seals on the roof, and make sure the the water drains in the front are not blocked,,I can give you the info on this job

This information would be appreciated as I too bought a SLK this summer.
Thanks
Neil
 

television

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I do need an Email address you can delete it when you have it
 

MERC210

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B CLASS 200 CDI AND e 320 cdi sln 2006 facelift
Re roof

HI COL I HAVE THE SAME YEAR MY ROOF HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN ,IT SOME TIMES DECIDES TOSTOP GOING DOWN OR STOPING WHEN GOING BACK TO STD POSITION ,I HAVE FOUND THE ROLLER MICRO SWITH SOMETIMES NEEDS TO BE FLICKED TO ENGAGE ,AND IF THE RED LIGHT ON THE SWITCH FILCKERS WHEN PUSHED ,LEAVE THE CAR FOR 15/20 MINITES ,WITH ALL ELECTRICS OFF AND KEY OUT AND THEN GO TO CLOSE OR OPEN AND IT RE SETS ITS SELF ,I HAVE SPRAYED SILICONE SPRAY ON ALL MOVING PARTS FOR THE WINTER BUT I WILL UP AND DOWN MINE A FEW TIMES BETWEEN NOW AND MAR /APRIL 2010
HOPE THAT HELPS IF YOU NEED ANY MORE HELP ON YOUR SLK E MAIL ME ON colin1417@yahoo.co.uk I MIGHT HAVE AN ANSWER ,BEST REGARDS COL
 

television

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A good non drying switch cleaner spray inside the switch should solve your fault with the roof
 
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ctayler

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Ho col and welcome,,what you can do is to get some silicon grease and lubricate all of the rubber seals on the roof, and make sure the the water drains in the front are not blocked,,I can give you the info on this job


That would be very welcome

cjtayler@ctayler.freeserve.co.uk

Thanks

Col
 
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ctayler

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All received safely.

You are a gent Sir, thank you.

Col
 

SLKfan

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Malcolm, I'm also having leak problems on the nearside A-pillar drain. Does it go straight down to the underside of the car?

Cheers
 

omega230e

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hey Malcolm if you have any info on lubricating the roof mechanism for my 2002 SLK I would be very grateful - also where are these drain holes you speak of???
 

Thincat

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I've never had any problems with the roof of my 2001 SLK (touch wood) - it's one of the few reliable things on it. As for preventitive maintenance I'm not sure what you can do. Watch out for rust in the wheel arches and on the boot lock because they all go there pretty quickly. Mine's done 38k and it needs some bodywork attention here. I'm sorry to have to tell you that these are not well made cars - the engines are good and the roof is good but that's about it.
 

moosehead

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hey Malcolm if you have any info on lubricating the roof mechanism for my 2002 SLK I would be very grateful - also where are these drain holes you speak of???

There are 2 x drains at the back either side of the boot seal. I took Malcolm's advice and got some thick strimmer cable to clear them. The difficult ones to clear are the fronts (3 of them) - lift the bonnet and with a torch you can just about see the ones up towards the screen next to each wing. These are a nightmare to clear as the drain doesn't go straight down (strimmer cable is useless) and disappears at angles into the wing. It might involve removing road wheels and inner wheel arches to remove the actual drain pipes if they are really clogged. There is a 3rd one which requires removal of the scuttle underneath the wipers. If this one's blocked it is likely that the water will be coming in through the heater and will therefore need urgent attention before you fry the heater motor.

These are a really bad design on the SLK especially the ones by the front wings as leafs and debris easily get in, decompose and then block the drains.

Good luck!
 

JohnGy

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My wife has a 2.0 SLK (first registered in 2000 and now with about 90,000 miles on the clock). There have been two major areas of discontent:

1) Rust: The car (which is silver in colour) has been to a body shop three times to have rust damage repaired. It hasn't been trivial surface rusting arising from damage to the paintwork, but the blistering sort of rust that can do serious harm to the bodywork if left untreated. On the last occasion, the body shop appear to have resprayed the entire car and it is looking quite good at the moment. These repairs were done under the Mercedes guarantee scheme which appears to apply provided that the car has always been regularly serviced at a Mercedes dealership (which it has), so we have no complaint there. However, that a car at this price should suffer from such rust damage is disappointing, to put it mildly.

2) Water drainage channels blocked. The two drainage channels which have entrances on each side of the boot became blocked on my wife's SLK. Also, the drainage hole at the bottom of the boot was also blocked. This resulted in the boot filling with water to a depth of about 5 inches, ruining the pump which is situated on one side of the boot floor and which controls the central locking and the remote control locking mechanism. This also prevents the roof being retracted into the boot because the boot can't be unlocked electrically. Cost of repair - about £600. These drainage channels should be checked out about once every six months. One might think that flooding on this scale would be easily noticed - but it isn't because it is concealed by the cover over the top of the spare wheel.

The roof mechanism itself hasn't given any trouble and we have no problems with the engine, automatic transmission, brakes or suspension.
 

Thincat

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2001 SLK320
1) Rust: The car (which is silver in colour) has been to a body shop three times to have rust damage repaired. It hasn't been trivial surface rusting arising from damage to the paintwork, but the blistering sort of rust that can do serious harm to the bodywork if left untreated. On the last occasion, the body shop appear to have resprayed the entire car and it is looking quite good at the moment. These repairs were done under the Mercedes guarantee scheme which appears to apply provided that the car has always been regularly serviced at a Mercedes dealership (which it has), so we have no complaint there. However, that a car at this price should suffer from such rust damage is disappointing, to put it mildly.

I'm very surprised that MB have made these repairs. I have similar problems on a 2001 SLK320 (39k miles, FMBSH) and they refuse to offer a penny in reparation. The MB guarantee is for 3 years. There is then a "goodwill" period of 8 years where they "may" offer some compensation/help. The 30 year Mobilo applies only to rust that has come from the inside and perforated a panel. I'd be interested in knowing exactly where your rust was because I'm in the process of trying to get MB to repair mine.
 

moosehead

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C230/2005/2.5L Avantgarde SE Sport Pack Estate, SLK230/1999 and Volvo XC60/2017 AWD
My wife has a 2.0 SLK (first registered in 2000 and now with about 90,000 miles on the clock). There have been two major areas of discontent:

1) Rust: The car (which is silver in colour) has been to a body shop three times to have rust damage repaired. It hasn't been trivial surface rusting arising from damage to the paintwork, but the blistering sort of rust that can do serious harm to the bodywork if left untreated. On the last occasion, the body shop appear to have resprayed the entire car and it is looking quite good at the moment. These repairs were done under the Mercedes guarantee scheme which appears to apply provided that the car has always been regularly serviced at a Mercedes dealership (which it has), so we have no complaint there. However, that a car at this price should suffer from such rust damage is disappointing, to put it mildly.

2) Water drainage channels blocked. The two drainage channels which have entrances on each side of the boot became blocked on my wife's SLK. Also, the drainage hole at the bottom of the boot was also blocked. This resulted in the boot filling with water to a depth of about 5 inches, ruining the pump which is situated on one side of the boot floor and which controls the central locking and the remote control locking mechanism. This also prevents the roof being retracted into the boot because the boot can't be unlocked electrically. Cost of repair - about £600. These drainage channels should be checked out about once every six months. One might think that flooding on this scale would be easily noticed - but it isn't because it is concealed by the cover over the top of the spare wheel.

The roof mechanism itself hasn't given any trouble and we have no problems with the engine, automatic transmission, brakes or suspension.

I didn't know there was a drainage hole in the boot. Do you have a picture of where it is? My friend had an Alfasud back in the 80's and we could never sort the leaks so it was easier to drill a few holes in various locations to let the water out.
 

Thincat

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I didn't know there was a drainage hole in the boot.

Nor did I. That's one problem I've never had - water in the boot. Mind you it didn't prevent the PCB (in the boot) that controls the burglar alarm, locking and interior lighting burning out, but that was down to the clever design that allows condensation to run down the electrical leads straight into the PCB - well done MB, another £400 in profit.
 

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