tinnette

My husband owns a 2004 500 CLK with 18,000 miles. Unfortunately, I have never paid much attention to the workings of his car. He passed away this last fall. I am unable to open the convertible top. I get an error message " close partion skibag" I have pulled the owner's manual out several times, but I am unable to figure out what I need to do to correct the problem. I have an apt scheduled with the dealer, but the car doesn't need its A service for another 5400 miles. If it is a fairly easy fix, I would like to not spend the money.

Thanks for any help,

Mary

CarLK500

Page 273 of the [2006 my] owners manual. There is a partition thingy in the trunk that needs to be closed and a luggage cover that needs to be closed to get the top to go down. it's not a problem, but unless you see it done maybe you won't get it.

henry47

CarLK500 is correct, if you open the trunk, there will be a horizontal plastic piece right on the ceiling of the trunk. it runs all the way from the left to right and you'll have to pull this piece closer to you.

eddieo45

you're welcome Mary; sorry to hear about your husband's passing. God Bless.

tinnette

Thank you for the help. I got the partion back in place!! You saved me an expensive visit to the Benz dealer. The owner's manual kept throwing me off course. The manual shows a pull strap that I needed to pull to adjust the plastic bar. My bar doesn't have a strap. Now I can put the top down and drive it around. I need to drive it around since the battery has discharged twice on me already!!

Thanks again,

Mary

Klinh

The only time you ever need to pull those straps is when the top does not work due to electronic/mechanical problems and you need the top up. There's a straps but it hidden inside the plastic cover. You really need to read the user's manual of how to cloce the top manually in case your top stop working when it rain.

eddieo45

Come again, anytime.

thibp

how to close clk 350 trunk partition

Sheryl's350

Hi there...ok, so I recently purchased a 2006 CLK350 Convertible and the first thing I did was check the manual on soft top operation. So the tops been going down and up as it should. However, I placed a piece of small luggage in the trunk (Top was up) and now when I try to put the top down, I am receiving an error message that reads: "Please Close Trunk Partition" and the top will not go down now. But I never touched the trunk partition and not quite too sure where this is located to close...any ideas and/or pics I can see as to where it's located and what I need to do to close this darn thing. Thank you for your help

henry47

pop open your trunk.

when the trunk is open, look at the "ceiling" of the storage compartment. There will be a rounded piece of plastic. what likely happened was that your piece of luggage hit this partition and moved it forward.

you need to grab the bottom of the rounded piece of plastic and pull it towards you as close as you can. as soon as there's resistance, the partition has been set. give it a try and report back

Yidney

It's a gray piece of plastic about three feet wide and 5 inches tall. In the center it has place to stick your fingers like a grab handle. It has to be pulled back when you operate the top because the top occupies part of the trunk when it's down. When you put your package in you pushed it part way forward. When you are not using the top you can push it all the way forward to give you more trunk space - it's made for just that purpose. It has to be pulled all the way back to operate the top because it presses a switch on the far left side that tells the car it's ok to put the top down. When you pushed it forward you disengaged that switch.

Sheryl's350

Thank you Henry as that worked...my top goes down now. Thank you again for your help, much appreciated.

Sheryl's350

Thank you Yidney, your description details of instruction worked...my top goes down now. Thank you again for your help, much appreciated.

daryenne

HI - I was reading everyone's resposes regarding the trunk partition. I got the same error message this morning, andwhen I went to pull the plastic piece towards me (as I do almost eevry time I want the top down) it will not stay in that position. It just flops back to it's original position, sort of folded upward. Can anyone offer me any explanation as to why this happend and if it's an easy fix, or will it be costly? The top worked fine yesterday. Any advice or suggestions or explanations would be helpful and welcome! Thank you!

DangermouseCLK

Similar problem here.

Had the car a couple of months and the "partition" has always been down, allowing for soft top operation.

Pushed it up out of the way a couple of days ago, for a larger package, and when I pulled it down, I get the "Please Close Trunk Partition" message.

A little investigating and I find that there is a limit switch on the left hand side (drivers side) that this partition is supposed to hit. When I pull the partition into place, I can hear the switch make, but when I let go, the partition moves slightly forward, just off the switch, and I hear the switch click again.

I suspect the problem is the two little gas struts that hold the partition in place have just gotten weak and can no longer provide the pressure needed. They look to be difficult to get to.

Anyone replaced these before? Are they available on parts.com?

(in the interim, I used a bungie cord to keep the partition in place, and the switch made. Top works fine now, but probably not a M-B approved repair )

daryenne

Dangermouse- I just had to replace the gas struts because I was having the same problem as you. (look for thread "trunk partition" on this site")
I ended up purchasing mine from a local MB dealer - paid around $45 each, and was lucky enough to have a friend who was able to replace them for me. If you read the thread I mentioned above, Russ White posted that he replaced his for much less money, by ordering the parts online. He also provides the website and part number.
Apparently these things go bad rather quickly. Since mine have been replaced, I haven't had any truouble whatsoever - in the past I would have to pull the partition towards me each time I wanted to put the top down. Not so anymore.
Good luck!

Davideo

I also have an '04 cab, and I had the same problem with the microswitch on the left side. At first I used gaff tape to keep the switch open, but have solved it permanently by drilling a hole in the plastic and installing a cotter-pin type thing in there - keeping the limit switch always on. I just have to be sure that the partition is pulled down!

And to the person who said their battery is dying - if it's an original 04' battery, it's time for a new one!

DangermouseCLK

Thanks.

Don't know how I missed that thread the first time

jwynkoop2424

I have replace the small struts for the truck partition. If you can use a rope or bungie cord to hold the parition down to get the top to operate you can replace them yourself. I actually used a piece of luggage and wedged the partitian open against the luggage.

Once the top begins to operate and open, the back glass lifts up and then the back cover lifts up. While both the back glass is up and the back cover is also up, release the button that operates the top.

At this point, walk back there and you should be able to look down in the hole between the back glass and back cover and see the small struts. They pop off and the new ones should snap into place.

Good luck

marian122559

I replaced the gas struts and still get the close partition signal. Does anyone know what else could be wrong? Thanks

Yidney

The next logical thing is the switch. It's located on the lower left of the frame as you are standing facing the trunk - driver's side. You can see how the partition is supposed to press on it. Press it with your finger and listen for an audible click. Tape it in the closed position to "fool" the car and see if the top works. It may be bad, broken, or just out of position.

EDIT: Or your partion my need some adjusrment and is not pressing the switch properly.

DangermouseCLK

When I replaced my struts I had the same problem initially.

After investigation, I discovered that the strut was just a little too short and was not making the switch. I confirmed this by pulling on the partition while listening for the switch to click.

The strut has a little adjustment on it. Take it out and un-thread the socket at one end a couple of turns. Re-install. You may need to try it a couple of times. I would only un-thread it the minimum amount to make the switch work.

marian122559

Thank you. Do you know where I can get a switch or do I need to buy it at the dealership?

marian122559

Thank you Dangermouse. I think that is my problem, because I just checked and my switch is making the clicking sound..

marian122559

Dangermouse you saved me $250 bucks. I owe you one!