tonmarchelli

car is an 05 clk55 vert. the top has been working great over the last few months, over the last few days i have been having some issues with it. the day before yesterday when i went to close the top, after the roof came out and closed, the window section wouldnt fold forward so the tanneu cover could close, i had to halt the operation and start it again for it to work, also the hydraulic pump was making a high pitch whine that is a good deal louder than the normal noise the pump makes, then yesterday when I went to open the top, the pump made the same whine but the top wouldnt open at all.

is the pump shot? ive got a warranty and the roof should be covered. im going to try to drop it off at my local MB dealer today or sat to have them check it out.

thanks for the input.

Klinh

Sounded like your pump fluid is dry. Check the fluid reservior to see if it empty. The top hydraulic seal always leaked.

tonmarchelli

Thanks, ill give it a look, If its dry, is that something i can do on my own to fill up? whats a good hydraulic fluid to buy?

tonmarchelli

so i checked the pump reservoir. with the top up it is well below the minimum level. i haven't looked with the top down (dont know if that makes a difference) but if i need to put some fluid in: where do i get the fluid and how do i fill the reservoir?

neilnguyen4503

You can purchase the OEM hydraulic fluid from the dealership for around $20.00 a quart.

tonmarchelli

I went yesterday and bought som hydraulic fluid from my local dealer, filled the resivoir to its level and tried the top. the top opened, but when i went to close it: it stopped working again. got the top closed manually, then i took the liner out of the trunk and there is hydraulic fluid everywhere. so i buttoned it back up and took it to the dealer today for them to fix, i have a really good extended warranty so i might as well use it.

neilnguyen4503

I have the same problem, hydraulic fluid leaked in the trunk after filling the reservior, but I don't have the extended warranty. The top has been up since. Do you know what the dealership did to fix the leak?

tonmarchelli

the dealership called me today and told me that the high pressure supply line to the hydraulic cylinders is shot. parts and labor come to a little under $1100 to fix it, I had the inkling in my mind to just take the car home and fix it myself but I don't think i want to be dealing with that high pressure stuff and they are going to clean the mess up for me as well as the fluid got everywhere. so a few more days and the top will be working good as new.

Mercedes-Benz

Since you said you are under warranty, I assume it will be a free fix? I am going to check my fluid level periodically as well. I also noticed that I have steel braided hoses. Perhaps that is a change for the 07 model year.

tonmarchelli

the factory warranty ran out a while ago before i bought the car. as soon as i bought it, I went to my MB dealer and bought their recommended extended warranty with the highest level of coverage. in the writings of the warranty it states that the convertible top pump is covered but doesnt say anything about the lines or hoses. the service rep. called the warranty and they denied the claim for the leaky hoses.

pcardoza

fight it tooth and nail!!!!!!!!

Mercedes-Benz

Hmm interesting. I am going to check my documents as well. Sounds like the hoses are wear items.

Top Hydraulics

Mercedes-Benz,

That is very interesting about the braided hoses. I don't own a W209, and hadn't seen steel braided hoses on Mercedes top hydraulic systems before. If it is an upgrade in your model year, I hope it works. Could you please post pictures?

Bentley used Mercedes R129 convertible tops in their Azure convertibles, and one of the changes was using hoses that were reinforced with braids on the outside. Ironically, the hydraulic hoses never fail from normal wear in R129s, but Bentley's hoses do. Imagine paying $20k to have all hoses replaced on your Bentley...

-Klaus

Klaus@tophydraulicsinc.com

CarlosT333

I have a CLK55 2003 the top will not let down so I manually let it down into the compartment so when i got ready to let it the top back up the the top lid would not open with the switch(the light on the switch was blink slow when I press it) So I had to use the wrench to manually open the lid so do anybody think that the lid lock relay is bad?And when I try to let the top up or down I don't hear the hydraulic motor come on at all so do anybody think that relay is bad also? What r the chances of both relays going out at the same time?

tomcat07

Are there any differences in the average maintenance/replacement costs of the 2001 CLK 320 (cab) v. the CLK 430 (cab).