Aussiesuede

One of the issues that confounds most W208 (1998-2003) Convertible Owners is: How to Retract (Lower) the rear seat Headrests (Rollbars) after they've emergency deployed. This deployment often occurs whilst aggressively going over the likes of railroad tracks, potholes, or other road obstructions which cause the vehicle to bottom out, or the wheels to temporarily leave the ground. By design, the hydraulic rollbar (headrest) system is designed to be defeated by a high tension spring incorporated into the rollbar (headrest) unit. The problem comes when trying to figure out a way to retract the rollbars (headrest). Here is a guide to accomplish the task:

a) By Design, you're supposed to be able to use the hydraulic system to retract the rollbar (Headrest) after deployment. This is accomplished by simply holding the dash roll bar (Headrest) button in the "Up" position for 8 seconds. Unfortunately, very often this doesn't seem to work for many, leaving them desperately searching for a manual way to lower the rollbar (headrest).


The Guide for Those who need to lower their rollbars (headrests) manually

1) Remove the rear seat bottom cushion by simply lifting up on the leading edge of the seat bottom. There are no screws securing it.

2) Remove the rear seatback cushion. It is secured with 4 13mm bolts and 2 Phillips Screws. The 4 13mm bolts are located one both left and right about 6 inches in from the sides on the bottom of the seats. They are the only 13mm bolts that are exposed. The 2 outer bolts are located right next to the emergency deployment springs. The 2 inner bolts are located on a metal bracket just in front of the subwoofer enclosure. To access the 2 phillips screws, lower the armrest and use a flat object (butter knife) to pry forward the insert inside the armrest recess from the top. It's thin particle board and just pry's forward, exposing the 2 phillips screws. Now simply lift the seatback cushion upward.

3) From the trunk area, release the hydraulic pressure from the convertible top system.





Hydraulic pressure is released by inserting a flathead screwdriver into the white cone of the pump circled in blue in the above picture.


4) With the seatback cushion removed, press the pawls (circled in blue) towards the rear of the vehicle. You've 2 options to accomplish this task:

a) take a (5) pack of gum and wedge it between the Pawl and the beam. I found that a pack of gum was the perfect size to keep pawl disengaged.

b) have a 2nd person hold a screwdriver on the pawl to keep it disengaged.









5) With both pawls disengaged from the mechanism (This will release the rollbar (headrest)) Apply downward force on both headrests evenly at the same time. When the rollbar (headrest) is fully retracted (lowered), the rollbar (headrest) will automatically latch, holding the rollbar (headrest) in the locked down position. If it doesn't latch, you haven't pressed down far enough. Apply more force until it latches (You'll hear and feel a click). Once it latches, you can release pressure (or remove the pack of gum you wedged if you chose that route) and it'll stay in the down locked position.


That's it. Finally a definitive way to lower roll bars(headrests) that are stuck in the up position.

Aussiesuede

Here is a picture of the rear face of the rollbar/headrest mechanism for comparison:

Aussiesuede

And here are closeup pics of the "pawls" which must be released - circled in blue in the above picture:

Aussiesuede

And for those who experience the headrest automatically raising with a ratcheting / clicking noise immediately after lowering the Rollbar (Headrests), what's occuring is the valve

(The brass valve in picture #3 & #4 in the above post)

is not actuating. This can be for one of 2 reasons:

a) you've not pressed down on the headrests far enough. 90% of the time, this will be the cause. You think you've pressed all the way down, but there's still about another 1/4 inch to go. Take another stab at it and press down as hard as you possibly can until you hear a click. That'll be the sound of that valve actuating and securing the Pawl racthet. During an emergency event, that is the valve which extends and releases the Pawl ratchet which is holding the emergency spring in it's locked position.

b) Either one, or both of those actuation valves is malfunctioning and need replacement. This is the much less likely option. 9 times out of 10, it'll be option a).

burgca

Great write up and will be useful if I ever experience this issue!!

DevlZT

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!! I SPENT A MONTH JAMMING EVERYTHING FROM ICE PICKS TO ANIMAL BONES AND VOODOO CURSES "Down the side of the headrest" FOR OVER A MONTH!!!

Serndipity

DevLZT

Your roll-bar can be stuck in the up position because........

1. Your roll-bar deployed mechanically. This would occur if an impending crash or roll over condition was detected by sensors and the roll-bar mechanically deployed, by pre-loaded spring action.

In this case, you have found an excellent thread that explains that subsequent lowering requires unlocking the pawls that hold the roll-bar locked in place and reloading the spring tension.

It's a bit tricky and another excellent thread to read is at:

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...le-2001-a.html

or perhaps as more common:

2. You have an electrical or hydraulic malfunction within the roll-bar system (e.g. malfunctioning deployment hydraulic cylinder, value block or the extended/retracted position switches).

There are also numerous excellent threads in this forum, on how to troubleshoot, diagnose and repair this situation as well.

lumanikus

Hi all,
I have learned a lot from reading the vast amount of posts on the w208 rollbar deployed issue.

I have removed the roll bar and have wedged the locking pawls in the open position. I have a click cylinder sound upon pushing the dashboard button followed by what sounds like a pump working. The rollbar still will not move on its own power.

I have also tried releasing the hydraulic pressure valve in the trunk by turning the flathead screw all the way to the left. Then I attempt to manually push down the rollbar but it appears to be locked and force will not make it move.

I have a new theory to test though. I have noticed a red snap in electrical connector at the top of the hydraulic roll-bar lift. I think this connector controls a locking mechanism that prevents the hydraulic cylinder shaft from lowering. If this is the case I'm not sure why mine is not disengaging

If anyone reads this and catches anything I might have missed please let me know.

ungermm

I have a 1999 CLK320 Cabrio that I bought from a good friend who wasn't driving it. She had it for a couple of years and even spent thousands on replacing the hydraulic pump and several other things that cost her $$$$. I was able to help her fix some minor things on it.

I thought I would add what helped me to get my headrests / rollbar back down from the fully extended position. My daughter was driving when she went over a speed bump and the headrests began to rise with a ratcheting sound. After that, she heard a humming coming from the trunk. She noticed the noise gone sometime later, but there was a smell. So, the hydraulic pump for the soft top is probably fried, but I'll check the relay first. Anyway, I found this thread and followed the steps, but used two pieces of wood to wedge the locking pawls open instead of gum packs. The one of the left (116mm or 5.6") went to open the passenger side pawl by wedging between the pawl and the frame opening edge. The one on the right (21mm or .8") was wedged between the driver side pawl and the bracket around the thing that has a hydraulic line going to it.



However, the headrests would not go down with me pushing down on them manually...too much spring tension. So, I used a lever and a series of small blocks to easily albeit slowly to get it done.



So, the pump screw was turned to relieve the pressure, and I left it that way on a test drive. I went over speed bumps hard, tried turning hard, and turning hard in reverse, but wasn't able to get the headrests to raise again. I'll leave the rear seats out and test it further. However, the windows would also automatically roll down frequently when driven over even little bumps, but didn't during my short test.

One further test...I turned the screw for the hydraulic pump back in (clockwise), unlatched the front of the soft top, and tried the lowering the soft top with the soft top switch. The windows go down, but nothing else except for a slow blinking switch. The soft top switch also stays lit during driving which isn't anything new. I guess it's time to learn how to manually lower the soft top.

Serndipity

ungermm......don't give up yet, knowing that your girlfriend had previously spent $$$$$ in prior power roof repairs( e.g. most likely at a dealership, or at an unqualified independent shop).

[My daughter was driving when she went over a speed bump and the headrests began to rise with a ratcheting sound. After that, she heard a humming coming from the trunk. She noticed the noise gone sometime later, but there was a smell. So, the hydraulic pump for the soft top is probably fried, but I'll check the relay first.]

The hydraulic pump motor is not rated for continuous duty, but the power roof controller has several builtin safeguards to protect it from burning out (e.g. a watch dog timer to turn the motor off after about 4 minutes of operation, as well a therm-couple that should turn off the motor if it exceeds a specified temperature limit).

You can easily check if the pump is still operational, independent of controller requests, by checking to see if it will run manually.

It operates on a separately fused electrical circuit from the controller and can be made to run manually, by removing the relay and replacing it with a jumper, bridging pins 30 and 87 on the pump relay socket, If it doesn't run, then you either have a bad fuse (e.g. the 40 ampere fuse in the trunk fuse box), a relay with pitted contacts or a burnt out pump motor. See the picture in post #28 at https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...-failures.html that shows how to insert the jumper.

If the pump does not run notes:

Basically this checks that the fuse, wiring and most importantly, verifies that the pump motor is operational. However, it bypasses the relay's make/break contacts with a jumper. The pump motor draws at least 30 amperes of current and when switching this amount of current, upon the make/break relay contacts and a significant spark is generated, which causes pitting of the contacts and resistance to the necessary current flow to operate the motor. The relay is a commonly available replacement part (e.g. same as used to run the fuel pump), a replacement is less than $10, has been a fairly common problem regarding power roof issues and should be replaced as preventative maintenance.

Also, don't just check the fuse by the sight glass or measuring the voltage on the fused side. Pull the fuse and check it's contacts for corrosion, due to dissimilar metal contact, which would also cause a resistance, preventing sufficient current flow from reaching the motor.


[The windows go down, but nothing else except for a slow blinking switch. The soft top switch also stays lit during driving which isn't anything new.]


The power roof/roll bar controller has a built in self test facility. When the main power roof is always on and blinking slowly, indicates that there is a system malfunction and 95% plus of the time, it's because either the compartment cover or rear bow lock, has not closed and/or locked properly and when is occurs, the pump will not operate.

Check that the hydraulic fluid is at the correct level. If not, inspect the cover lock and rear bow cylinders for leakage.

When you start the car, your roll bar switch on the dash should blink for about 10 seconds and then stop. Does it remain lit?

Make sure that after you manually lowered the roll bar, that the S83/5 RB “retracted” limit switch is being actuated. If the power roof controller thinks that roll bar has not been lowered, the pump will not operate.

See enclosed thumbnail and Aussiesuede's post #4 above....."(a) you've not pressed down on the headrests far enough. 90% of the time, this will be the cause. You think you've pressed all the way down, but there's still about another 1/4 inch to go. Take another stab at it and press down as hard as you possibly can until you hear a click. That'll be the sound of that valve actuating and securing the Pawl racthet. During an emergency event, that is the valve which extends and releases the Pawl ratchet which is holding the emergency spring in it's locked position".

ungermm

How to I check the RB "retracted" limit switch?

I found a burnt out 40 amp fuse, #13 slot, in the trunk. This fuse is for the soft top hydraulic. I replaced it with a 30 amp, because that's all I had on hand. I can hear a click when initiating the soft top retraction, and after pulling that panels to get to the hydraulic pump, verified that it was from the relay on the hydraulic pump. Also tried the jumper between pins 30 and 87(pump doesn't start). After holding the switch for the soft top to go down, the click is followed by nothing for about 5 seconds and the switch starts a slow blink.

Fluid level in the pump reservoir is above 1/2. No leakage seen at any of the components in the system.

I was able to manually lower the soft top and raise it again, manually.

The roll bar switch does blink for 10 seconds at start up, and doesn't stay lit after that. The soft top switch is not lit anymore while driving.

I also went into the panel at the top of the windshield to check for a loose micro switch mount. Mine wasn't loose. I did put a washer between the front single mount and the frame as Aussiesuede suggested in another thread. While I was in there, I tested the micro switch before reinstalling and found that when I probed the brown and gray wires there was continuity whether the switch was open or closed. This confused me. I cut the brown wire and found that when I had the probe on the brown wire at the switch and probed the gray wire that I only had continuity when the switch was pulled back, I'm guessing this is what happens when the soft top is latched to the top of the windshield. The cut brown end of the wire away from the switch, as well as the gray wire that wasn't cut, showed continuity to the ground of the body. So, I put everything back together and thought that someone must know how these micro switches work.

Thanks, Jerry

Serndipity

[I found a burnt out 40 amp fuse, #13 slot, in the trunk. This fuse is for the soft top hydraulic. I replaced it with a 30 amp, because that's all I had on hand. I can hear a click when initiating the soft top retraction, and after pulling that panels to get to the hydraulic pump, verified that it was from the relay on the hydraulic pump. Also tried the jumper between pins 30 and 87(pump doesn't start). After holding the switch for the soft top to go down, the click is followed by nothing for about 5 seconds and the switch starts a slow blink.]



What we're trying to determine is whether or not your pump motor is operational, because you mentioned that your daughter smelled something burning in post #9 and later found fuse #13 blown, as well.

As I mentioned in post #10, you can easily check if the pump motor is still operational, independently of the controller, by checking to see if it will run manually, because the motor operates on a separately fused electrical circuit from the controller and can be made to run manually, by removing the relay and replacing it with a jumper, bridging pins 30 and 87 on the pump relay socket. If it doesn't run, then you either have a bad fuse (e.g. the 40 ampere fuse in the trunk fuse box), a relay with pitted contacts or a burnt out pump motor. I've enclosed a thumbnail of the electrical circuit for the hydraulic pump.

By replacing the relay with a jumper, you isolate the motor from operating via the controller and simplify the circuit to:

12 volt Battery -> Fuse #13 -> jumper (e.g. to simulate closed relay contacts) -> pump motor -> vehicle ground.

Try the test again with the proper 40 amp fuse (e.g. the under rated 30 amp replacement fuse may have blown to quickly).




[I also went into the panel at the top of the windshield to check for a loose micro switch mount. Mine wasn't loose. I did put a washer between the front single mount and the frame as Aussiesuede suggested in another thread. While I was in there, I tested the micro switch before reinstalling and found that when I probed the brown and gray wires there was continuity whether the switch was open or closed. This confused me. I cut the brown wire and found that when I had the probe on the brown wire at the switch and probed the gray wire that I only had continuity when the switch was pulled back, I'm guessing this is what happens when the soft top is latched to the top of the windshield. The cut brown end of the wire away from the switch, as well as the gray wire that wasn't cut, showed continuity to the ground of the body. So, I put everything back together and thought that someone must know how these micro switches work.]



Enclosed is a thumbnail that explains the function of the S84/11 switch. When you close and lock the front bow, the normally open switch contacts, get closed by a lever on the locking handle, notifying the controller that the roof has been closed and locked. When you unlock the front bow, the switch returns to it's normally open state and the windows will lower (if they were previously up), upon which the power roof can be opened with the main center console switch. What sometimes occurs, is that the locking handle lever does not provide sufficient pressure against the switch, such that when you go over bumps, the switch opens up and then unexpectedly lowers the windows.



[How to I check the RB "retracted" limit switch?]



You can easily test each of the position/limit switches by disconnecting the controller's wiring harness connector and just measuring the resistance between a specific connector pin to ground, which will either be low or high, depending on if the switch should be actuated or not. I can provide additional details (e.g. the controller's functional pin assignment diagram etc.), as a next step, after verifying that your pump runs. There is no need to cut into any wiring, plus testing at the connector's wiring harness plug, not only that verifies that switch is actuating properly, but that the wiring back to the controller is OK, as well.

ungermm

Serndipity, Thanks so much for responding. I have been reading a lot of posts and threads where you have been involved in helping others. I have restored several Opel GTs in which I did body work and paint, engine rebuilding, intake porting, well...pretty much everything except major rewiring. Wiring has been my weak point. But, I have rewired 3 GT front headlight wire harnesses. I won't give up yet on the CLK320.

Update...I bought a pack of 40 amp fuses, placed one in slot #13, closed the trunk, turned key to position 2, turned soft cover handle, windows rolled down automatically, lifted top cover up , pulled up on soft cover switch, and heard a little click...nothing else happened until about 5 seconds on holding the switch up, it went from solid red to blinking slowly. I removed the key, opened the trunk, removed the pump relay, inserted a jumper bridging pins 30 and 87 and heard a snap. I found that the 40 amp fuse had popped. Pulled the dead fuse and jumper. Second attempt with the jumper popped a new fuse in slot 13. So, needless to say, the pump didn't work.

Also, the roll bar switch blinks at start up for 10 seconds or so, but after it stops blinking, I'm unable to use the switch to raise the roll bar/headrests. From what I've read, this is because the hydraulic pump needs to be working... correct?

My immediate goal is to eliminate the windows from rolling down automatically while driving. I can live with a none functioning automatic soft top. I can teach my daughter how to do it manually for now, and if needed, start looking for a cheap used pump online. I'm just looking for a way to confirm my suspicion that the pump is locked up or burnt out. The pump itself looks a little like a small starter motor stuck to a reservoir with a series of pumps/valves on top.

So, is there something that someone can recommend me to test further. BTW, besides smog tests, I have only visited an auto repair shop once, in the last 25 years...it an electrical sensor problem.

GatorMB

I think most of this post was worthy of a move to the repair sticky. As polluted its done.

Any reply from serndipity is noteworthy for support. Regardless of OP origin.

Cheers

Serndipity

ungermm......just to close out the additional troubleshooting undertaken, after manually lowering your roll bar, upon which your power roof was still inoperative.

Unfortunately, the motor in your hydraulic pump has burnt out and needs to be replaced. Specifically, when you inserted the jumper, power was directly applied to the motor (w/o requiring the controller) and each time, the 40 amp fuse blew out, indicating a short circuit. Additionally, when you tried to operate the power roof, the fuse also blew out. Additionally, the short circuit only occurs when power is applied to the motor, ruling out the possibility of a short circuit, along the wiring path.

As mentioned previously, because the motor is not rated for continuous duty, the controller has several builtin safeguards to prevent motor burnout. The 1st is a watchdog timer that will shut off the motor after 250 seconds of operation. The 2nd is a backup thermo-couple, that should turn off the motor, when when the motor reaches an abnormally high operating temperature. However, in early A208 production, the thermo-couple parameters insufficient, allowing the motor operate longer then it should.

In regard to replacing the pump, read: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/c208...tallation.html and http://www.benzworld.org/forums/c208...aulic-top.html or http://www.benzworld.org/forums/c208...ump-motor.html .

A complete Top Hydraulics pump checkout /rebuild service is $600. An IMPORTANT CAUTION you need to know, if you're considering buying a used pump. During A208 production, there were many significant upgrades made to the power roof system, resulting in a good number of components, including the controller, hydraulic pump etc., are not compatible/interchangeable. You need to use the part number on your existing pump or use your VIN or EPC to get the right replacement. As example, the listing for used pumps on EBAY, seem to run around $300, say their for MYs 1998 - 2003, but has a picture of the pump with 7 solenoid valves, where later production pumps only used 5 solenoid valves. Go figure!!!!

Lastly, if you decide not to repair the power roof operation, at this time, I believe you can stop the windows from lowering when going over bumps, as follows.

First, do not remove the other 2 fuses that supply power to the roof controller (e.g. #11 in the trunk fuse box or #15 in the engine compartment). That's because the window operation is electrical and on our cabriolets, unlike the coupes, the front windows operate using controllers and motors located inside the doors and the rear window motors operate via the roof controller. If you remove those fuses, at a minimum your rear windows will no longer operate and very likely, will result in faulty CANBus messaging back to front window controllers (e.g. screw up their operation).

Refer to the thumbnail, in post #12, that explained the function of the S84/11 switch. When you close and lock the front bow, the normally open switch contacts, get closed by a lever on the locking handle, notifying the controller that the roof has been closed and locked. When you unlock the front bow, the switch returns to it's normally open state and the windows will lower (if they were previously up), upon which the power roof can be opened with the main center console switch. What sometimes occurs, is that the locking handle lever does not provide sufficient pressure against the switch, such that when you go over bumps, the switch opens up and then unexpectedly lowers the windows. So....try this.


First restore any of the S84/11 wiring connections that you cut in post #11, so that it will properly signal the controller, that the roof is closed and locked. If you still can't make an adjustment, between the locking handle lever and S84/11, that applies the necessary pressure to keep the switch actuated when going over bumps. You need to use a temporary method (e.g. duct tape, elastic band) that will keep the switch actuated (e.g. all the time), while you manually open/close the roof. That should keep the roof controller from lowering the windows when going over bumps, but still able to manually raise/lower them, with the 4 buttons on the center console.

ungermm

I was just about to start taking the panel off above the windshield. When I popped up the soft top, I saw this...




I hadn't noticed the threaded post the previous times I took the panel apart. But, it was loose and pulled right out. I knew right then, what it was for. And, I saw that the passenger side peg or guide or post was missing. I was pretty sure that even though the top was still latched that without these things in place the soft top would still move while driving. I was able to fabricate another one from a bolt, nut, and some plastic tubing. In all my reading up on threads and posts, I never saw anything mentioned about these two items.





I screwed the pegs with lock washers into their holes just to the outside of each latch. While test driving, I did some hard right turns while accelerating and the windows did NOT roll down automatically! So, I'm hopeful that this part is solved.

This is a CLK320 W208 that has a 10/98 build date. The pump that is in there now has 7 solenoids on top. It was installed about 4 years ago by an independent auto mechanic that my friend had used for years. The current pump is A208 800 00 30. The controller is A208 820 11 26. Is it normal for the cases of the solenoids to darken? Do they sometimes come that way? Is darkening a sign of overheating?

I'll have to decide if I want to replace it knowing that I have one of the earlier more prone to burn out pumps.

iamtngg

Hello, my rollbar control button don't works, when i push it, it operates passenger door glass. (headrest stays in upper position and i think that's why my soft top stopped working)
+ the glass button does nothing at all. any ideas ? or which module controls this operations ? thanks

ungermm

tngg, I'm going to guess you don't hear any humming from the hydraulic pump either. But, I don't think the lowering of the soft top will happen and activate the hydraulic pump if your head rests (also called the roll bar) are in the upright position. After I manually put the head rests back down, my hydraulic soft top pump still didn't engage. I ended up replacing it, replacing a few loose ends, and all was well after that.

You might find this thread helpful ... https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...-failures.html ... follow the directions in post #3. Checking the 40A fuse and swapping the hydraulic pump relay with the fuel relay is easy. If I remember correctly, you will need to remove many screws and a couple panels to access the pump to determine if the hydraulic pump is bad by doing the jumper bypass test. There are directions and videos on how to access the pump if you do a search.

iamtngg

ungermm, first of all thanks for reply. Ure right, the pump does nothing at all when i push soft top switch, soft top wont go down when rollbar(aka headrest) is in upper position i know that. I lowered roll bar once manually but it pop right up when i remove the soft top contol module. i think it has some kind of sensor in it (silly me, i removed with plugged wires ). I drove car over a 6 months with this problem (with roll bars down) but still no soft top lowering for me
Now for second part, i checked the 40A fuse already, i swapped already, i removed that "many screw "sheet couple of times(lucky me) i've jumped fuse and pump started working (so i think it works).
I've searched almost everywhere but nobody can tell me what is my problem, nobody had same problem as mine.

Maybe it's a bad wire or wires touching each other, maybe its bad control unit, really i even swapped window switches. still nothing.

ungermm

The rollbar is difficult to manually push back down in the locked position. However, if you drove it for 6 months after resetting, it must have been in the lock position. If you tried holding the rollbar button (up and down) for 8 seconds and nothing happened, I think you'll have to manually get the rollbar back down again. I'm not sure what you mean by the glass button in your original post.

There are rollbar sensors/switches in the system. Maybe this thread will help ... look at the thumbnails.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...r-problem.html

I don't know if there is a way to test the control module near the pump other than to find a working one and installing it to see if I will get things working.

I might not be the best resource for information. I've only done mine once.

Serndipity

iamyngg.......by design, the power roof will not operate if the roll bar is extended or if the controller thinks it's extended, which would occur if one of the components in roll bar assembly is not actuating correctly.

Read through the link that ungermm posted above.

Far more often than not, power roof and roll bar issues, can be repaired inexpensively, with troubleshooting, to find and replace the faulty component.

Alternatively, MB dealers and many independent shops use the MB Star Diagnostic System , that will show any stored trouble codes.

Also be aware, when substituting modules, that MB updated the power roof system in 2001 and the controller and hydraulic pump assembly modules are not compatible, between early and later model years.

iamtngg

Thank you here to ) i posted this when i got the car and didn't have clue what to do.


Thank you my friend.
Solution was new soft top control module (N52).

burgca

Katrina Manko

CLKGeek

This is something I've always wondered about - what is used to release the spring in an emergency condition. Does this mean that the brass valves on either side of the frame need hydraulic pressure to release the pawls, or are they always under hydraulic pressure in normal operation and in an emergency situation hydraulic pressure is released via the rollbar valve block? The latter would make more sense since it doesn't require the pump to be functional in an emergency. And after the emergency deployment, do these valves return to the "undeployed" state but the pawls still keep the spring tension on the rollbar until the pawls are manually released?

I'm going to try this manual pawl disengagement technique tomorrow - thanks! I owe you a beer!