SL/R129: R129 Roof switch & Roll bar switch glowing - Roof not working
09-03-2015, 01:00 PM
#27
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1997 SL500
New Guy here...I see this is an old posting but I have a very similar problem to the original post. 1997 SL500 top not working at all. I recently purchased from a used car dealer who stated the top does not work automatically. He stated the previous owner who had traded the car in said the top has always worked great, but the dealer was unable to make it work for me. The soft top is in like new or recently replaced condition. The soft top was up on the car when I purchased it and the dealer showed me how to manually retract it so we could put the hard top on. I have left the hard top on, but would like to try to repair the automatic soft top.
All the warning lights are illuminated: one yellow light on the dash, one red switch on the radio panel area, and one red roof shaped switch near the shift lever.
I cannot find any evidence of any leaking and the reservoir shows full. There is one clip missing from one of the rear hydraulic cylinders and the line is loose.
I am hoping that the missing clip and loose line have caused the computers in the car to shut the automatic system down...but the good folks at Top Hydraulics are not inclined to believe it will be that simple and suggested I post the problem here so we all can learn.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions on where to begin.
All the warning lights are illuminated: one yellow light on the dash, one red switch on the radio panel area, and one red roof shaped switch near the shift lever.
I cannot find any evidence of any leaking and the reservoir shows full. There is one clip missing from one of the rear hydraulic cylinders and the line is loose.
I am hoping that the missing clip and loose line have caused the computers in the car to shut the automatic system down...but the good folks at Top Hydraulics are not inclined to believe it will be that simple and suggested I post the problem here so we all can learn.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions on where to begin.
09-07-2015, 07:20 PM
#28
SPONSOR
jlyon, welcome to the forum!
Something tells me that this will be a complicated case, but hopefully I'm wrong. If the solution was easy, then the dealer would have fixed it, one would think...
If the canvas was recently replaced, then we might be lucky enough that the shop who replaced the canvas damaged some wiring or bent the bow extension micro switch.
A hydraulic line clip missing will not shut down your hydraulic system - it will only make the hydraulic line come out of the cylinder and create a mess. The fact that one clip is missing means someone has messed with the system and given up.
First, try to find the missing clip or buy a new one: p/n A 129 805 02 44.
Next, check whether the windows are synchronized. They need to drop about 1/2" from the highest position when you open the doors. Your owner's manual tells you how to synchronize the windows after the battery was dead or disconnected. (Ignition on, engine off, run up both windows with the console switch, then hols the window buttons UP for a few more seconds.)
Is the roll bar up? If so, can you lower it?
Klaus
www.tophydraulicsinc.com
Something tells me that this will be a complicated case, but hopefully I'm wrong. If the solution was easy, then the dealer would have fixed it, one would think...
If the canvas was recently replaced, then we might be lucky enough that the shop who replaced the canvas damaged some wiring or bent the bow extension micro switch.
A hydraulic line clip missing will not shut down your hydraulic system - it will only make the hydraulic line come out of the cylinder and create a mess. The fact that one clip is missing means someone has messed with the system and given up.
First, try to find the missing clip or buy a new one: p/n A 129 805 02 44.
Next, check whether the windows are synchronized. They need to drop about 1/2" from the highest position when you open the doors. Your owner's manual tells you how to synchronize the windows after the battery was dead or disconnected. (Ignition on, engine off, run up both windows with the console switch, then hols the window buttons UP for a few more seconds.)
Is the roll bar up? If so, can you lower it?
Klaus
www.tophydraulicsinc.com
New Guy here...I see this is an old posting but I have a very similar problem to the original post. 1997 SL500 top not working at all. I recently purchased from a used car dealer who stated the top does not work automatically. He stated the previous owner who had traded the car in said the top has always worked great, but the dealer was unable to make it work for me. The soft top is in like new or recently replaced condition. The soft top was up on the car when I purchased it and the dealer showed me how to manually retract it so we could put the hard top on. I have left the hard top on, but would like to try to repair the automatic soft top.
All the warning lights are illuminated: one yellow light on the dash, one red switch on the radio panel area, and one red roof shaped switch near the shift lever.
I cannot find any evidence of any leaking and the reservoir shows full. There is one clip missing from one of the rear hydraulic cylinders and the line is loose.
I am hoping that the missing clip and loose line have caused the computers in the car to shut the automatic system down...but the good folks at Top Hydraulics are not inclined to believe it will be that simple and suggested I post the problem here so we all can learn.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions on where to begin.
All the warning lights are illuminated: one yellow light on the dash, one red switch on the radio panel area, and one red roof shaped switch near the shift lever.
I cannot find any evidence of any leaking and the reservoir shows full. There is one clip missing from one of the rear hydraulic cylinders and the line is loose.
I am hoping that the missing clip and loose line have caused the computers in the car to shut the automatic system down...but the good folks at Top Hydraulics are not inclined to believe it will be that simple and suggested I post the problem here so we all can learn.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions on where to begin.
09-07-2015, 10:34 PM
#29
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1997 SL500
Thanks Klaus
jlyon, welcome to the forum!
Something tells me that this will be a complicated case, but hopefully I'm wrong. If the solution was easy, then the dealer would have fixed it, one would think...
If the canvas was recently replaced, then we might be lucky enough that the shop who replaced the canvas damaged some wiring or bent the bow extension micro switch.
A hydraulic line clip missing will not shut down your hydraulic system - it will only make the hydraulic line come out of the cylinder and create a mess. The fact that one clip is missing means someone has messed with the system and given up.
First, try to find the missing clip or buy a new one: p/n A 129 805 02 44.
Next, check whether the windows are synchronized. They need to drop about 1/2" from the highest position when you open the doors. Your owner's manual tells you how to synchronize the windows after the battery was dead or disconnected. (Ignition on, engine off, run up both windows with the console switch, then hols the window buttons UP for a few more seconds.)
Is the roll bar up? If so, can you lower it?
Klaus
www.tophydraulicsinc.com
Something tells me that this will be a complicated case, but hopefully I'm wrong. If the solution was easy, then the dealer would have fixed it, one would think...
If the canvas was recently replaced, then we might be lucky enough that the shop who replaced the canvas damaged some wiring or bent the bow extension micro switch.
A hydraulic line clip missing will not shut down your hydraulic system - it will only make the hydraulic line come out of the cylinder and create a mess. The fact that one clip is missing means someone has messed with the system and given up.
First, try to find the missing clip or buy a new one: p/n A 129 805 02 44.
Next, check whether the windows are synchronized. They need to drop about 1/2" from the highest position when you open the doors. Your owner's manual tells you how to synchronize the windows after the battery was dead or disconnected. (Ignition on, engine off, run up both windows with the console switch, then hols the window buttons UP for a few more seconds.)
Is the roll bar up? If so, can you lower it?
Klaus
www.tophydraulicsinc.com
The roll bar is down, I have not tried to raise it. The windows do automatically lower about 1/2 inch when the door is opened and automatically raise when the door is closed. I will find or order a clip tomorrow and reply back when it is on.
09-12-2015, 07:54 PM
#31
SPONSOR
Your windows are synchronized already and the roll bar is down, that's a good start. If you cannot hear the pump after you push or pull the red soft top button, then let us know exactly which position the top is in. If the top is up, then please confirm that the rear window section (rear bow) is fully locked down.
Klaus
Klaus
09-12-2015, 08:29 PM
#32
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1997 SL500
Thanks for the reply.
We took the hard top off two days ago and manually raised the soft top. I locked the rear window section using the manual levers that also release the hard top by having one person press down on the soft top while I put downward pressure on the release lever until a distinct click was heard on each side. Same process for the front area using a 6mm allen wrench.
Pulled the neg cable from the battery and let it sit for 24 hours.
Replaced the neg cable and re-synched the windows....
Still have the yellow roll bar warning light, red roll bar switch lights and red soft top switch all illuminated.
However, new development is the chime now sounds when the car is put into drive and moved forward.
Thanks in advance for everyone's help.
We took the hard top off two days ago and manually raised the soft top. I locked the rear window section using the manual levers that also release the hard top by having one person press down on the soft top while I put downward pressure on the release lever until a distinct click was heard on each side. Same process for the front area using a 6mm allen wrench.
Pulled the neg cable from the battery and let it sit for 24 hours.
Replaced the neg cable and re-synched the windows....
Still have the yellow roll bar warning light, red roll bar switch lights and red soft top switch all illuminated.
However, new development is the chime now sounds when the car is put into drive and moved forward.
Thanks in advance for everyone's help.
09-12-2015, 08:50 PM
#33
SPONSOR
The chime indicates that the top is not fully locked. That could be one of the rear latches not fully latched or not connected to the wiring harness, or in most cases one of the front lock micro switches needing adjustment. First check if both rear locks 129 800 11 74 and 129 800 17 74 are connected to the wiring harness, then use the instructions in http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129...new-front.html for testing and adjusting the micro switches on the front locks p/n 129 800 07 74 and 129 800 08 74, to hopefully make the chime and the light on the red button go away. The chime could also be the result of a compromised micro switch on the left bow extension cylinder 129 800 17 72.
It's the roll bar lights that bother me more. "Catch-22": The top will not move if the roll bar is perceived to be up, and the roll bar cannot be moved down before the top is giving the fully latched signal. Look for disconnected wires at the roll bars.
If this all doesn't yield progress, then you should have codes read and erased. Get a print-out of the codes.
Klaus
It's the roll bar lights that bother me more. "Catch-22": The top will not move if the roll bar is perceived to be up, and the roll bar cannot be moved down before the top is giving the fully latched signal. Look for disconnected wires at the roll bars.
If this all doesn't yield progress, then you should have codes read and erased. Get a print-out of the codes.
Klaus
04-13-2020, 05:50 PM
#34
*Problem Resolved*
Took the car (with the new 2nd-hand roof ECU) to Cayman Auto Services in Dorking at the weekend - he read all the codes and re-sync the windows. Finally the roof now works! Just in time for the snow to arrive!
Just need to get the rear coil spring sorted & the front bearing re-greased, then i can fold away my cheque book for a while...
I would be more than happy to share my experience with anyone that has a similar issue. One thing i'm still not clear on however, is reading the codes. I followed all the instructions, but i was obviously not doing something correctly, as the indie was able to sorted it...
What would be very useful; is if someone could video how to read the codes and post it on YouTube.
Took the car (with the new 2nd-hand roof ECU) to Cayman Auto Services in Dorking at the weekend - he read all the codes and re-sync the windows. Finally the roof now works! Just in time for the snow to arrive!
Just need to get the rear coil spring sorted & the front bearing re-greased, then i can fold away my cheque book for a while...
I would be more than happy to share my experience with anyone that has a similar issue. One thing i'm still not clear on however, is reading the codes. I followed all the instructions, but i was obviously not doing something correctly, as the indie was able to sorted it...
What would be very useful; is if someone could video how to read the codes and post it on YouTube.
My advice is to replace these items in pairs, etc.
04-20-2020, 01:06 PM
#35
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300Sl-24
AGod,
you did the right thing on the technical side. First reading the codes yourself, determining that the code read implied a bad RST controller, and then having it sent in to be checked out. Chances are that the damage will not spread any further, meaning you will be able to move the windows until you come across a working replacement controller.
Most RST controllers/ECUs can be rebuilt, but you need to replace yours. Hope you'll get lucky on eBay or on some junkyard.
It is easy to swap controllers yourself. They are located under the right rear storage compartment. All you need is a 10-mm wrench:
- First disconnect the negative pole (only) on your battery
- remove the black cover in the right rear compartment (one 10-mm nut)
- remove 10-mm screw that ties the controller to the chassis
- disconnect the electrical connectors
- swap controllers
- reconnect electrical connectors
- make sure to bolt down the controller again; ground connection is important
- replace cover
- last, reconnect negative pole on the battery
(- on model years '95 and up, synchronize the windows as described in the owner's manual)
The following p/n controllers are interchangeable on model years '90-'94:
1298200097
1298202426
1298202526
All of the above controllers have three connectors, and the roll bar is governed by a separate controller.
The following p/n controllers are interchangeable on MY '95-'02:
1298203226
1298203126
1298203926
The three controllers above have two connectors, and the roll bar function is integrated.
Hope this helps, and good luck hunting,
-Klaus
klaus@tophydraulicsinc.com
you did the right thing on the technical side. First reading the codes yourself, determining that the code read implied a bad RST controller, and then having it sent in to be checked out. Chances are that the damage will not spread any further, meaning you will be able to move the windows until you come across a working replacement controller.
Most RST controllers/ECUs can be rebuilt, but you need to replace yours. Hope you'll get lucky on eBay or on some junkyard.
It is easy to swap controllers yourself. They are located under the right rear storage compartment. All you need is a 10-mm wrench:
- First disconnect the negative pole (only) on your battery
- remove the black cover in the right rear compartment (one 10-mm nut)
- remove 10-mm screw that ties the controller to the chassis
- disconnect the electrical connectors
- swap controllers
- reconnect electrical connectors
- make sure to bolt down the controller again; ground connection is important
- replace cover
- last, reconnect negative pole on the battery
(- on model years '95 and up, synchronize the windows as described in the owner's manual)
The following p/n controllers are interchangeable on model years '90-'94:
1298200097
1298202426
1298202526
All of the above controllers have three connectors, and the roll bar is governed by a separate controller.
The following p/n controllers are interchangeable on MY '95-'02:
1298203226
1298203126
1298203926
The three controllers above have two connectors, and the roll bar function is integrated.
Hope this helps, and good luck hunting,
-Klaus
klaus@tophydraulicsinc.com
