Vegasheat

Greetings! First, Thank you for all the help through the years. My 1st post:

I have 2002 CL500 w/ power trunk lift and close. While under warranty have had trunk 'normalized' (adjusted), for not open/closing correctly, several times throughout the years. Every time i'd check into a hotel, the valets would not wait for the power close and slam it...throwing it out of adjustment. Now out of warranty, dealer says "shock and pump are bad...$1500+.

Rather than pay (~$900+ pump, ~$150+ ea shock + labor), i converted it back to springs for under $100.

Now works beautifully with remote unlock and no error mssgs.

1st: Purchased used springs from ebay for $85. I used EuroChopShop (http://stores.ebay.com/Euro-Chop-Sho...id=p4340.l2563).

CL500 Trunk pump.jpg




Below: There are 3 wires the come from the pump which is directly under the battery. Disconnect the only one that has a plastic coupling as shown-

CL500 disconnect.jpg




Below: There is a plastic cover on both sides. Wiggle out, pulling forward (takes some force). You will leave these out when the new springs are installed. I think they are cosmetic covers for the pneumatic shocks as the new springs will need this room to move up and down.

CL500 plastic.jpg


Below: There are 5 bolts. I removed 4, leaving the top adjustment bolt loose.


CL500 Trunk Bolts.jpg



Below: Once the 4 bottom bolts are off you can move yourself to one side and lift the trunk off of the remaining bolt and rest it gently on the rubber trunk seal.

CL500 trunk resting.jpg

Below: When you remove the passenger bracket and shock, there is a gear that must be wiggled out. The drivers side does not have this and is simply removed via the bolts.


CL500 Bracketgear.jpg


Reverse the procedure to install the springs. You may have to adjust the bolts to have a perfect closure. I had to adjust very slightly to have my seam lines uniform.

Now my trunk springs open about 50% when i use the switch from inside the drivers door like a regular trunk. Once i get out i simply push it the remaining way open, once again, like a normal trunk.

To close, i gently push down to latch. The auto pull down grabs it and closes it securely.

For me this works and saves me from valets constantly pushing the old auto close down and screwing it up...not to mention $1500.

Thanks and i hope my 1st post is acceptable!!

Good driving!

biker349

what car was that spring out of?
thanks, very interesting!

1995E320Cab

Great post thanks for sharing !!

Vegasheat

Don't know what year or even model it came from. When I purchased them from Ebay the description said:
TRUNK HINGES SPRINGS Mercedes W215 CL500 CL55 CL600 CL65 2000 01 02 03 04 05 0

Fits: 00-06 CL500, CL55, CL600, CL65, Part Number 2157500387 . 2157500487.

Here's the actual link*:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130630686738...84.m1497.l2649

*This is from Feb 2012. Ebay will delete this link in a couple months if it didn't work for you.

Thxs for the question!

saintz

Thanks for posting this up. I have repaired a leaking ram/shock with epoxy and refilled the pump (twice). This part is really a terrible design. This seems like a good solution for anyone that wants to permanently fix it.

tarimaa

I can't find the part any where. The seller on ebay doesn't have anymore, so any ideas on where I can locate the hinges to convert?

mf219

check the pump before you go through all that- it's prob low on fluid

mwhiteknight

do we need to remove battery before we can refill the fluid ?

awiner

Yes,the pump sits under the battery in a compartment of its own.

My pump DID NOT have a port to open and refill from (as some pumps I have seen in the past have), so I had to actually remove the entire plastic reservoir body to refill.

Use hydraulic fluid to refill.

Seems as these units get older, they develop slow leaks in the system probably around the o-rings which are present in the ram assembly as well.

mwhiteknight

if we dis connect the battery from the car, will all the radio, electronic stuff reset and need a dealer visit to reset ?

awiner

You may lose some memory options that will need to be reset such as windows, sunroof, etc.

The radio usually holds station memory for a good period of time without power.

No trip to the dealer is necessary.

When you hook the battery back up and start the car make sure to turn your steering wheel lock to lock a few times to reset the steering angle sensor.

A good guide to re-synchronizing items can be found here: http://www.mbca.org/forum/handy-rese...y-other-models

mwhiteknight

that is good, Thanks

OMG-its-AMG

would power steering fluid work or does it have to be hydraulic fluid?
Also, how big of a job was it to remove and refill the fluid reservoir? Did you also replace the shocks? My trunk lid makes a grinding noise and it's lazy when opening and it comes down a little too fast on the way down. So I'm thinking it's low on fluid and the shocks are also week causing it to go down quickly.

Thanks

OCKlasse

Mine used to grind and replacing the shocks fixed it.

awiner

Use hydraulic fluid. In a pinch you can also use Pentosin (same as the fluid in the ABC unit).

Its simple to do but you need to remove the battery to access the pump which sits in a compartment under the battery.

The shocks are OK if your trunk stays up and open longer than a few minutes. When they shocks start to fail, your trunk will close within a few minutes of being up as there is not enough resistance to hold the trunk up any longer.

idrummer

I am having trouble finding these trunk hinge parts for my 2002 CL500 anybody have a clue were to purchase them? Much appreciate it.

tusabes

You have to find them from a wrecking yard from an early Cl that did not have the power trunk lift/close option

Not all of them had the power trunk lid , some had regular springs

ItalianJoe1

S class parts are also the same I believe, might be easier to find.

Top Hydraulics INC rebuilds the pump and ram for much cheaper than a new MB unit, I plan to send them my leaky stuff and get it repaired, the power trunk it too cool of an option to delete for a couple hundred bucks, IMO.


http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/
I've used them before to rebuild SL convertible top rams, good guys.