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My husband said his top wouldn't go up a week or so ago - yesterday I tried it and got it to go up but it seemed really slow and noisy. We tried this AM and it's stuck up and no sound - one of the things I was wondering is if there is a manual override - a crank or something.
Otherwise - If anyone has experience with this and know what the likely problem/cost is - also please chime in!
2000 c230 kompressor special edition, 2012 E550 coupe (sold), 2017 C63 sedan (sold), 2018 C63S Coupe
From experience with the almost identical system in the w209 CLK, if it was making a weird whining noise and struggling to move, more than likely one of the cylinders has sprung a bad leak, and you lost hydraulic pressure. One of the two main lift cylinders are likely culprits, could be the top lock cylinder as well, but you'd notice the fluid leaking from the front of the top if that was the case. tophydraulics.com is a great resource. I ended up replacing all 7 of the hydraulic cylinders, it was around $1k in parts and I did the work myself, it was a solid weekend project.
I've been poking around and discovered the fluid was WAY below low. We can certainly & easily add more official MB top fluid.
BUT - the top doesn't even seem to be trying to move right now - after going up for the last time yesterday.
Is there a sensor in there that won't let it function if the fluid is low? Adding fluid to the reservoir isn't going to magically , or otherwise, reset the system - or is it? I have a feeling if it has fluid (and no air in the line) it might start working again without any major repair. (even if there is a tiny leak somewhere). This would get us going - then we can deal with the source of the leak as it presents. OTOH is there is a big leak then the fluid refill is just going to be a waste of time. Leak detection is another matter - it might take a service tech to figure out.
One small update - I was able to refill the fluid and get the top working again with nothing else. It took well over 1 week just to get the parts to do it! Of note - the reservoir cap was completely loose so this might have been the source of the leak. We are still going to have all the cylinders inspected fr leaks though just in case.
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