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There is only 1 front latch cylinder. You can remove the headliner and replace the failed o-ring. That is available on ebay with instructions for under $20.
Sending the cylinder in for rebuilding will run about $125, a new cylinder from MB is around $400. Probably 4 hours labor once you glue the headliner and other trims back together.
U-cup shaped rings are superior to o-rings for sealing cylinders. Complete sets are available. If you repair the front latch cylinder, you pressurize the other cylinders, and old o-rings are likely to fail. The hydraulic fluid deteriorates the o-rings. U can pull the pistons out of the front latch and pawl cylinders, and replace o-rings. The others have clevis pins or some such terminology, and you need to drill out the pins to remove the pistons. The lines are permanently attached to the cylinders. You can cut lines and install couplings or disconnect them at the hydraulic pump. U can remove trunk liners and interior liners to reveal cylinders and see hydraulic fluid leaks. Top Hydraulics can rebuild all the cylinders. They may have enough stock to sell rebuilt cylinders. See their website.
Hamman, I can see the liner trim with sinosuidal "ondulations" similar to the ones I had before I repaired the cylinder caused by the rubber reacting with the oil!
The posts before this one tells you the solutions very clear. Other posts show step by step on how to rebuilt.
Mine caused me an expense of $10. I slitted the liner trim and glued back to a neoprene strip! Works for me!
What should I expect to pay my independent shop to replace both sides?
I called them and am in shock!
$3,500
Sounds to me like that shop would rather not deal with convertible top issues. That's a crappy way for them to act, but not at all uncommon.
As mentioned here, there's quite a bit of DIY parts and guidance available if you're willing and able to give it a try. TopHydraulics.com and CabrioletHydraulics.com both have rebuilds available. There's seal kits available too - definitely cheaper, but IMO paying an extra $60 or so to have a professional do this job is well worth it. For that small amount it's not worth it to me to give it a try and have to deal with the inevitable learning curve, and possibly fail.
Otherwise, you might try searching for another shop that is known to work on convertible tops. Not necessarily a Mercedes specialist - the R230 top mechanism isn't all that different from most other power convertible tops, almost all of them use hydraulics. So you might look for a shop that specializes in vintage/collectable/customized cars - they might not handle convertible tops themselves, but they will likely know someone in the area that does.
The biggest complication in repairing the R230 front cylinder is the headliner - the clips that hold it in are glued to the headliner, and they often pop loose when the headliner is removed. Be careful not to lose any of them, as they're not available as a replacement part. I think some people have made replacements using 3D printing. Epoxy them back in place and you should be good to go.
Just did this job on my 04 sl600 last weekend. It was pretty easy with the kit you can get on Amazon. All you need is the O ring. Here's what I did:
opened the roof about 10 inches to expose the Torx screws securing the headliner
Removed the headliner
Closed the roof completely
Removed the three T30 bolts securing the hydraulic cylinder bracket
Removed the C-clips and pins in each end of the cylinder to free it from the bracket
clipped the zip ties holding the various lines up
brought the cylinder outside the car and it will hang by the lines along the outside of the door (drivers)
brought a stable chair outside and placed next to the door
clamped the cylinder to the top of the chair securely
drilled a small hole in the top of the cylinder to access the C clip
popped out the C clip
pulled out the piston
removed damaged U ring
installed o ring
cleaned headliner thoroughly to remove hydro oil
put all back together
works perfectly.
Took about one hour
Note that I did the repair with the roof fully closed and locked and it worked fine.
Mojave, you are correct on all the proper steps..........but......if you need to make it right, you would have to put a "U" cup seal instead of an "O" ring. Perhaps O rings may do the job for a while, but unfortunately, they are not designed as a dynamic seal. The U seals are commonly used on pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders for a good reason! For sure the O ring will slide over the small piston, but the U seal will not. The clevis would need removal to insert a new seal and reinsert which involves a little more time and skills. ! So, good luck with that O ring!
King, the other face of the coin is that some owners could afford third party repairs while other don't. So, if you are buying a $100K car for $20K or Less, for third party repairs it still is a $100K car which need expensive maintenance. Doing it yourself is the only way for the low budgeted owner to justify the ownership.
Thanks; that sounds plausible. But the job is easy and only takes an hour, so if it lasts a couple years I'm fine with doing it again. Costs are negligible. Also let's not forget that the U-ring failed in the first place, necessitating the whole routine. So they both fail, perhaps one lasts longer.
In my experience, the front lock is almost always the first to fail. The next three are typically the two frame locks and the rear trunk lift. These three are all very easy to replace, so I recommend sending in those four while you have the car down and are already shipping one in for rebuild. The others do fail, but not as frequently and are a bit harder to replace. If you don't feel like removing the front cylinder, I would do the o-ring fix, it's good for a few years. If you are going to the trouble to take it out, I would send in all four.
In my experience, the front lock is almost always the first to fail. The next three are typically the two frame locks and the rear trunk lift. These three are all very easy to replace, so I recommend sending in those four while you have the car down and are already shipping one in for rebuild. The others do fail, but not as frequently and are a bit harder to replace. If you don't feel like removing the front cylinder, I would do the o-ring fix, it's good for a few years. If you are going to the trouble to take it out, I would send in all four.
Perfect,Thanks!
Are there any quick inspection points (where to look for moisture/puddles) for leaks for the next three (two frame locks and the rear trunk lift)?
05-09-2023, 04:09 PM
