iamsuperchris

Hello. I just bought a 1991 SL500, and the only reason I was able to afford it was because it had 170,000 miles on it. This leads to some small problems.

The trans is new, and it has 4500.00 worth in new engine components, and it runs great.

There are, however, some cosmetic and small electrical flaws...

First, my electric seats and mirror only work if the door is open... Anybody have any clue why this might be?

Second, my WINDSHIELD is leaking (I thought this was strange), because apparently the latches for the roof are hydraulic... I bought some "No Leak" power steering leak fixer, but I have no idea where to begin looking and how to access the reservior for the top latch hydraulic fluid. Anybody know where/how to access this?

Third, (another reason I got the car so cheap) the radio was stolen, and I'm trying to put in a new one. Anybody have the wiring diagram/color codes for the audio system?

Other than that (now that I've buffed out the oxidation on the trunk), the car is VERY NICE, since I'm 20 years old, not picky, and used to old American cars (I love em, but they sure run like crap sometimes).

Thanks for the help!

MB-Dude

Congratulations on your SL – you’ll love the car.

Seat function as you described is exactly like mine, so either it’s normal or both my SL’s have the same problem! The seats adjust with either the door open or the ignition activated.

Assuming the liquid is hydraulic fluid and not water; leaks from either of the two hydraulic latches in the top of the windshield frame are typical. The latches are very easy to replace and a search on this site should provide you the easy instructions. For the location of the hydraulic fluid reservoir, it’s under the spare tire. Remove the spare, then remove the large plastic covering in the base of the spare tire well. There should be (if memory serves) three plastic nuts that hold it in place. Once this large covering is removed, you will immediately see the hydraulic pump with its reservoir.

Regarding the radio, I cannot help with a wiring diagram. But if the radio connections are still in place, you can readily find replacement radio/head units.

Welcome to the R129 SL family!

iamsuperchris

Wow, perfect instructions. Even down to the three nuts! Thank you very much for your help! If I hadn't gotten it, I would not have gotten out tonight, since my roof wouldn't even latch (the leak got much worse ) until I filled up the reservior.

I filled up the reservior (It was half-inch below MIN) with NO LEAK, so hopefully that will help the problem. Thanks again!

TheV12pwr

How much did you pay for the car?

iamsuperchris

I paid $6500, and it came with the Hard Top (which I don't use) and a very nice sound system (too bad I don't listen to rap ).

The trans is new, and most of the engine components are new; the previous owner dumped $4500 into it in just components before he sold it. The only problems it has now are stupid cosmetic/little electical quirks.

In my opinion, $6500 (ebay) for an originally $80,000 + car is a great deal here in Southern California . The car was pretty well taken care of, just a little dirty until I got to it.

A couple hours of buffing, waxing, and scrubbing and the car looks awsome. I still have to clean up the engine a little bit, its kind of dusty .

ChrisB

4 1/2 years and I have noticed this problem ... but never realized there was a pattern.

I usually adjust from my wife's pre-set positions to my pre-set positions before I get in. Works fine with the door open & car off.

The few times over the years I climbed in with out adjusting ... I usually feel cramped and try to adjust before starting the car. And it doesn't work. Then it works when the car is started.

Thanks. I'll never have to wonder why again! Those german's thought of every thing ... they did not want kids locked in the car to hurt themselves with the seat controls!?

iamsuperchris

Ya, except unfortunately for me, the seats don't move when the car is on either, only if the doors are open. I guess there is something wrong with the control for it.

iamsuperchris

Hello. The engine in my SL500 is quite dirty, and I'm probably going to roll up my sleeves, grap a ton of towels, and clean it up this week. Question:

Does anybody know of anything I should keep the hose away from? My plan was to spray the engine with GUNK cleaner and hose it off with the pressure washer before I scrub it. That is what I have done with all of my other cars...

Is this a bad idea, or am I fine?

chicky

You can check out "Cleaning Engine" thread at the Deatiling & Automotive Care forum.

Goodluck

MB-Dude

I wash my engines regularly using a pressure sprayer and have never had a problem. However, I do turn down the pressure quite a bit - a lot more than a garden hose spray, but less than a DIY car wash sprayer. I've never used a chemical engine cleaner, so can't comment on that.

Cheers,
Jeff

iamsuperchris

Cool. I followed most of the instructions. After pulling of the air filter, I decided that all those engine components (and theres a lot more under the hood than i expected! Sensors, harnesses, and things I've never seen on a car engine) probably might not hold up to well to direct pressure spray. I just took bottle of engine degreaser and started scrubbing. Here are the before and after photos: O yes, and I had to order a new air intake hose and breather hose - See temporary ductape repair job in after photo!
BEFORE:


AFTER:

iamsuperchris

Hi guys. I've looked everywhere on this forum and cannot find instructions for parking brake adjustment anywhere for an SL500 (mine's a 91). I don't have an owner's manual, and I'm not going to take it to the Benz dealer and pay a million bucks for such a simple task.

I used to have a Camaro that would tighten the praking brake if I reversed the car with the brake on.

Is there some way to do this with the SL500?

My brake, fully engaged to the floor, won't even keep the car stopped in the driveway, and I don't wanna ram the cars weight into the parking mechanism in the transmission everytime I park the car.

TheV12pwr

Duct tape is the answer.....

iamsuperchris

O great. After complaining about my small electrical quirks, my entire roof won't go down The back opens up, but the roof doesn't move.

Not only that. The passenger window won't go down (I can hear a click near the passenger quarter panel when I push the button, but the window doesn't budge). Great.

I'm sure this is going to cost more than I can afford to get fixed. I'm probably going to have to sell my SL already (I'm sure as heck not going to keep it without the convertible aspect - thats why I bought it). What a bust.

BENZITCH

What was the last electrical part you touched?
These Sl's have 27 sensors to raise and lower your top.
1 is in the windows and it sounds like that might be the sensor.

Try cleaning bewtween your seats where the back meets the bottom. More sensors.

Can you mnanually lower the top or raise it?

What are you asking for the car?
Bruce
BENZITCH

Bigdot

i know a great machanic in Costa mesa, if u are tight with cash he is good.

Mark

jjay911

I agree Junior is the best. Spent 2 weeks diagnosing my problem and charged me 1 hour labor. Great guy..

iamsuperchris

Sounds like something I should look into. Wow, my post above sounds really negative, I guess thats what happens when expensive part after expensive part breaks one after another. Could you give me his number?

jjay911

Junior is at www.benzwerks.com

Number on website. JJ

MB-Dude

Don't be too disheartened. If memory serves, you didn't pay a King's ransom for your 'Mistress' and problems are bound to occur. If it's any consolation, I got my SL600 for a song and I've had to repair a number of things. Now I knew what I was getting myself into, but it was disappointing at times. All the issues are now fixed and my 'Mistress' is one fast Fräulein - and she's all mine.

Work through the problems one at a time. Make your SL the best it can be. Maybe everything doesn't get fixed today and you may have go without the ragtop for a little while. But with patience and perseverance you'll work through them. Remember: you own a Mercedes SL - most people only dream of this car. You are living it.

Cheers,
Jeff

bobterry99

Problems with the convertible top are usually very simple to diagnose and inexpensive to repair if you do it yourself.

When lowering the top it will not unlatch at the windshield until the controller receives a signal that both windows are completely lowered. Since your passenger window isn't lowering, that is why the top is disabled.

The click you hear is the relay for the window inside the top controller. The fuse for the window is very likely blown. Check the fuses in the fusebox located in the trunk.

iamsuperchris

Hello. Ya, I was pretty upset the other day... a combo of several things, including my *****'s breaking down on me... again. Seems like all my vehicles break at the same time...

Anyways, I checked the fuse box in the trunk, and indeed, one of my fuses is blow. I don't know which one it is however, because the lid is missing and I don't have an owners manual...

Anybody have a photo or copy of the fuse diagram for the trunk fuse box (1991 SL500)? I don't have the fuse lid or the owners manual.

iamsuperchris

Hello. I've been posting a new thread everytime I have a new problem. Thus, I've decided to just combine them all into one... Again, I appriciate everybody's help with these matters! Please forgive me for cluttering up the forum!

I love my car, clean it up, and cruise the streets of southern California for a week like the car is supposed to do... and then....

The car's wonderful Roadster Aspects took a dump on me:

As of now

:crybaby2: My cylinders pour... not leak, but pour hydraulic fluid on my when I try to put the roof down. Common problem, I'll have Dennis rebuilt them for me.

1 Fuse is blown in the trunk (the red 16 amp one, 2nd from top), and I don't have a fuse diagram, fuse box lid, or owners manual... anybody have one they can email me, or a photo of their fuse box lid they can photograph for me (surfguychris@***.net)... I would be EXTREMELY appriciative.

The passenger window stopped working. Possibly the motor, which I've removed, or maybe the fuse... But I don't know. I'm getting electrical current in my green and black wires, but the motor doesn't move.

:crybaby2: The roof will now not unlatch in the front. It just pours hydraulic fluid on my and makes stressful noises. Doesn't work with the window up OR DOWN. The back part of the car flips up, the driver window goes down, but the front latches just start making bad noise

The brakelight will die after several minutes of driving... it works fine when I pull the car out of the neighborhood, but several minutes later, my orange dash light goes on, and my brakelight dies... ??? I don't even have a guess here.

:surrender: The door locks will not move. When I push the lock button, it makes all sorts of noise, and my little red and green lights turn on, but the car doesn't lock... not even the trunk.

OTHER THAN THAT, I LOVE THE CAR HA HA HA! Seriously, for a week, when the car worked fine, it was awsome. Especially since I used to look at these cars as a kid and say, "That is an awsome car." Hey, I'm only 20, I WAS a kid when these came around!

amdeutsch

OK, all your issue threads have been combined into one per your request.

BTW

You got PM

MB-Dude

Here is the Fuse Card from the trunk of my '94 SL500. Should be damn close to what you need.

Are you sure it's a brake light... could be a turn signal bulb. If I understand the way it works, the vehicle detects when a bulb is not flowing current when it is supposed to. This means that if a bulb is loose in a marginal socket, the car may detect a fault (turn on the orange warning indicator) and then see it corrected if the bulb makes contact again.

I had this happen in my '94 SL500 on two separate occasions with a melted headlight socket and a poorly-contacted bulb in the taillight. My recommendation is to systematically remove all the bulbs, inspect them (some are bound to need replacement as the glass starts to turn dark), check the sockets, and reinsert the bulbs. A pain in the butt, for sure. However, it should solve this issue.

Alternatively, you can wait for the problem to reoccur and systematically test to see which is failing; i.e.: step on brakes - look for both brake lights; turn on headlights - check all lights; etc.

Cheers,
Jeff