Roof Stuck, out of hydraulic fluid?
 

Hi guys,

First and foremost thanks for all the great advice on here. This forum has saved me thousands in repairs.

After reading the forums, I have diagnosed my car to have several of the hydraulic seals to be broken. I have the usual hydraulic oil drip from the interior panels that leak onto the passenger and drivers seats and also some leaking above my right tire on the exterior. I am certain that the car is finally out of hydraulic fluid since the exterior was losing pools of fluid on each use of the roof.

My question is, is there a way to get the roof down so that I can attempt to repair the seals? Right now it is stuck along w/the roll bar and I have no way to work on the seals w/the roof up and locked. Would it possible to buy more hydraulic fluid, fill up the tank and then get the roof to go down? I know this a waste of fluid as the seals will continue to leak but I don't what else I can do.

Any advice?

like you suggested, I would just get some more hydraulic fluid for the top, put some in the reservoir for the pump and work it until the top is down and you can get those new actuators in there.

Check under the spare tire for the pump

can the fluid be filled easily? i think mine is low too and would love to be able to top it off.

Buy a bottle from the dealer (1L), take out your spare tire, and fill it up. It's like pouring milk to a glass. One bottle can be used for years with the cylinders leaking.

Refilling the vario top hydraulic fluid resevoir
 

It is a little more involved that pouring milk into a glass; however with a simple cooking syringe (ex: turkey basting syringe found in the package for frying turkey...), it can be filled through the front port with almost no spillage utilizing the aforementioned syringe, if you take your time and are careful of the pressure buildup from the refill process.

4 year old thread and also discussion was on the R129 not R230:)

cdarco, welcome to the forum! It is great that you managed to refill your own R230 pump, which is a bit more involved than on an R129. Indeed, your comment really belonged into the R230 forum.

Maybe this will make R129 owners appreciate their cars a bit more, though. ;) The whole R230 Vario roof system is more complicated. I'm not saying it's bad by any means, but it is more work to remove the cylinders (which will all fail with time), and the pump and roll bar cylinders are going to need a rebuild at some point. Of course, Top Hydraulics can make all of those parts better than brand new ones - it's just a bit more involved. All cylinders have the hydraulic hoses attached as an integral part of the cylinder, and the valve block is part of the pump.


http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/diag...230diagram.jpg
http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/diag...129diagram.jpg

Klaus

www.tophydraulicsinc.com

Help
 

You should be able to open the trunk regardless of the position of the top.