Brian McL

She told me they didn't take PayPal !
But then I was on the phone with them at the time.
If you buy their re-manufacturing service listed on eBay then yes, they take PayPal.

gclass

I'm having similar problems on 1990-300SL, car was parked for few weeks with hardtop on. Car started no problems, windows went down no issues. When I pressed on button to go "down" unlock it would not do anything. Light keeps flashing on the up/down button for the roof. Roll bar doesn't move. removed the hard top manually and manually closed the softtop. Keep the battery connected to genius charger but keep dropping to 25% every time I open windows and try again... tried resetting the windows "windows down then 10sec hold, up 10sec hold" but doesnt help/ thx for help.

Victor.km.lam

hi Klaus,

I’m back after 5 years. (1997 SL280) Same issue happens again, window drop 1/2 way instead of 1/2” when door opens. The previous issue was resolved by replaced a new battery.

This time the issue still exist after a new battery replaced. The problem happens every 3 to 4 days after re-synchronized the window.

I wish you could give me some advice what should I do next.

best regards,
victor

Top Hydraulics

Hello Victor,

welcome back to this old thread! It is good to hear that your previous issue of needing to re-synchronize the windows every 3-4 days has been resolved. You had made quite a few posts in this thread with questions five years ago, but I do not see a response on how the problem was fixed back then. Getting reports of success is very helpful for everyone, as future readers will be more inclined to tackle problems themselves and it helps those who do their best to give advice.

I recall someone telling me over the phone a few years ago that replacing the battery helped their similar problem. Was that you?

On issues like this one, I can only try to share what I have learned from talking over the phone to thousands of R129 customers with top problems and I can try to guess where the root cause lies based on some knowledge of electronics. However, I do not have all the answers.

Since the new battery helped five years ago, it appears that your controller was sensitive to low voltage. The R129 controllers are known to be sensitive to low voltage and they are also known to start draining power from the battery once they are compromised. It's a vicious circle. Frankly, I'm surprised that your controller has hung in there this long.

Two questions:
1) Before the problem re-occurred, has your battery run particularly low at least once?
2) Have you had codes reset by Star Diagnostic?

Klaus

www.tophydraulics.com

Victor.km.lam

Hi Klaus,

Nice to hear from you again!

I believe it was me told you 5 years ago over a phone conversation that the window drop issue was resolved by replaced a new battery. Sorry I didn’t mentioned in the thread for future reader just because I still not sure it is a real resolution. I’ll certainly do that when a problem resolved in future.

Answer for your questions:
1) The replaced battery never shown any problem or low voltage. I still have the replaced battery at home. Tested with a battery tester today, the results are: CCA=660amp/730amp; Voltage Charge 12.6v & Internal Resistance is 4.54mohms.

2) I don’t have a Star Diagnostic but I can borrow a LAUNCH X431 Diagnostic. Will a X431 able to read the faults?

Correct me if I’m wrong, seem to me that the window position memory loss consistently in every 3 to 4 days. Do you know where these memory to be kept?

If unfortunately the issue was caused by the Window Controller, is the controller repairable?

Looking forward for your advices

Best regards,
Victor

Top Hydraulics

Hello Victor,

I do not know whether the Launch X431 can read and erase soft top faults. The memory of the window position is kept in the soft top controller p/n 1298203126 or 1298003926. The controller can be repaired. There are several companies out there who repair these controllers. The repair services seem to be getting better with time, as these companies gain more experience.

Klaus

Victor.km.lam

Thanks for prompt response. Do you think my issue is caused by the window controller? Regards, Victor

Victor.km.lam

Just ran a diagnostic today, please help to translate the attached

picture of the LAUNCH X431 report to layman term that I can understand.
Looks like I’ve at least two issues:
1) the reports 2 & 3 are related to the lock issue, tried to clear the faults without success. (The problem is roof switch light “ON” when the soft top is closed but the roof switch is “OFF” when the hard top is closed.
2) the reports 4 & 5 are related to Top/Window controller, tried to clear the faults without success. (The problem is the memory of window position loss after 3 to 4 days)
3) the report 6 is the internal bus communications

thanks for any advices and suggestions

regards,
victor

bobterry99

You can translate the codes and learn troubleshooting steps from the relevant diagnostic manual. But in the case of the roof controller there is a discrepancy between your Launch and the manual.

The page with the fault codes has two columns of codes: the left column of codes is for '94 - '95 cars read with a pulse counter, and the right column is for those two years read with Mercedes "Hand-Held Tester" (HHT) or all '96 and newer cars. Your Launch is giving codes and translations from the left column, but according to the manual it should be from the right column. Note that codes 103 and 128 do not exist for your car per the manual. The manual could be wrong...

I'd remove the roof controller's electrical connectors, inspect the connections, and make sure they are all good and clean.

Victor.km.lam

Bobterry99, many thanks will do some study and let you guys knows if I’ve any new progress. Victor

salmanzaman

Hello,

New to this thread but have been reading so many great things here! My issue might be a bit basic, but here it goes:

So I have a 97' SL320. A dumb friend of mine left the headlights on one day (by dumb friend I mean me), and this killed my battery. I didn't notice this until the morning after, so my battery could have been dead all night. I performed a jump start, something I learned later I should not do, and I was left with some issues that weren't there before:

1. The windows. However, after performing a resync we have no issues. WIndows operate completely fine now.
2. The radio. All good there too as I had the radio reset code readily available handwritten in my original owner's manual.
3. Rollbar light. Now I see some posts here talk about the roll bar light on or flashing in their dash panel. This is not the case for me. The rollbar light I have on is the one sort of under my radio. It has remained on ever since the jump start.
4. Soft Top Controller light. I think that maybe what its called. It's the big red switch thing that's right next to the shifter. This has also remained on since the jump start.
5. Strange grinding-ish noise when turning on the radio. Now the radio itself seems to work completely fine; operates & I have use of all functions. However, post-jumpstart, whenever I turn my radio on, I get this weird grinding-ish noise coming from the back of the car as the antenna is rising. It goes away right as the antenna is all the way up. And there is no issue with this sound when operating my radio. But when I turn my radio off, the sound continues whilst the radio antenna is on its way back down. It can be mechanical, but I wonder since it came with the other issues right after the jumpstart.

Neither the roll bar nor the Soft Top switch are operable in any way. I've tried several resync methods I've read around these forums, and nothing seems to budge. Also, this has been this way for maybe 4 months now.
Now, I have heard several times that I perhaps just need to reset the RST codes using an MBStar or equivalent diagnostic scanner. I am aware of some indy shops that carry these and they usually want around $80 - $100 or so, which I am fine with as it was totally my fault.
But my resistance comes when reading about some luck some people have had by just disconnecting the negative terminal of their battery for a little while. I have not tried this yet and am a little bit afraid to. Mostly b/c I am afraid I might screw somethings out of sync again.

SO my questions are:

1. Are there any alternative ways to clearing RST codes WITHOUT having to use an MBStar scanner?
2. Does disconnecting my battery overnight wipe codes, or is that just doing something else that happened to work for some people?
3. Also, does the fact that I've waited a little over 4 months to resolve this affect me in any way?
4. And finally, what could that sound coming from the back of the car when the antenna is rising up or going down be? Again, this only began after that jumpstart.

Sorry for this being so long & wordy. I wanted to maybe save some time by providing as much info as possible! Thanks in advance!!

- Sal

Philip Maag Sr.

Lol i am new to posting but I couldn't not post what I know i have had all the problems that everyone has had and I couldn't handle that beeping any longer so above the map lights there's a board and it controls a lot and a lot of very brittle parts that are expensive to find and get .but thats why you are doing this in the first place because you can't afford to have mb do it ,i know i can't. Ok so disconnect one wire at a time till the beeping stops be careful it'e all very tight and precise in there i broke a lot of it . ( hot glue to the rescue) now its been years since I had to do that on my 1990 sl500 ,I think its in the back left of center now i was sitting in the car so back is the windshield and i had the top down.i hope this helps. ps this is to disconnect the beeper.