Hi everybody here, i m so happy to be a owner of R129 for 6 months already.

Recently i found the "soft top switch" light up all the time, and keep blinking during running on the road. And some "bee.... bee" sound ( feel like warning signal) come out from passenger side .....
What's happen of that ??

also, when the open/close the top , some oil leaking out at the trunk .....

is it reason the "soft top switch" light up ?

Many Thanks ~~

 

sound and light are telling you something isn't right! ( the cycle is not complete.)
Oil will lead to more leaks ( it started on the windshield for me! MB's self oiling leather??? )
Klaus from Top Hydraulics can help.
If you are a DIY it can be a fun adventure. many of us have traveled the road of RST restoration.

 

Kelvin,

welcome to the forum! Where are you located, and which model year is your SL320?

SRHsl600 is correct: the beeping/chiming when you are driving means that the locking cycle of the top isn't complete. Since you have oil leaking from the trunk area, this means you have a leak in the hydraulic system. If the hydraulic fluid level is very low, then the pump may have been unable to finish the locking of the top due to lack of fluid. Almost certainly, the fluid leak comes from one or more hydraulic cylinders in your car. Unfortunately, the cylinder manufacturers use seals that are designed to last only some ten years.

The good news is, you can probably do all the labor yourself (saving big bucks), and rebuilt cylinders are a lot cheaper and better than brand new ones. Depending on the model year, you have eleven or twelve hydraulic cylinders moving and locking your convertible top. I will insert a location diagram below, and our website has DIY removal instructions for all cylinders: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/c...y-instructions.

You have a few tasks now:

1) Check the hydraulic fluid level in the pump reservoir. The pump is located in the trunk, under the spare tire. Let us know what you find.

2) Get the proper hydraulic fluid: either Mercedes fluid 0009899103 or FeBi 02615 or Pentosin CHF-11S. The most affordable choice is usually FeBi 02615, and you can order it online at http://www.rmeuropean.com/Part-Numbe..._D18BD03A.aspx. Get two quarts, since you will likely encounter multiple cylinder leaks.

3) Inspect all hydraulic cylinders for leaks. They leak on top, where the chromed shaft comes out of the cylinder housing. If a cylinder is only moist on top, that means the seal is already bad. If oil is puddling on top of the cylinder, then you have a major leak.
Eight of the twelve cylinders (or seven out of eleven for model years '97 and younger) are quite easy to examine: they can all be seen when the rear of the soft top is up and the storage cover is open. These eight cylinders are mounted upright, and that makes it easy to determine whether there is fluid accumulating on top. The DIY removal instructions below always describe in the beginning how to inspect the cylinders.

2x Tonneau Cover Locking Cylinders 1298002172: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...0Cylinders.pdf
2x Tonneau Cover Lift Cylinders 1298002072: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...0Cylinders.pdf
2x Rear Locking Cylinder 1298002172: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...%20Removal.pdf
2x Main Lift Cylinder 1298000272: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...%20Removal.pdf

The two Bow Extension Cylinders 1298001772 and 1248000272 are located inside the moving soft top frame, and they shift position as they move. That makes it a bit harder to determine whether they are leaking: http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...%20Removal.pdf

The two Front Lock Cylinders are usually the first ones to leak. Chances are, they have been replaced once already on your car. In hot climates, it might be time to replace them again already. http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/R129...%20Removal.pdf



In our experience, ALL cylinders with original seals need to be rebuilt/upgraded if you find any leaks in the rear. Do you know if any cylinders in your car have been replaced already, and which ones?

Klaus

www.tophydraulicsinc.com

 

Hi , Klaus & SRHsl600, Many thanks for your reply~
My R129 and i located at HONG KONG ( my car was imported from UK dealer), so she is Right Hand Drive and year 1995 model. Yes, i will check the fluide level (according Klaus's direction) and look for what exactly parts were lacking oil.
So ,may i ask, is it possible to DIY ? any special tools need ? The car still can run on the road under the beeping/chiming (daily use)?

Thanks ~

 

kelvin391972,

I'm glad you have joined this friendly forum all the way from Hong Kong. I understand that space for DIY work is quite limited in Hong Kong, and am amazed at how many of our customers in Hong Kong actually end up replacing all cylinders in their convertibles by themselves. That should answer your question whether DIY is possible.

The chime is a warning that something is not right. Without knowing how far your top has locked, I shouldn't say that you can drive the car without worries. However, it is generally assumed that the car is safe to drive if the front has been fully locked. It is easy to lock the front manually, if you have to. Your car should have a soft top tool with a 6-mm Allen wrench on one end. Use it or a 6-mm Allen wrench to fasten the front locks if you have to. The emergency closing procedure should be described in your owner's manual. Basically, you insert the Allen wrench through the hole in front of the sun visors and turn until the locks are fully latched. This should be clockwise on the left side (Hong Kong passenger side) and counter-clockwise on the right side. Locking the rear manually is a bit more tricky in model years '95 and younger - we can cover it in this thread if needed.

Let's check the fluid level first, and maybe add some fluid just so that you can perform the inspection of the cylinders more easily. This step only requires a 10-mm wrench or socket for the pump's cover. You will need a Phillips screwdriver plus a T25 or T30 Torx/star wrench for the removal of the windshield header cover if you want to inspect the front lock cylinders. If you find several cylinders oily in the rear, then you may just decide to deal with all of them at once.

All tools needed for cylinder removal and installation are listed at the beginning of each individual removal DIY - there are only basic tools involved.

Let's assume for a moment that all twelve cylinders in your car should be upgraded. Under normal circumstances, most of our customers take about a day to take out all cylinders and a day to put them back in, assuming that they first take the cylinders out, then send them in for rebuild/upgrade, and then re-install them. The car can be driven without the cylinders installed, but it's a bit of a hassle to re-install the locks without cylinders and get everything tidied up, just to take it apart again. You would save a lot of time and frustration if you had us send you a full set of cylinders already from our stock (the price is a bit higher, plus there is a refundable deposit involved) and you can then replace the cylinders in one fell swoop. This saves you a lot of time, as you don't have to be redundant, plus you will not have to remember exactly what things looked like before you sent parts off for rebuild.

Shipping from Top Hydraulics to Hong Kong via the fairly affordable USPS Express Mail/EMS takes about a week.

I hope this helps, and am looking forward to your update,

Klaus

www.tophydraulicsinc.com