bill morrow

1997 SL600 67k miles recently developed the 15 year leaky top cylinder issue..

current state is i have two of the rear cylinders out and on the bench..
the improved nitrile replacement seals(etc) on the way, thanks to one of many ebay (in florida) vendors..
including 4 tools specific to this issue..

in the meantime, my problem is getting that pesky lock ring that holds the top of the cylinder in, OUT..

so i am asking for hints or techniques.. please..?

Plutoe

post your VIN

bill morrow

hello plutoe, why..? to what end..?
the cylinders are the cylinders.. p/n is the same from what i can see over the entire R129 series.. just asking..

not that a vin is so hard to get or find, just wander any parking lot and snap pix of VIN's..

all that said, WDBFA76FXVF145089..

meanwhile i have decided to let an online rebuilder do the job so i ordered a set of cylinders and will ship mine to them after i reinstall the rebuilt cylinders..
i figure the $55 fee per cylinder is a fair fee for getting the job done right no matter how simple the actual seal R&R is after that split ring is removed..

bill morrow

update:
all the top cylinders in my '97 SL600 have been replaced..

i did most of the work and bought rebuilt cylinders..
got the MBz oil online, topped up the pump reservoir and tried to operate the top..
i get some clunks but it does not operate..
the top bow tries to lock down to the tonneau..
any hints would be welcome..
otherwise i guess rechecking all the connections is going to occupy the next few days..

sneezix

The only thing I can think of is that some of the hoses got mixed up. You matched the numbers on the hoses with the numbers on the cylinders, right? Some of the numbers are, admittedly, a bit difficult to read.

Frank

ItalianJoe1

I replaced about 11 of the cyls on a 129 with rebuilt units from Tophydraulics, once the system pumped up it worked great. Make sure all your lines went back where they were supposed to, and that the pump is running. It sometimes has to run a bit to push fluid around in the system, it may take a couple tries in both directions and re-checking of the fluid levels to get it all working, assuming the lines are right.

bill morrow

i was pretty careful when pulling the hydraulic lines and returning them to the rebuilt cylinders..
i even put a red wire tie on the upper hose for the left side top bow cylinder.. the one with the microswitch.. because i had to swap the microswitch from the really leaky cylinder to the newly rebuilt cylinder..
the main cylinders were no problem since they use steel pipes..

no, i did not match the numbers.. the tonneau cylinders were obvious in which went where, the lock cylinders the same more or less..

is there a "scratching head" smilie here someplace..?

thank you gentlemen for the hints.. maybe i'll just recheck the hose placement where i can without pulling the cylinders..

sneezix

The only other thing I could think of that would go wrong would be that the microswitch is mounted backwards, but I wouldn't think that it would cause the problem that you're seeing.

Frank

bill morrow

hard to screw up the top bow cylinder microswitch.. it either works or not.. the connector WAS quite oily so i cleaned it with denatured alcohol..

i DID leave the bundle of ground wires in the trunk near the antenna and CD changer off so i reattached those to ground..

still does not work..

i manually lowered the top, closed the tonneau, put the roll bar up and tried to raise the top.. the windows and roll bar all went down but the tonneau failed to open.. there were some scary clunks so i reinspected everything and it all looks ok..

re. the hoses going back correctly, it would be hard to mess that up since most of them are pretty obvious as to where they go.. the only one that was not i marked with a wire tie..

sneezix

It can be put in backwards, but I don't think that would cause your problem.

Can you have someone else operate the top while you look for the clunk?

When you get it figured out, please report back. Although I've already had all of my cylinders rebuilt, so hopefully won't have to do it again, I'm interested to know what the issue is.

Frank

bill morrow

hello sneezix..
i WILL report back when i figure it out..

in the FWIW column, i don't think i have added enough oil to fill all the empty cylinders..
the reservoir was below the add line and i added to the full line before trying it and it has not dropped much, maybe a 1/4 inch if that..
so the system might be full of air..

ItalianJoe1

Yeah I have to cycle them a couple times to push the air out after repairs normally. Run the pump for 5-10 seconds at a time, don't just keep it spinning if the top won't work, but try it up/down, you might see it start to work once it gets some pressure in there. Still takes a couple complete cycles to get all the air out, then recheck the level and you're good to go.

bill morrow

HAH..
oooohh kay..!
the final solution: latch everything manually with the top UP.. then press the top button to lower the top and VIOLA! it WORKED.. some clunking and snapping but it put itself down and closed up and raised the windows and put the roll bar back up (if it started out with the roll bar up!)..

i cycled it a few times and watched the reservoir fluid level drop to just below the add line..
i guess most of the air is now out of the system.. and i'm going to start buttoning the trim and so forth back up..

does anyone know if new putty or glue should be used under the bose whoofer..? or is it ok to just plokn the whoofer back down on the old putty/glue and assume there won't be any vibration occurring..?

so, gentlemen, the key is to start from a known position with everything latched and locked..

[edit]
one further note guys..
i exercised the top again today AFTER adding more oil..
then i took a turkey baster and sucked all the oil out of the reservoir and dumped it into an empty water bottle..
as i sucked the oil from the bottom of the reservoir i noted that it picked up some sediment..
looking at the oil in the clear plastic bottle it appeared unclean.. not clear..
SO, my advice is if you do all your cylinders get rid of as much of that old oil as you can..
i got the mercedes branded oil for about $16 a liter/quart..
all the work i did "cost" that one liter..
to get the free shipping i bought 5 liters..

[trivial ramblings here]
so i have a lot of spare hydraulic oil which i can use, i suspect, in the SL55 and maybe in the S600 which i still think is only good for parting out but for a car that drives as great as it does i hate to do anything other than fix whatever causes its engine issue and either sell it for $3k or $4k.. way too nice a car to just rot away..

ItalianJoe1

Glad you got it sorted. I don't know for sure on the sub as I can't recall the last 129 I did, but if it's secure enough to not move sitting there, then leave it. If it has the chance to jump around and make noise, throw some new epoxy under it.

sneezix

Congrats! I didn't think about the positioning of the top. Was it in the up position when you took everythig apart?

I did not put in any new putty, and have not had a problem with it. I figure that there's enough already there to dampen it, and it's not going anywhere, after you bolt it down.

I disconnected the the return hose from the pump, and put it into an empty bottle, and excercised the top a few times, to get rid of the old fluid. Just keep an eye on the level in the pump.

bill morrow

the top was in all positions possible and one or two not possible..
well, not possible with out help and some trepidation..

putting the top bow cylinders partially back was easier from the driver side door opening than by leaning over the side of the car..

did not think to disconnect the return hose.. not sure how that would have affected getting the sediment off the bottom of the tank..

after exercising the top a few more times friday i see the oil is down some.. so total oil is now over a liter..

shop foreman from athens mercedes said that material under the woffer is for sound deadening and just put the thing back and bolt it in..

sneezix

I had to do mine, twice, as the seals were not correctly installed, the first time.

Well, no, I did it to flush the old fluid out of the lines.