David Healey

my 500sl has starter leaking hydraulic fluid from the rocker panel under the passenger side door. Where do i start looking? it isn't leaking into the trunk. Suggestions?

R129nut

It is more than likely the lock near the passenger sun visor and running down the A pillar.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129...-top-hard.html

Does the top function properly?

yossiav

rich8566

I was going to do this repair myself but instead I hired Victor from restoreyourmercedes.com to do the work. Victor does phenomenal work and he is a real detail car guy. He cut 4 video clips of my 2000 SL500 soft too hydraulics repair. He gets cars in from all over the county. Here are some links to the clips of my roof repair:

2000 SL500 soft top repaired and other misc. 4 parts

Part 1

Part 2


Part 3


Final part 3

92-500SL

watch youtube videos - my 1992 drivers side hydraulic convertible top cylinders started leaking too tons of fluid in front of rear wheel - the seal have deteriorated oafter all these years - there is a rubber boot / funnel system that collects the fluid and drains it down a rubber hose and out onto the floor or ground so it doesnt flood the interior cabin with hydraulic fluid - i bought kits to rebuild cylinders , and its a heck of a job to remove them- I've done it 2x now because after rebuilding 3 of them they still leak - some rebuild kits are off by 1mm because benz used 2 different hydraulic cylinders on many models which are interchangeable but use different sized seals for the 2 different ones -- so I just sent them out to Oregon to TOPHYDRAULICSINC.com to be rebuilt for $55 each .. still waiting for them to come back -- but the hard part is getting them in and out of the car -- there is hardly any room to work to get them in and out and it will take 2 sets of hands.. and plenty of bright LED light shining down into the body wall interior ...also TOPHYDRAULIC has a page to try and help explain the removal process-- that along with youtube videos and some cussing will get them out- it's about 2 hours of tedious trial and error to take each one out the 1st time - the 2nd time i got all 3 out in under 2 hours -- note the cylinders are put together using locktight and requires concentrated heat from a fine pt. mini torch to heat the parts up until the locktight smokes - dont sit in one spot with the torch but move it around -- also make sure that the shiny polished shaft piston is all the way into the cylinder when heating .. to grab the shaft rap in 1/8" rubber or leather before clamping into a vice to remove the connector from the shaft - if you plan on rebuilding yourself - if you scratch the shaft you are done for - and the rebuilders wont rebuild them for you either.. my suggestion is remove them and send to TopHydraulic in Oregon to have them rebuilt --
https://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/7-mercedes-benz https://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/19-r129-sl-97-02 good luck.

Just Found the following link from top hydraulics on MB World wish I had this info last week !!

92-500SL

[QUOTE=R129nut;7458821]It is more than likely the lock near the passenger sun visor and running down the A pillar.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129...-top-hard.html

if the oil is coming out in front of the rear wheel its more than likely the smaller and more deeply buried BOW CYLINDER just behind the door pillar in the middle of the body where the door latches and all of the metal arms to the top are -- the bow cylinder will leak and the oil will fall down onto the MAIN CYLINDER and make you think that is the one that is leaking - so I rebuilt that one first only to find out it was good, that it was the BOW Cylinder that was leaking, also the rear Tonneau cover lift cylinder on the my 500SL was leaking so I took all 3 out and sent to TOPHYDRAULICSINC.com to be rebuilt use a very bright led light and look for oil at the top of the cylinders where the shaft goes in and out, if there is oil they are leaking if there is a lot of oil the seals have completely deteriorated and they are leaking profusely and need to have the seal and O-rings replaced - kits are available - but my experience has been sometimes the kit is off and either the O-ring or the seal is the wrong size - because MB uses a few different but relatively similar and close in size hydraulic cylinders that internally the seals and Orings are bigger or small by 1mm, in which case the cylinder will still leak oil if the wrong kit is used and there is no guarantee that the rebuild kits are the exact correct one .. much quicker to have pros rebuild them who have all the correct seals and o-rings available to them .. good luck , hope this helps