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I have a ’97 SL500 which I recently removed the winter fiberglass top. We had difficulties getting it to fully release, but it finally came off. Haven’t had a need to raise the top until now. Yesterday I tried to raise the top, but had no luck. Looking at the holes I found that the right rear latch is still engaged. I pulled the trim from the trunk and have been unable to figure out how to manually release the lock. The tonneau cover is locked down on the right side as well, so the only access I have is through the trunk. What do I have to do to reset the system?
Your car won't have those red tabs but will have the metal bar with the 10mm tab on the end. Use the top tool and push the shaft UPWARDS to release the rear latch (hopefully). I have the same issue of the car not releasing the rear corner latch, but I think my system probably needs a rebuild. As far as resetting your top, reset your windows and see if that takes care of it.
The top tool went away when my tool bag was stolen during an overnight stay at a local repair shop. I took a 10 mm wrench to move the tab and nothing happens. Should I be moving it like a pumping action?
If the pictures is correct and I am looking at the bottom of the latch where the pin is pointing down, pulling it up should release the latch. You should feel some of the mechanism moving. IF all you are feeling is a spring action and nothing else, it is probably already unlatched. On my car we had to get two people pulling on the bottom bow to get it to release. It's apparent on my car it hasn't been lubricated recently, if ever. I had the same problem getting the tonneau cover to latch, lack of lubrication.
Thanks, I'll give that a try. I was thinking this morning that I should probably operate the top more often. As I generally park in a garage the top was down almost 6 months last year. Then another 6 months with the fiberglass top. Is there an alternate way to get the tonneau unlatched without the M-B tool? The left side is free but the right side is locked down tight.
The tool is available all over Ebay for about $20 and they are MB OEM.
As far as getting the tonneau open, you need either the tool or a long reach 10mm end wrench.
I was unable to get the lock to release so I took it to a local foreign car mechanic. It took 2 of them to get the latch to release. The top went up but then the latch seized and would not go down. They checked the hydraulic fluid and found that it was pretty gummy. They replaced the fluid and now the top works fine. I guess the hydraulic fluid is only good for 20 years. I am new to this forum so do not know if there is a hints or suggestions section to post the suggestion for older SL class to change the top fluid along with the brake fluid. Thanks for the advice that I received on this posting.
05-29-2019, 10:04 PM
