Originally Posted by bobterry99

When you remove the c-clip (#4 in the diagram) you can simply pull the entire rod/piston/seal assembly out of the cylinder.

Klaus of TopHydraulics has warned forum members not to substitute an o-ring for the original seal in any of these top hydraulic cylinders. But a friend of mine has had success with an o-ring kit sold on eBay, and a local repair shop has been using the same o-rings on their customer's cars for several years. So when I purchased a '91 SL last summer with most cylinders leaking, I purchased an o-ring kit for under $20 and made the repairs myself.

Until recently I had operated the roof perhaps two dozen times since the repairs, and all was well. But in the course of testing a simple electronic circuit that duplicates the functionality of a "Smart Top" module I have operated the roof perhaps 75 times over the course of a few days. Now one of the repaired cylinders has a small leak.

If the front locks cylinder on my '03 car develops a leak I will try to locate the correct seal described in the link I posted earlier and do the repair myself. Otherwise I would surely use the services of TopHydraulics or CabrioletHydraulics.

Originally Posted by FxFormat

Even after pulling the whole piston out, the bigger end of it would be too big to fit the O-Ring over, or is that how you install the ring, stretch it over the piston itself?.

Originally Posted by bobterry99

I didn't understand what you meant by "connector" in your prior post. Now it's so obvious I don't see how I missed the reference.

I had considered that the o-ring might stretch over the connector. But on no account would the bushing (#5) do that, so yes, the connector (#2) must be removed. This post on the other thread describes how one member (a machinist) dealt with the connector ("clevis"). Like you, I don't see an easy way to remove and replace it.

So as I mentioned before, I don't see how posting the instructions that came with that o-ring from eBay would be a disservice to its seller, since no solution to this problem will prevent potential buyers from making a purchase. That said, I believe that o-ring is likely to develop a leak within a year or two, and the proper-sized metric replacement seal that should work is very difficult to locate. So for me removing the bracket is moot, since TopHydraulics or Cabriolet Hydraulics seems to be the way to go.

Originally Posted by FxFormat

... you have to trace it all the way to the pump and remove the entire unit to send out. Is that what we have to do?

Originally Posted by bobterry99

Yes, or you can cut the hydraulic lines at the cylinder and use couplers from Cabriolet Hydraulics to rejoin the lines when you install the repaired cylinder.

Originally Posted by bobterry99

I didn't understand what you meant by "connector" in your prior post. Now it's so obvious I don't see how I missed the reference.

I had considered that the o-ring might stretch over the connector. But on no account would the bushing (#5) do that, so yes, the connector (#2) must be removed. This post on the other thread describes how one member (a machinist) dealt with the connector ("clevis"). Like you, I don't see an easy way to remove and replace it.

So as I mentioned before, I don't see how posting the instructions that came with that o-ring from eBay would be a disservice to its seller, since no solution to this problem will prevent potential buyers from making a purchase. That said, I believe that o-ring is likely to develop a leak within a year or two, and the proper-sized metric replacement seal that should work is very difficult to locate. So for me removing the bracket is moot, since TopHydraulics or Cabriolet Hydraulics seems to be the way to go.