wifes-sl500

The locks on my 2003 SL500 with 46k miles stopped working one day, so surfing through the site, I found the location of the fuse to run the vacuum pump and it turns out it was blown. Replaced it and all was fine, about a week later the same scenario but the fuse was not blown, So I checked the Vacuum pump, well, to my surprise, I also have the truck leak which took the pump scuba diving. I removed it and dried everything out in the trunk, opened the vacuum pump that was still dripping water and dried that out. To my amazement, it came back from drowning and worked fine OK now a couple of days later, I got nothing again. Fuse is in tact, the trunk is dry as a bone, before replacing the pump, is there another direction to go. The battery is at 12V in the nose, not sure if it should be at 13+ volts like a typical car battery and if that would even be an issue. I'm gonna pull the pump tomorrow if its not raining/snowing

Thanks in advance

moretech

DRY DRY DRY, pull it and use a good hair drier to dry it every which way you can. The can motor may have moisture in it still. Put some real time on this deal and see if it can come back up to life. Check the electrical plug in connector. Dry it too. Check for any water still down there, carpet etc; dry dry dry. This is the only simple thing at no cost that may work. If it works get that weather seal replaced ASAP. keep us advised Good luck!

moretech

wifes-sl500

I did dry it using a hair drier and it was sitting in my house for 2 days, I will definitely pull it again to check.

wifes-sl500

follow up, pump runs off 12V when applied to the motor directly, 12V present on connector that plugs into the pump. Is there another fuse besides the one that supplies the pump, maybe a key fob controller? or am I spending some money?

moretech

check the fob battery.! Not sure if car antenna connection is involved in the operation or not. Need someone else in the forum to respond to this one if fob is ok.

moretech

Rudeney

It's easy enough to test the key gob - press the panic button. If that works, then it's not the fob or reception of the RF signals.

ptoliver

Just went through that with my 2003 SL500. Could not find anyone to work on the vacuum pump motor, so had to have the pump replaced. Big bucks!! There is a good Youtube video on this procedure and the causes, Also on MBMedic.com. Once the motor gets wet it is usually history. A replacement pump kit on Ebay is about $100. Good way to bring your truck seal back to life is rub down with Vaseline.

Low voltage (amps) can cause issues also if your car has been stored for a while. Mechanic at Mercedes told me these cars don't store well.