MB05Woody

On my 2005SL, the front vario roof lock hydraulic cylinder over the main roof is leaking and needs replacement. Is it OK to replace only this single hydraulic cylinder or is it suggested to replace all of the cylinders that control roof operation.

MikeJ65

The latch cylinder is fairly easy to repair, there is a good tutorial on this site. Otherwise, you can just replace the latch cylinder. It is typically the first to fail, so you might have several years left on the others.

joeycessna

Happy NY to you and all.

Regarding leaking roof hydraulic cylinders, I dissected a "guinea pig" cylinder I got from ebay and discovered how it was originally assembled, It certainly wasn't designed to be taken apart! Anyway this knowledge allowed me to remanufacture my own cylinders (5 off). I made new hard chromed piston rods (OEM ones were badly corrosion pitted), and fitted all new Vitol seals (much better material than the OEMs). I hydraulically pressure tested them to 200bar and no leaks. Anyway I hope I'm not treading on the moderators toes by saying if anyone needs their cylinders remanufacturing, give me a shout.

kind regards . joe

Thrasher5621

You can fix this cylinder pretty easy.... if leaking around the seal is the only issue. I have done several.
Total cost.... about 22 cents and an 1-2 hours of time.
Send me a PM and I can share how to do it.
Mark

Fountain35

Good video on YT about this.

Ohmann

Last year my front cylinder leaked and caused the felt above the passenger window to furrow like waves at the beach
when I had the repair done the tech said he would just cut it off
Ohhh I can’t do that
Has anyone had this problem after a leak and what did you do to repair molding?
The fellow at Cabriolet hydraulics in Florida fixed 6 of the 10 cylinders as his experience is when one is repaired the other 5 start to fail..
Its like owning two cars One with top up
One with top down
thanks

Thrasher5621

My upholstery guy has told me about an oil extracting gel. I an about to try it on my SLK 230 headliner that suffered a substantial oil leak under the last owner rein.
Not sure how well it works..... but, this guy does exceptional work and has yet to lead me astray. I am not saying it works.... but, I am gonna try it.
Here is a link to the webstite: https://www.advleather.com/productcatalog.pdf
You are looking for "Oil Extractor"
As a side note... if you rubber molding is all deformed from the oil, not much hope for that. I am trying to pull the oil out of the cellulose headliner under the fabric.
Best Regards
Mark

chad500sl

I was lucky and caught my leak immediately. Simply spraying it repeatedly with windex on the back was able to remove all hydraulic fluid from the head liner. Soaking the oil out of the rubber window cover was more problematic, but it mostly reformed its shape. It only has one loose bump spot on it. I pulled all 11 cylinders out, sent them to top hydraulics, and replaced them. Hopefully I'll be good for a while...

kbob999

Actually, this works really well.
I did this on my car as an interim fix, and it looked so good, and was practically invisible, that I never bothered to go any further with replacement.

You are trimming maybe 3/4" to get the rubber trim to lay down. It still works as intended.
Just make sure you cut straight with NEW SHARP razor knife and you will never know it was wavy before and trimmed to remove the waves.

If you don't like it, go buy new parts and install them...no harm, no foul.

imtheking

Replaced mine a few months ago- $980 parts and labor at the indy

Apparently, the tough part is removing/running the hydraulic lines all the way back to the pump in the trunk

Gene Fiorot

I read here that there is a product that can be attached to the existing hydraulic line. Making its replacement unnecessary.

chad500sl

When replacing all my cylinders I found it quite difficult to remove the top latch lines. They run serpentine by the roof hinge and are held in by some sort of hidden clip. All other lines are much easier, but you do need to remove the trunk carpets and the "back seat" area. Re-install is much easier. The roll bar cylinder is also difficult to get out. You need a good torx set otherwise you'll strip the bolts and be in real trouble. T handles and some sockets from harbor freight work great.

When replacing the main trunk lift, I immediately had one of the roof lifts fail. That's why I did all of them at once. Don't be in a hurry.

BobCT

I have the newest/last R230 at 2012. Have any of you guys had top cylinder failures on models that new? Most of the failures seem to be on older ones but I’m not sure if that’s simply age and/or they made some changes on the later ones that make them less likely to fail.

As I posted above, I’m concerned about interior damage more so than the top failing.

thanks
Bob