zippy SL

Been working on this thing for about a month and have gotten a great deal of help from member Mike. Most of the issues have been resolved but the newest issue is that when closing the roof the truck opens and that’s it. Pump is running but that’s it. Reservoir is full. Flaps are identified as open and roll bar is in the up position and will not go down. What am I missing

MikeJ65

If the trunk opens, you should have the roll bar lock pawls raised, pressure on the rod side of the roll bar cylinder, and the piston side of the roll bar cylinder open to the return (roll bar should lower). Possible problems: 1) roll bar cylinder has a bad piston seal and cannot build enough pressure to overcome the roll bar deployment spring. 2) roll bar cylinder is detached from the mechanism (emergency deployment) 3) lock pawls are not actually being raised. 4) pump not making adequate pressure on line 100. Line 100 does have its own pressure valve, so it could be an issue that would only affect line 100.

I'm assuming that it does nothing if you just try to lower the roll bar. I would start by holding the bar raise button. If it has become disconnected, commanding it to raise should reengage it. If that doesn't work, have someone hold the lowering button while you try to push the bar down. This should release the pawls so that the bar can be pushed down. If the bar is still locked, you have a problem with the pawls and need to remove the side panels and have a look.

zippy SL

Thank you. I will try that tonight. It popped up when I replaced the roof control module. So I put the old unit back in. The top however will not raise up from the trunk. Trunk lid opens. Pump runs but nothing happens

stephen_clarke

Odd I saw this thread as just yesterday the vario roof on my 04 started acting up.

Basically, the top will fully retract into the trunk and flaps fold out etc, just as it always has and should. When putting the roof back up, the trunk flips open, flaps back, roof goes all the way up but the trunk does not close. It stays open. When I reverse the process to put the top down again, everything just works fine. I guess I could consider myself lucky as it doesnt stop mid way :-)

Anyway, I have the Vario Roof Diagnostic Aid pdf doc, and will be trying the roof out again later tonight to pay more attention to the dash messages, and listening for the pump.

I'm fairly handy (just only finished with the ABC Strutts, Valves etc) but don't have xentry or DAS (I have WIS) so hard to look up codes if needed, so I am hoping I can get some support here with diagnosis. Once diagnosed, changing or swapping out parts shouldn't be a problem.

I'll read this thread and others looking for details, and can post up here what I discover tonight in hopes someone can assist with diagnosis

Thanks in advance

MikeJ65

Stephen, most likely one of your flap closed prox switches is not being made. That will leave the trunk open after the roof is closed, flaps will appear closed, but are not seen as closed by the RVC.

After your flaps close, push on each flap. They should be tight against the trunk and should not push in when you push on them. If one moves a bit and you hear a click, that is the prox switch being made. You might be able to adjust flap travel to get it working for awhile, but the problem is probably slip in the rack and pinion gearing that deploys the flaps. MB and aftermarket sources make a stronger cover plate for the rack which prevents deflection and slip. If you have the originals, you should replace them. It could be a bad switch, but the gearing causes way more issues than the switch.

stephen_clarke

Wow, thanks Mike. you are amazing.

I went to the garage and checked out the flaps in more detail. The left is a bit loose, but closer to being fully up against the trunk lid. The right was hanging down about 4 inches, but tight. I carefully pushed up on the flap, and it did 'snap/click' higher up to the deck lid, and after, the trunk did close fully. I tried the sequence again, same result. needed to snap the flap up again and all was good. Subsequently I tried 6 more times, and no issues, the flap snapped up to where it was supposed to be by itself.

So, I'm glad at least this is figured out, but if its starting to act up, I should look into getting the parts as you suggested. Is there a part number for those you might happen to have ? (or an image you can share)

Again, thanks so much for the support !

-Stephen

MikeJ65

Revised support plates are 2307500111. They list for $60 for the Mercedes kit (both sides and hardware). URO also makes a kit that you can get for about $35 shipped from Rock Auto.

White Spyder

same issue with my 03.

White Spyder

mine are tight against the trunk.

MikeJ65

In your case, is the sequence the same? Roof opens fine, but on close it stops with trunk up and flaps closed? If so, you could have a bad limit switch, bad ground, wiring issue, or RVC problem. If you don't have a scan tool, you can check flap switch status by checking pin 34 at the RVC main plug to ground. When the flaps are closed, pin 34 should be grounded. Each flap has a closed limit switch and they are connected in series. Both switches need to be closed, the ground good, and the switch to module wiring intact for this to happen.
'

zippy SL

I have the scan tool. Side flaps register when open and when closed. The left hand side was a bit loose so I did tighten it but it didn’t help any. This thing worked great until it decided not to. Pumps running good but it seems like it’s bypassed when it comes to lifting the top. Tubular switch clip was cracked so it would move around but that was also repaired and is now registering both open and closed

MikeJ65

Zippy,

Sorry, I have three different threads going here. Did you try what I recommend with the roll bar. If the roll bar down switch is not made, the roof will not start to raise.

zippy SL

10-4. I have not been able to just yet. Been spending a lot of time at work putting fires out. But I will today and report back with the results. ( not literal fires lol )

White Spyder

it is slow to open but did it all the way. When closing, it was slow and stopped when it came time for the trunk to close.

zippy SL

Trued to reset roll bar as per instructions, but was unable. Then I found the 7.5 amp fuse was blown. Kept replacing in and it would work for a bit and blow again. Then I realized that with the passenger side seat being all the way forward it would blow the damn fuse. Set seat back to its normal position and wahlah the roll bar and top started working again. Thanks for all your help