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Well my forum friends, thanks to your wise advice and posts, my ABC problems now are part of the past..... replaced the hydraulic shocks for coil overs, recirculated the tandem pump and removed the fuses. Car is perfectly level now! I have one remaining issue, the Vario roof does not open. I have the troubleshooting guides and will be cracking my head to find the culprit. My scanner shows no fault codes for the roof..! So, something is hidden somewhere! Any good hints will be appreciated to facilitate my search for that hidden link...! The previous owner told me it was working fine till one day it quit..>! My new puzzle!
Is your roof doing anything? Do you hear the pump kick on? Does the roll bar move? Do all four windows work? Do any of the PSE/locking functions work (door locks, trunk soft close, central locking, lumbar)?
Mike, thanks for your response..! yes I do hear the pump kick on, the roll bar moves, windows work ok, yes the locking functions work.! No codes whatsoever..! I checked the sequence and looks like I could hear the windshield latches work, then that is all. This is like a sherlock holmes auto project... !
What are you using for a scanner? Will it show the positions of the limit switches? If not, you really need to upgrade, the roof is not easy to fix blind. Do the rear windows go all the way down when you try to open to roof?
One of the first things that happens when you start to open the roof is that the load assist cylinders will pressurize and this should make the load assist up switch (375) show as recognized and load assist down (376) as not recognized. Until the load assist up is recognized, not much else will happen. It is possible that you have a bypass issue in the latch or frame lock cylinders, but usually the trunk will at least come up a bit at the front corners if that is the issue.
Mike, you are right, trying to fix these issues blindly..is not an easy task.. I have one of these MBII softauto scanners. When I try to obtain codes for the Vario roof shows no fault codes...!
I can hear the noise of the roll bar moving up or down, but think that this is an electrical motor actuation. Perhaps need to check if the pump builds up pressure!
According to the trobleshooting guide, the pump must build up pressure and energize the roof lock cylinder as well as the left and right frame lock cylinder, but I do not think this is happening..!
Is there a way to check pump pressure???
Perhaps I need to check the Pump relay for functionality..!
If the roll bar is moving, you have at least decent pressure. Lowering the bar compresses a very stiff spring that is used for emergency deployment, so it takes some force to lower. You should hear the same pump running when you try to lower the roof as you do when the roll bar is moving. There are a number of things that will prevent opening, some will throw codes but many will not. The troubleshooting guide is worthwhile, but leaves out some important steps.
If the roll bar is working, but the pump motor doesn't kick on when you try to open the roof, I would start by looking at all of the limit switch positions including the roll bar. MBII can do that. If you share them on here, I will let you know if there are any issues.
Also, make sure that you are not getting any roof or trunk related messages on the dash. You can also check to make sure that you can communicate with the upper control panel and the PSE pump. These are both necessary to read switch positions. Since windows and roll bar are working, I'm assuming that communication with the roof module and both door modules is OK. Make sure that the pump has adequate fluid and that the red led on the trunk release button (driver's door) is not on.
Thank you very much for your wise advice Mike..!
This vehicle was on hands of a person who didn't care too much about it and left it to run down..! Now it is up to me to uncover all the gremlins in it...!
Yesterday I discovered a leak on the windshield locking cylinder. So, I will have to work on that and then re-address the few issues that are preventing the roof to retract.
I am pretty sure that with your knowledge and my determination, at one point in time that roof will be working again!
You have a wonderful Christmas!
Imack
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