SL/R230: Visit Workshop/Top won't drop
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2003 SL500
Visit Workshop/Top won't drop
Good evening All. So I have a 03 SL500 with extremely low miles on it. Battery went dead over the winter in storage. I put the tender on the rear battery, guess I should have used two tenders... Anyway, I charged it up but the battery doesn't sound real strong now when I start the car though. I went to open the top(while the car was running of course) and it tells me to visit workshop so I can't open the top and the right side mirror has a mind of its own. Couple of questions for you MB veterans out there... What is the chance it just needs a new battery? Or is there possibly more? Second question is there a special method in removing the front battery out of the car? As I sending power in thru the OBD2 port the neutralize the electrical system. Thanks in advance y'all
Jim
Jim
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95 SL600
Put two new batteries in it. These cars don’t like weak batteries.
disconnect the rear battery first, then the front one, and reconnect the front one and the rear one in that order.
disconnect the rear battery first, then the front one, and reconnect the front one and the rear one in that order.
Last edited by cdk4219; Apr 13, 2023 at 07:08 AM.
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From: Gretna, NE
'03 SL55 Black, '03 SL500's Aegean, Mars Red, Tazanite, Alabaster, '11 S550 Flint Gray
Thread Starter
Junior Member
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2003 SL500
Thank you both for your posts. So I went ahead and grabbed two new batteries from Mercedes dealer. Got them installed, car fired up strong like it should. Top still won't drop. Says Visit workshop when I pull up on the switch to drop the top. I ran the scan tool, no codes. I don't have a Mercedes proprietary scan tool, but I do have one that works on Euro cars usually. Any thoughts? What is usual suspect on the top not dropping?
On a side, I noticed the cigarette lighter port doesn't produce any voltage... Any ideas there? I don't know my way around this car real good yet. We just got it last year. Love the car, and know the gremlins will show their face on occasion with a 20 year old car with 9k miles.
Thank you all for your input
Jim
On a side, I noticed the cigarette lighter port doesn't produce any voltage... Any ideas there? I don't know my way around this car real good yet. We just got it last year. Love the car, and know the gremlins will show their face on occasion with a 20 year old car with 9k miles.
Thank you all for your input
Jim
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 1,329
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From: Gretna, NE
'03 SL55 Black, '03 SL500's Aegean, Mars Red, Tazanite, Alabaster, '11 S550 Flint Gray
Usually the codes for the roof are something like a prox switch that is inconsistent with other switches. For example the roof open and roof closed switches both active at the same time. There are probably a couple of hundred things that will keep the roof from working. Most don't throw a code, so consider yourself lucky; a visit workshop message will always have a code. You need to invest in a decent Benz specific scanner like an icarsoft, Foxwell, or Launch with Mercedes software installed. You can get one for around $150.
The lighter sockets in the console and trunk are controlled by relay K75 in the trunk. They are disabled if you have low voltage at the rear battery, but that shouldn't be the case here. It is probably unrelated to your other issues.
The lighter sockets in the console and trunk are controlled by relay K75 in the trunk. They are disabled if you have low voltage at the rear battery, but that shouldn't be the case here. It is probably unrelated to your other issues.
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Joined: Oct 2021
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From: Benton, Louisiana, USA
SL 500 2004, Ford F-150-2014
I would open the roof manually and once in folded position will try to close normally...in that way microswitches for opening are out of the equation!
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From: Oklahoma
R230 2005 SL500, 1952 MGTD, 1973 MGB, 1998 ML320, 2002 X5
Cigarette lighter ~ there's a fuse in the engine bay, driver side fuse box. Towards the inboard side of the fuse box, there's a row of fuses. IIRC, somerwhere in the middle, there's 30 Amp fuse for the cigarette. Try that. Condenstion from drink which is directly right above it may dripped into the ligter and blown the fuse.
Top ~ 1)Do the top switch (handle at lower center console) lighted up red?
2)Try run the rollbar and see if it works. If it does, pump is ok. If not, could be something else then.
Top ~ 1)Do the top switch (handle at lower center console) lighted up red?
2)Try run the rollbar and see if it works. If it does, pump is ok. If not, could be something else then.
Last edited by ml320x5; Apr 14, 2023 at 04:04 PM.
