Serhanium

Hi there!

I suffer again because of this vario roof and i don't know exactly what to do.
As i mentioned earlier in this forum i had a problem with the roof and changed the switch at the service.(the one at the right side of the trunk ) Everything seemed ok , not only the trunk but also the roof started to move and open.(I was grateful as a Benz owner , thats actually a pity !)

Now i have the same problem , the trunk opens &roof doesnt move again but the difference is it is sometimes possible to open it and sometimes not. Especially when i go to service, damn roof opens.Last week after the third attempt the car showed its true colours and people at the service changed their minds that i wasn't a boring service freak.
When we open and close it continously (i mean not more than 3, 4 times ) there is no problem.
But when we have a break and wait for 5 minutes to try again then only the trunk opens.It keeps on moaning but roof doesnt move.
In the computer check they couldn' t detect any switch or electronical problems . Only problem was the high temperature of the hydrolic fluid. They suggested to change this hydrolic oil(or fluid ) but at that moment we probably opened and closed the roof 10- 15 times in 1hour.(It is enough to make it hot like hell.)
I know when its above the limits , roof doesnt move at all until it gets cooler. We all agreed , waited for an hour for cooling but again experienced the same problem.So it didnt work.
We also checked the front locks above the front window ,there wasn't any problem.
We checked other mechanical parts but everything seemed ok.
The mechanic guy pushed the keylock on the trunk when it was in an opened position.The trunk was like an accordion , it released .He was holding the trunk with both hands in the air.We pulled the switch and the roof started to open .
Then they decided to check the trunk lock ,removed the lock cleaned it for conduction unfortunately it was a coincidence, we tested it one more time and didnt work. These may sound silly to you but they really checked every mechanical part and decided to
check the trunk lock.(it was probably the last part)

When it opens immediately in the first attempt there is no problem with opening second and third times but when it stucks then maybe i have to try for 10 minutes.
I didnt changed the hydraulic oil , and i think this is the last option to solve this problem. ( There is one more option option,to change every part at the roof system but if i do that i will probably sell the car) My car is produced at the last month of 99 it is registered in 2000 for the traffic. I experienced usual SLK problems but this one really makes me crazy.
Do you think that changing this hydraulic oil will solve my problem or do you advise me to only open the roof when it is in the right mood. There is no problem with the other switches as Madrid SLK .I wish it was simple as that one.
If the power is weak because of the guilty hydraulic oil then why i can sometimes open it?

It is not a continous problem and they cant detect whats wrong.

When it opens they have to wait for 15 min to witness the problem again.Really it makes everyone sick...
Any tips for checking some other parts?Please i really need your help and experience.Where shall i kick ...show me the exact place...
The mechanic guy in the Benz service is a really experienced person , fixed around 10 SLK's (without any roof problems )which were nearly tottalled .
But he was scratching his hair and telling me that they gonna change the hydraulic oil which sounds BS..

Thanks for reading this long text , waiting for your kind replies.

Serhan

barthrh

I have good news and bad news:

The good news it that you're not nuts.
The bad news is that I have no solutions.

I have been chasing the same problem as you for a while now. In fact, I just did a manual roof lift to get the roof up so I can go to bed.

Here is what I know: The problem seems to be related to cold weather. It happens on cool mornings -- I can't get the roof down until it warms up. The trunk opens, but the roof won't move, as if the latches aren't releasing. Eventually, it will lower; this is sometimes after driving for a few minutes of half an hour in the sun.

The second problem is the roof not going UP. I hate this one the most. This occurs when your lower the roof, drive for a while, and the temperature drops. When you get back in the cooler weather -- nothing. The trunk opens but the roof just goes "thunk thunk thunk" trying to lift, but it can't. I thought that it was related to the deck not lifting, but that is not the case (because I have lifted it by hand, and it went up smoothly on my manual lift).

I too have asked MB to fix this. They say that they cannot find the problem. This makes sense -- the car is either in their warm garage or was driven to them and is "warmed up".

My warranty expired 3 days ago. I have the issue "on the books" so I plan on calling MB tomorrow to ensure that this is fixed on warranty.

My SLK is a 1999 SLK 230. I believe that it left the dealer's showroom on May 11 2000.

xyzpl

There are 11 micro switches that activates our roof and trunk, any 1 of these not working will result in the roof/trunk not moving. Not to mention the 2 hydrolic locks that occationaly "locks up"....

Your problem sounds like a micro switch problem, because your roof won't come back up, if it is a hydro lock problem, then obviously it won't come down.

If your car is still under warranty, I would demand the dealer to change ALL 11 micro switches. and being a 99 model, like mine, these darn switches go out like crazy.

after the 6th time there, I demanded all 11 to be changed, it has been over 1 year since they did that and I have not have any problem opening/closing the roof.

good luck!!

barthrh

Thanks a lot for the reply. I have problems in both directions (up and down).

I may have a battle on my hands: my warranty expired 5 days ago. This issue has been on many dealer "to do" lists, so I hope that I'll get warranty service.

Thanks for the post. I'll print this out for the dealer.

xyzpl

barthrh, ya, you definitly have a micro switch problem, the micro switch effects the roof/trunk both ways, up AND down.

I know how it is, you hear the motor going, but nothing moves...

If the dealer have it on record that it has the problem even before the warranty goes out, they will normally cover it, that was what my dealer told me.

Good luck!

SLK 230 Ltd.Ed.

I've never had a roof problem but I can understand your frustration. If it were me, I would've sold the car and bought a BMW. Haha. Anyways, I still have my SLK. Through two major accidents (which were caused by people improperly securing objects to their vehicles and people deciding that the opposite flow of traffic is the correct road to take resulting in a head on collision) and one flood, it's still going strong.

Serhanium

Hi all!!!

As i mentioned before official mb service could do nothing about my car, just tried to change all the system because of thier lack of experience in SLK roofs ) I found an experienced SLK mechanic(he has his own garage , quit his job in Germany) and he also tried everything to catch the problem. (its amazing that most of the offical mb services also brings SLK's to this guy.) At the end he decided to took out each part at the trunk and check all the mechanism.
There was also a wrecked SLK at the garage and he replaced some parts to check and find the failure step by step . We tried every scientific method as i told you before diagnostics test etc.changed switches etc.... and it didnt work , so i believe that im lucky to be in the same garage with a wrecked SLK. (only front part is heavily damaged)
He discovered that nothing is wrong with the trunk mechanism and pumps & motor etc.
Inside the roof there is a mechanism and there are lockers above the front window . He detected that one of them works improperly by replacing it with the part from the wrecked SLK.
Thanks God we could (he actually) find out where the mechanism jammed after 48 hours
Actually we checked that part at the begining and it seemed functioning very well as it seemed releasing and locking with clicking sound-( we didnt replace them at that time) .

To cut it short , little casper was in the front window lockers.
I had a problem with also closing and couldnt understand how it is also related with front lockers..i was told that those front lockers also affect the closing mechanism .
Thanks to everybody here for their support!

Serhan

xyzpl

WOW, congrats, finally!!!! Now you can enjoy your car without worrying if it will close or not....

Just in time for Summer!!!!

Serhanium

Thank you xyzpl..yep it is the right time..

SecretAznMan4u

can you plz post a picture of the item, my top had to be left down because of this. plz help i am out of warranty!!!

sfag

I have a May 98 slk 230. When my car is hot from driving for an hour with the roof down it then won't go up again. It behaves like everyone elses and gets stuck with the boot open and the motors whirring but not going anywhere. . It does however go down after having being parked for an hour. Having read the other posts on this board I suggested the micro switches to the garage. They said their diagnosis tests reveal the switches are OK, and that the switch problem was only on later model cars anyway. Can these tests be relied on ??

I have read Serhans comments on 'lockers' and might suggest checking out those. As the garage (in Belfast) charges £100 per hour for 'looking' I want to help elimate possible false leads.
They have told me the switches cost hundreds of pounds each and are reculant to start changing them unless their computer tells them to. Anybody got any idea on costs ????

Serhanium

£100 per hour just for checking? Are they crazy & mafia or what...
Tell them that you dont print the money at home...
Even if it is out of warranty there is something called
"customer care and satisfaction"
Here in my country the parts are 2x expensive because of high taxes but the workmanship per hour is nothing at all..(bmw services screw more per hour
There should be some garages that you wont need to pay for each hour where price depends on the complication of the job done..Isnt that possible? Please ask more benz garages to check that. If the price is same in everywhere probably you donthave much to do. In any case i am sure you can write to Stuttgart main mb a complaint letter as a victim (both for the problem and the price )or inform the local authorized mb services about the ontent of the letter.
My dads BMW is nearly 60 000km and last year the automatic transmission suddenly broke down.The service found out that there is no driving fault and the source of the problem was related to production.
They ordered a brand new auto transmision which was really expensive and changed it for free.

Thank you for reading

Bye

CopperDesigno

I have the same problem with my 2000 SLK230. It seems that the relative temperature may have an affect on the roof operations. I have started to take notes on when it gets "stuck" and noticed anything below 75 degrees the roof will have a problem. I keep track of humidity (high/low), temp as per dash gauge, time of day, operation (up/down), shade or not.

mjcother

I am having the same problems. (trunk raising, but top not raising or lowering, and seems to be temperature related). Car has 70k miles, so a warranty repair is probably out of the question unless there is a recall or I have a lot of proof. I did report the problem once under warranty, and I am sure the previous owner did from what I hear in this board.

I have excellent mechanical and electrical ability, and making a dozen $$$ visits to the dealer is not desired, so I am trying to diagnose it myself.

I have noticed that for lowering the top, the switch on the right front window latch seems to be suspect. In the morning when it is cooler and I lower the top, the top will not move until I hear a "click" from the area that the switch is. sometimes it happens as soon as the latches release, sometimes a few seconds, sometimes never.. I think it is not the switch itself, but the adjsutment of the black alignment pin that actuates the switch, I pulled the connector for the switch out from behind the header cover so I could open or short the connection quickly, and am waiting for it to fail for more than a few seconds... (it has been good for a week now in respect to lowering)

Raising is somewhat different, at night, when I get home and the car is warm and the outside is not, the trunk opens and the roof fails to open... actually, not only does it fail to open, it actually looks like it is trying to lower further.. the trunk lowers a small distance and the pump is straining some... I believe this may be the fault of the solenoid(s) on the pump sticking. I have had mixed luck with poking and prodding, and lifting the deck cover slightly.. If it fails, I have to wait for a click from the trunk and then the roof will raise normally. Sometimes I fall asleep in the drivers seat for 20 minutes late at night witing for that click.......


There are two solenoids on the front of the pump, logically, one has to be for the trunk lid, and one for the roof. I believe they are for reversing the direction of the cylinders (by directing the flow to the other end of the hydraulic cylinder) They get VERY warm, they are just a coil of wire with a metal core and current going through them... I believe they are getting voltage, but just sticking, and I have not had the opportunity to verify (I cannot find a volunteer to stay in the trunk for a couple weeks to pinpoint the sound!)

-mike
Clearwater, FL

KasraK84

Hi All,
I have the same issue with my car. Took it to the mechanic and the diagnosis scanning tool shows "The signal cable of component A7/5b1 (Temperature Sensor) has a short circuit to positive or open circuit. Anyone knows what it means?
When I trigger the switch sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes stop working at the beginning. The trunk starts to open but suddenly it stops.
Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Kasra

barthrh

While my car is long gone for me by now, I can say that micro switch replacement was the fix. The unfortunate thing is the fighting it took to get there. The dealer didn't believe it happened and then when I referenced all of the other posts said "you expect me to replace switches on the bases of something you read on the Internet?". Ultimately the switches became the subject of a tech bulletin and the dealer replaced them, with the problem never to be seen again.

This, along with the disaster that was the lock/alarm unit and the terrible MB handling of that design defect ("there is no design defect" "then why did you change the design the following year?"), are why I will *never* buy another MB product. Two Porsches in, happy as a clam.

Tryan

I have been having exactly the same issue with my sons SLK. I also discounted the front catches as I couldn't understand that they would affect the closing part of the cycle.
Now I have seen this article the roof lining will be coming off this evening and hopefully "Casper" will be evicted. - many thanks.
Tony