1995 SL500 Roof Jammed

[tmwsccsh]

Hi all,

Slight disaster - see below.



Some background. Hard top has been on all winter and today was the day for it to come off. Some may recall I had issues last year with a leaky main piston so was going to change that for a good one at the same time.

The hard top would not shift initially at all - it was whirring but would not move - after a few attempts it finally released and off it came.

I got the passenger side main piston out and replaced (took a couple of hours) and tested all that no problem at all.

Just did a quick drive with the roof down for the first time this year and got back to park her up for the day. Hit the button to put the roof up and all was good and made the right noises but I noticed that the red light on the roof button didn't go out. Couldn't see why so got out and had a look and the attached is what I spotted. The other side is down fine and locked.

If you try to push the bit that is sticking up down it won't budge - as if the locking mechanism underneath has kicked in.

So, key back in and operate the roof again - it makes a single click and then nothing. The windows don't go down and there's not even an attempt to move anything - just silence. The red light for the roof starts to flash after a second or so suggesting something is wrong.

But, more importantly, how can I sort this quickly, even if it's just to get the roof back into a properly locked position. There's rain due tonight!

It's not fluid in the system as I have already checked that (and had to top it up anyway as part of the changing of the main lift piston anyway).

Thanks in urgent advance!

Regards

Tim Watts

 

[tmwsccsh]

An update for all.

I did some more reading and found something in a manual that said that if you try to move the roof more than 5 times in quick succession it will stop working. So as it had been about 30 minutes I thought I would give it another try. Nothing.

Bizarrely, something said to me to try putting the rollbar up and see if that worked - as I did so, the rear part clicked into place and locked in. I put the roof down again and back up and something odd happened - the rollbar was still in the up position (so it dropped as required) and then, once the back locked in, the windows and rollbar started going up again. The rollbar got up about 20cm then went down again - at the same time, the windows went up the same and then stopped - this kept bouncing about 4 times until the rollbar went up into place and then the windows went up normally.

I tried the roof a couple more times and symptoms were not there and it seems to be working fine, however when the roof is down, the roof switch light is off, but when it's up and in place the roof switch light stays red (solid).

So what's going on?

On the positive side, I am happy that the roof is locked in place for tonights rain!

Oh, and I don't have to go and get the Car Cover I just reserved at the local Argos either...

TMW

 

[trapperjohn]

Very odd indeedy. As you say though the roof is up and locked for the rain tonight.

 

[1001ab]

I spent most of last night reading threads on here (and other forums) about the roof and roll bar mechanisms and procedures on the R129 in preparation for some work I'm going to do on mine, it sounds like yours are out of sync (or whatever the technical term is).

The roof needs the roll bar and windows to be correctly sync'd, apparently.
There's a reset procedure for the roof that relies on the windows and roll bar being reset.
I read that you can reset the roll bar by holding the up button for ten secs, then try operating it. It should go up and down as normal then.
If that doesn't work, there's a fault clearance procedure using the diagnostics port.

I was surprised at some of the threads about non-functioning roll bars being resolved this way.

I'm sure a more knowledgable member will be along shortly to better explain these procedures...

 

[BTB 500]

Yes the roof/rollbar/windows/doors are all inter-linked ... the roof wouldn't operate on mine after it (just) started with a low battery once. The lack of voltage threw a window sensor error, and that disabled the hood. There was nothing physically wrong but the fault code had to be cleared on STAR.

The OP clearly had some sort of mechanical issue though as only one side of the hood was locking.

 

[dinoy]

my friend is quite good with these fixed mine when it jammed, but he is in brent cross if u want bring the car down. his name is vinod and he very good merc guy 20++ years experience on engine and other stuff old n new models

his no 07956 983585 as billy he will second my recommendation

 

[tmwsccsh]

Yes the roof/rollbar/windows/doors are all inter-linked ... the roof wouldn't operate on mine after it (just) started with a low battery once. The lack of voltage threw a window sensor error, and that disabled the hood. There was nothing physically wrong but the fault code had to be cleared on STAR.

Hi all,

An update.

The roof is all working well again now - there is a local specialist in the town I live in so I went over there. He simply unplugged the roof control module under the rear seats, left it about 30 seconds then plugged it back in again and all came back to life - works exactly as it should again now.

However, there is one small thing - the roof button light is always on when stationary and flashing when moving, indicating that something is not closing properly, however all is locked in fine.

I mentioned the STAR fault code reset to him and he advised that this is not true and that you don't need to do that - it's all done on the control module. Based on what I have found on here I am not convinced that his information is correct. His opinion is that the roof control module needs replacing.

But, as all is fine at the moment apart from a flashing light (that I can't see anyway as the gear knob blocks it) I am going to leave things for now...

TMW

 

[BTB 500]

I tried everything on mine including leaving the battery disconnected overnight, but the fault codes remained until cleared by STAR (and all was fine thereafter). It could depend on the specific errors I guess.

If it thinks the roof isn't locked you get a buzzer going off when you move the car. Glad you're making progress, anyway!

 

[BlackC55]

You will have to connect it to a Star.