Help! R129 500SL power roof woes!

[RivR129]

Hi all,

The power soft-top on my SL ('93 500SL) is not powering

The hard top is currently off of the car and the roof is open. I wish to close it and it won't! There are motors running if I push the button forward but nothing if I pull it backward. The red light within the button does flash whilst doing this and all the fuses are ok.

Does anybody have any simple advice I can follow? I do have the Mercedes hex spanner for the roof but don't have a handbook. Can anyone point me in the direction of a manual over-ride process?

Does anyone know an expert (preferably local-ish) who can help and won't have my leg over? I live in the W.Mids and can be very flexible in terms of getting the car in front of someone quickly.

Please help!


Mark

 

[umedc]

hi mark
where abouts are u in midland i know guys in dudley they spot on always looks after mine merc

 

[RivR129]

Brilliant! Thanks for the info. I'm in Telford. Apx 40mins from Dudley.

 

[IanA2]

Here's the manual, should show you how to use the tool.

http://www.r129motoring.com/Manuals/r129-owners-manual-1993.pdf

Page 121 covers it

 

[umedc]

HI
HIS no 01902 897447 his name is dave

 

[RivR129]

Thank you.

HI
HIS no 01902 897447 his name is dave

Thanks for all your help so far guys. I will give Dave a call on Monday.

Battled for ages with the roof and eventually figured out how to close the roof manually. The multi-positions to each lock is/are a nightmare. But at least it's up now!

Still, the only action from the roof button is when it's pushed forward. Everything's live and making noises, yet when you pull it backward - nothing! Apart from the internal red light flashes. Any clues?

When I bought the car, I tried the soft-top several times to make sure it worked ok and it did, fine. So can't imagine it's too big a fault I've got?

Silly question. Where is the battery located on an R129 500SL? Can't find it anywhere! Was going to try disconnecting it as I've read on various threads that this can reset the roof.

 

[redbaron]

The battery is in the boot behind the off side carpet trim.

You are aware that the button goes forwards to close and backwards to open?

Does the roll bar work?

 

[RivR129]

Thanks Paul

The battery is in the boot behind the off side carpet trim.

You are aware that the button goes forwards to close and backwards to open?

Does the roll bar work?

Thanks for your help Paul. I couldn't quite remember, as I bought the car a week ago and in fairness the hood was demonstrated to me by the previous owner several times, before fitting the hardtop, which I removed today. The hardtop would not come off electronically, so I had to follow manual procedure. Now the roof will not work electronically either, which it did fine last week.

I have now closed the roof (put it up) manually. Pulling the button backwards to open, does nothing apart from illuminating the internal light. Pushing it forward (as if to close) with the roof already up does result in some action.

Can someone recommend a genuine 'expert' who knows the soft top system and won't charge me squillions to get to the bottom of the problem and get it working. It's a pain!

 

[redbaron]

If it was me it would goto TMS in Kirkham, my SL is there now. You will get your roof fixed, you wont get ripped off.

Call Ian.

Simples.

 

[RivR129]

TMS Kirkham

If it was me it would goto TMS in Kirkham, my SL is there now. You will get your roof fixed, you wont get ripped off.

Call Ian.

Simples.

Thanks for the recommendation Redbarron. Have you had any soft top work done by them before, yourself? I googled them and found their website. On it, Ian says that 99% of the electrical work is passed on to a very local expert. Do you think a roof problem would qualify, or be within their own expertise? I suppose it's easiest for me to inquiry on Monday. Just a bit of a trek to Preston unless they're confident they can get a diagnosis, or fix whilst I wait.

Mark

 

[redbaron]

The roof is not solely electric it is hydraulic.

My roof is not faulty so no they haven't worked on it.

 

[aircondoc]

Why don't you go back to the bloke you bought it off and ask him?

 

[RivR129]

Why don't you go back to the bloke you bought it off and ask him?

Not sure what I could ask him?

He bought the car a year ago and has done under 300mls in it (kept it in storage when last year's Summer was a no show). As it was a private sale and sold as seen tried and tested, don't really see how he can be any help. Especially seeing as the roof was working when I bought it.

 

[dan1502]

Have you tried some or all of the steps in this thread?

R129 SL roof problem - Mercedes-Benz Owners' Forums

Also, isn't Jay (Jaymanek) of Mercland reasonably close to you?

 

[Sp!ke]

When you took off the hard top, were the doors open or closed?

 

[jaymanek]

Have you tried some or all of the steps in this thread?

R129 SL roof problem - Mercedes-Benz Owners' Forums

Also, isn't Jay (Jaymanek) of Mercland reasonably close to you?

Yes we could help.. Although normally with R129's, best thing to do is cycle the roof using the manual procedure... get it up and locked... Then disconnect the battery for 10 mins, then after reconnecting do the up and down 3 times with the windows (doors closed), roll bar up and down 3 times, and lock to lock 3 times with steering wheel..

Then try it..

 

[vtwin]

Make sure the battery is fully charged. My roof wouldn't work properly although it made noises when the battery was less than fully charged. Also the hardtop would not release properly when the battery was less than fully charged although it made noises and I thought I was in for a major problem but as soon as The battery was charged properly everything worked fine again

 

[RivR129]

Success! I'm very happy to report that I now have a fully operational power roof and speedo! I hope this may help others.

Having been told it was the speedo head at fault, I purchased a (known-good) second-hand instrument cluster, removed the speedo from it and fitted it to my own cluster - nothing. Speedo reading still haywire and no electric soft-top action. So then I tried the entire second-hand cluster, including it's donor speedo in my car's dashboard - success! The donor speedo works perfectly and full roof operations have been restored. Lastly, I fitted my own speedo to the donor cluster and .... Hey presto! The speedo works perfectly, as does all the roof functions.

It would seem that somewhere on the cluster board must be a component that takes a signal from the ABS/speed sensor and passes this to the speedo head and roof control module. In the case of my cluster, this was not happening, hence inop speedo and roof.

I'm over the moon and have managed this fix for £60!

I hope this helps others who may be pulling their hair out - like I was!

Thanks for all the guidance though guys.

 

[R129]

Hi, Harley from Sweden here.

Did you solved the problem with your softtop?

 

[mijskinner]

hi
can anyone help with my problem with my soft top on my Mercedes 1995 e200 w124 left hand drive convertible I brought back from Italy the roof will not go down the red button lights up and the windows go down when I retract the button but not the roof.thanks,james McKnight from Ayrshire in Scotland.