R129 280SL roof problems following a flat battery - help!

[wiggy964]

Hi, I am new to the forum and have been a very contented MB owner having only swapped from Porsche last year but my car has developed a problem which has me stumped. I'd be very grateful for any opinions!

My battery went flat overnight. I replaced it the following day. I have reset my windows as per the owners manual but still, when I turn on the ignition to positions two and three (engine running at three) both the roof control and the roll over bar switch remain illuminated (steady light, not flashing) and my roof will not fold away. My windows open a little, as they should, when I open the doors. I have disconnected and reconnected the battery, checked all fuses relating to the soft top and the roll bar and can see nothing wrong. A look under the spare wheel confirms that the hydraulic reservoir is just half full. Does anybody have any ideas please?

I've posted this as electrical but it may be anything but that I guess

The car is a 1995 SL280.

 

[janner]

Did you jump start the car with the flat battery or try charging it with the battery connected?

 

[wiggy964]

I confess I did, but the switches were illuminated and the roof and rollbar inoperative before I attached jump leads. Having read a lot of posts I can see that jump leads are a big "No No"!. I didn't know that then, of course, but did do all that as per MB manual. All electrics were switched off, ignition key removed. Jump leads attached and then a start. I did this just the once - I was mostly concerned at that stage to just run the engine to see if my battery would charge -I initially suspected I had left the lights on overnight. The battery wouldn't hold any charge so I just replaced it. As I said though, the roof switch light was on before I did all that, as was the light in the switch for the roll bar.

I am told now that to re-sync the roof and roll bar that I need to retract the roof manually. That may work? Bearing in mind the wet weather we are having right now I'm a little reluctant to mess about with the roof -the SL is my daily drive.

Hope that I haven't knackered up the control unit by using jump leads - I believe replacements are very pricey......

 

[janner]

All I can tell you is that the soft top module controls the roof and the roll bar (along with the windows). They are almost £1000 to replace
Try opening both windows and holding them in the down position for ten seconds. Failing that I think your best bet is an indy.