ISSUE RESOLVED!
I replaced the distributor with a used one from a 96 SL (thanks roncallo) and used the existing lines and clips. No leaks.
Jim
Jim, am I to understand that your RST is able to go up and down 3 times or more with no problems? Great to here. We now know who the next R129 RST guru is to go to on the R129 Forum. Especially when it comes to replacing ALL of the hydraulic cylinders and a new soft top too. Note: Dennis Ficken did his HC seals.
Everbody meet and congratulate Doctor Jim. He just saved himself a whole lot of money (my guess is $9K-$10K) when it comes to his roadster soft top-RST. And he's got new plastic windows too.
After changing seals in top lock cylinders we had leakage in the connettion hole.
I searchd inside the brass ring with a neddle and found a soft rubber inside the hole.
I had a little hook shaped needle in the hole and at the same time i pressed another needle in the rubber O-ring to bend it out, and could draw it out of the hole with my hook.
Out came a rubber O-ring with four sides.
The brass ring outer diameter is 6 mm, the pipe is 3.2-3.3 mm.
we found an O-ring that was 6.4x3.2 mm and it was possible to get it back in place.
And now it's not leaking.
The O-ring was so little so we had it for free!
I think the right side O-ring should be 6.0x3.0 mm.
After changing seals in top lock cylinders we had leakage in the connettion hole.
I searchd inside the brass ring with a neddle and found a soft rubber inside the hole.
I had a little hook shaped needle in the hole and at the same time i pressed another needle in the rubber O-ring to bend it out, and could draw it out of the hole with my hook.
Out came a rubber O-ring with four sides.
The brass ring outer diameter is 6 mm, the pipe is 3.2-3.3 mm.
we found an O-ring that was 6.4x3.2 mm and it was possible to get it back in place.
And now it's not leaking.
The O-ring was so little so we had it for free!
I think the right side O-ring should be 6.0x3.0 mm.
I am glad that you did the repair and the 0 ring's existence and size is proven now.
Unfortunately, I think Kagge confused the top lock hydraulic cylinders with the hydraulic distributor that started this thread. There are no O rings in my old distributor nor in the replacement that I bought from roncallo.
I did speak with KBelov/Konstantin at the meet.
About this problem he said that there are no rings in there.
The pressure expends the tubing walls and that's how is sealed.
You can ask him for more detail info.
Or if he sees that, he may make a comment.
I think that is what I understood.
Regards.
aam.
AAM
I am somewhat irritated about Konstantin's and your remarks. Try to be careful saying things that turn out not to be correct when you have already been given correct information and where it can be verified. Of course, if this conversation was at a party I understand some latitude is needed.
I have already explained the o rings in this thread, and it was illustrated in the Manual. What more do you need? Perhaps you don't feel its necessary to take the time to review the manual.
On another note, the square section o rings are held in by a brass insert that is an interference fit into the housing bore. All that was needed for a quick fix, perhaps, was to use a punch to carefully drive the insert further into contact with the side of the o ring and force the ring to expand more into the bore. Certainly one should not use round o rings as replacements if the original square can be made up. And it can.
Further, the brass insert can be removed by making a miniature inside diameter bearing puller. A small hobby or jeweler's lathe would work well for making this.
Withdrawing the insert would make a cleaner and safer o ring removal and replacement process.
It will work especially well for all those seals that get leaky after sniffing the ether in stop leak and develop a pesky and damaging dribble. Remember, this is not supposed to be an urban legend site.
Vehicle: MB SL600, MB 380SE, Suzuki Grand Vitara, 38' Chris-Craft, Volvo V70XC, and my own two feet...
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,535
So I guess my questions now would be, are these seals also made from the same unsuitable polycaprolactone material as the chronically defective seals in the RST hydraulic cylinders? And if so, how many more of these damned things are lurking in this system?
I haven't heard a lot about the lines, distributor blocks, etc., leaking before, which leads me to believe the seals may not be defective by design in these items. However, the other possibility is that the seals might well be the same material, but they don't crap out only because they aren't subjected to the movement and friction like the ones in the hydraulic cylinders. I am really curious now.
For curiosity's sake, I priced out that windshield header distributor, and holy hell, it's $300 for that little thing.
__________________
"Veni, Vidi, volo in domum redire." (I came, I saw, I want to go home.)
I am somewhat irritated about Konstantin's and your remarks. Try to be careful saying things that turn out not to be correct when you have already been given correct information and where it can be verified. Of course, if this conversation was at a party I understand some latitude is needed.
I have already explained the o rings in this thread, and it was illustrated in the Manual. What more do you need? Perhaps you don't feel its necessary to take the time to review the manual.
On another note, the square section o rings are held in by a brass insert that is an interference fit into the housing bore. All that was needed for a quick fix, perhaps, was to use a punch to carefully drive the insert further into contact with the side of the o ring and force the ring to expand more into the bore. Certainly one should not use round o rings as replacements if the original square can be made up. And it can.
Further, the brass insert can be removed by making a miniature inside diameter bearing puller. A small hobby or jeweler's lathe would work well for making this.
Withdrawing the insert would make a cleaner and safer o ring removal and replacement process.
It will work especially well for all those seals that get leaky after sniffing the ether in stop leak and develop a pesky and damaging dribble. Remember, this is not supposed to be an urban legend site.
Regards,
George
Gwillie,
With all do respect I think you should seriously retract your statement concerning aam opinion. As after this reply you stated in your reply:
“Originally Posted by aam
I did speak with KBelov/Konstantin at the meet.
About this problem he said that there are no rings in there.
The pressure expends the tubing walls and that's how is sealed.
You can ask him for more detail info.
Or if he sees that, he may make a comment.
I think that is what I understood.
Regards.
aam.
You took this reply,"out of content". This was aam second thread reply on this subject. If you had read further downward at the bottom of page 3, aam agrees with you that there must be o rings in the distributor. And further more, middle on page 4 of this thread, there’s another indication that aam agrees with the O-ring issue. You state: “Perhaps you don't feel its necessary to take the time to review the manual”. YOU are the one who needs to read all the replies before you begin to accuse anyone of false statements. We our all here to help each other and express our opinions whether some replys here, may not be totally correct it’s the effort and concern to help each other here, is really, what counts.
carltwo
Talking about square hydraulic distributor, I did not see any rubber o-ring in one of the older SL models. I also took apart a couple of main cylinders from E320 model (smaller rod diameter than for SL model), and did not found any o-rings for the hydraulic line that connects on top of the cylinder (inside the seal holder on my picture in another thread). I did not disassembled the bottom plug of the cylinder as I did not need to, so there is a possibility that there is a small 3 mm rubber o-ring there. Now, MB changed the design of the cylinders. It is clear from different pictures from this forum and different seal sizes not only for main cylinders, but also for the locks. Just for information, E320 has different seal sizes and different cylinder design, although few cylinders are the same. Some SL of the same year for example, have different main cylinder seal size and different main cylinder design. It is possible that some parts have the small rubber o-rings and some do not. When I do repairs, I try to disconnect the least amount of hydraulic lines possible to avoid more leaks. I only disconnected lines from the distributor once! It is not needed. In fact, I can replace some seals without disconnecting a single hydraulic line. As George pointed out, some parts definately have small rubber o-rings. In that case, they are most likely NB-70 rubber and are in good condition unless damaged while reconnecting the hydraulic line. I do not know the size of the square o-rings. Maybe George can help, but I will order 3x6 mm round o-rings and include them with my seal kits in the future, just in case one needs them. The first cylinder I rebuilt with my polyurethane seals more than a year ago still running fine. It is 129 800 1672. No leaks from the seal or hydraulic connections.
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