Top Cylinders

This portion of the guide is for rebuilding the Top Cylinders.

Good Luck!

 

Trunk Cylinders

And here is the Trunk Cylinder portion of the guide.

Good Luck!

 

o ring for trunk and back seat cylinder

And here is the Trunk Cylinder portion of the guide.

Great job. "Impressive"

I have acquired the O ring for the front (roof) cylinder. Where may acquire the other 4 cylinders O Ring.

Mercedes SLK 280 2008. r171

My Email: wilfredopr1956@hotmail.com

Thanks

Wilfredo

 

Excellent!

 

Work of art Mark - That's going to help a lot of guys.

Oberoi

 

wow really good work!

 

Thanks, guys! You're too kind!!

I should have publicly posted these when I created them...

 

Very impressive work. Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice work - glad I haven't gotten around to mine yet like I had planned. Ahh, the advantages of procrastination.

 

Excellent detail

sokoloff......yes - procrastination - 50% of your problems go away before you get to them....they never were really a problem after all.....and...you fail to generate the other 10 problems from actually doing the dead...more efficiencies...!

 

Super DIY diagrams! May come in handy later...

 

Thanks Mark! You the man!

 

Hi, i have a '99 SLK 230 Kompressor. How how do i remove the pressure from the trunk cylinders to push the rod all the way in? i have gotten to them both but I'm just stuck on this part since there seems to be pressure in both cylinders keeping the rods all the way out. Thanks.

 

There is a gold colored screw on the side of the pump. It is accessed through the pop-out panel on the right side of the trunk. There should be a hex wrench to loosen it snapped into the back of the panel.

 

Thanks GregJordan but that was actually one of the first thing I did when lowering the top at the beginning. The screw for the hydraulic pressure has been loose this whole time. I still can't figure it out. I'm hoping that when I unscrew the U-bracket it will release the pressure. I'll try it later on today. Thanks.

 

And I'm sorry i was referring to the "TOP" cylinders not the trunk cylinders.

 

anyone know or used another method besides the vice grip? I tried a vice grip with two block of wood between the top cylinder but it still keeps slipping. Please help.

 

okay i finally rebuilt the 2 top cylinders and the right passenger cylinder under the headliner. After refilling the hydraulic fluid and hitting the switch....nothing happened although i can no longer see any of the cylinders leaking anymore. plus the top "switch" (behind the passenger seat between the back small window and the passenger rollover bar) has to be held down to make the vario roof button respond to me trying to open it, but still does not seem to do anything. The only thing that seems to be working with the top is closing it (even though it is completely locked anyway). When i hit the switch to lock it, it responds fine but nothing happens when i try to open it. I'm frustrated not knowing what is going on and how to fix it. Please help. thank you.

 

Figured it out. All i had to do was refill the hydraulic fluid and pull the trunk liner completely to hit the trunk switch. Thats all it was. Now i feel a little dumb but proud i was able to do it on my own without any auto mechanic experience. My dad's a professional mechanic and i've always been embarrassed to ask him to do oil changes for me all the time. Now I'M the man! Thanks for the help guys.

 

Great detail. Thank you!

 

Fix: Cylinder shaft slipping / spinning while trying to unscrew end piece

FYI, When I rebuilt my cylinders, I had a real hard time with the cylinder shaft slipping while trying to unscrew the end piece (as mentioned by (BennyValle07) . Even with a bench vice and blocks of wood that I had modified to grab the shaft better. It was just too smooth (even ultra-clean and wrapped in tape).

Nothing worked, until I wrapped the shaft with a piece of nylon webbing (like from a tie down strap) and then used that, with the wood blocks to get a good bite on the shaft......... worked like a charm.....(after quite a delay though...........)

 

Great Job, I followed the instructions and I have managed to stop the leak on the three roof cylinders.

Thanks

 

Where may I get the O ringS. I already change the O ring of front cylinder (actuator, latch). How I get the other 4 back seat and trunk for slk 280 2008, r171

Thanks

Wilfredo

 

Mercedes SLK 230 320 Hydraulic Cylinder Repair Kit for Hardtop Convertible R170 | eBay

That's for the 170 chassis, but ask the seller, Marty Ewer, about a 171 kit.

 

Have people been happy with - has it lasted - the oring fix?

I'm concerned because we're replacing special U shaped cup washer with simple orings that are not really designed for this.

Sending my cylinders in for rebuild (with cup washers) isn't really an option as I don't have the time to remove them and all the hoses and I can't be without the vehicle for that long...

The oring fix seems, simply too good to be true.

How has it stood the test of time?

 

I used the Ebay O-rings and did a rebuild on my 98 about two and a half years ago.
The top still works great, with no leaks.

I just got a great deal on another SLK 230, great due to the non-functional top. My kit just arrived. Looking forward to another rebuild this weekend. I'm guessing it will take only half the time this time around.

marc

 

Great work Mark

I know that this is an old thread but I am rebuilding the top cylinders now and I have a question. On the trunk cylinder when you drill out the dimples how big of a bit do you use? I think that the one I used is bigger than the dimples but I can't get the bushing to move. Also, I have the pressure relief valve open but the cylinder won't move by hand, should it be that tight.

Thanks again for the great instructions, any help would be appreciated.

Tom
TOMCLARK