Close assist seems to be a choice topic judging by the forum. Here's mine - A 1996 S280 with Close Assist, originally worked on rear doors only - never realised it should work on front doors until I looked at the notes on the forum! Took out Fuse #9 for 3 mins as advised and front doors worked fine and have continued to work no problem. The boot/trunk is more of a puzzle, if I depress the lock the boot swings open and the boot handle does not flip out, when I close the boot the close assist does not operate although the boot fits close to the body.
When the boot is open if I manually turn the boot/trunk mechanism on the body of the car inside the boot below the striker by 90 degrees the handle flips out on the boot, and when the boot is then closed the handle retracts and the soft closure works fine. It does seem to confuse the alarm and immobiliser however.
Any ideas? Does the boot/trunk handle retraction system work on a seperate system to the soft closure system and is there a magic Fuse #9 solution to reset the boot operation?
There is a microswitch in the lower latch mechanism (in the body of the car) that sends a signal telling the car that the boot lid has closed and needs to be pulled shut. Perhaps that same switch is reponsible for telling the car that the boot has opened, and therefore the boot handle needs to be extended and the striker eye needs to be released. Maybe your switch is not working properly and so it's not sending that signal. This is just a wild guess.
I don't know the nature of the signal this switch sends. If it's a constant (always on) signal when the trunk is open or vice versa or if the signal it sends is a momentary pulse when the trunk is either closed or open. Someone else might. This part is certain. Your car has to know when the boot opens so that it can release the striker eye and extend the handle. Find out how the signalling mechanism works and you'll probably be able to find your problem.
I can tell you how the air lines on my car (USA 1997 S600 sedan) are arranged. The close assist pump only does the closing of the trunk. That's it. The trunk handle and striker eye release are operated by the central locking pump. One air line comes from the central locking pump to the boot lid where it goes through a T-connector with one line feeding the handle and another feeding the striker eye release.
There has been discussion here of a modification recommended by the factory to dealership service departments to move operation of the trunk handle from the central locking pump to the closing assist pump. At least I think that's what it is. But, my car is clearly not set up this way. The closing assist pump air line only feeds the closing mechanism. To figure out what's up with your car, you'll just have to remove the boot lid liner and have a good look at the routing of the air lines.
The trunk assist (IN MY CAR AT LEAST) is operated by the PSE pumpin conjunction with the closing assist pump (I THINK) . They both work independently/together I think as a redundancy. Try removing the #3 also with the #9 fuse and see if that reset helps .
Otherwise maybe Brett can shed some light on it . I know they did something in 96 to incorporate the PSE (PSE located under passenger side rear seat) with the close assist pump to insure closing in the 140s.
You can literally hear the PSE at times!
Good Luck
PGP [:)][:)]
Sometimes on my S350TD -96 the chrome handle does not flip out when a door is open (other than driver's I think)when opening the trunk from outside.
This has annoyed me a little for 7-8 years now...
(no soft close on my car).
Maybe You have the sam variety, and no "open signal" goes to the soft close either??
Many Thanks Brett, I'll have a look at the weekend, as yours is a 97 model and it appears the modifications to the close assist or central locking pump have not been made I think my 96 model is likely to be the same.
I think the faulty microswitch is a pretty good idea as both the close assist and the handle can be made to work so the central locking pump is obviously holding enough pressure for this to work
I'll also try the fuse #3 and fuse #9 reset as suggested by PGP - you just never know!!
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