All 12 hydraulics replaced. Driver side rear top will not completely latch.

1365 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by aam, Apr 24, 2009

karas

Discussion Starter · Apr 4, 2009 (Edited)

I just R&R'd all 12 hydraulics after getting them rebuilt by Dennis. The driver side rear latch will not pull the top all the way down. Unable to manually get it to seat as well. It "clicks" and moves so I know it is getting electricity and oil. I tried adjusting the height of the catch up and down without any difference. I have poured over the "ultimate stickys" and have not seen this problem posted. Even called Dennis and he was stumped. Any ideas before I tear the whole thing out again?
Also (and I know I might get slapped for this one) but I am getting a driver door limit switch error and I don't know where to look for it in the door. The stickys have addressed this but I can't locate a picture. Could the two problems be related,i.e., could the limit switch error keep the top from completing the catch? Unlikely but as I said I don't want to tear out the hydraulics again if the problem is in the door.
Thanks.

Save

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

aam

· #2 · Apr 5, 2009 (Edited)

Oh.
Mr. Karas.
You talking to the right person.
Don't ask how I know.

Take the special wrench and manually close the lock from the trunk to
complete the cycle, either one of the seals is to tight, or one of the valves is weak.
Close it like I said, it may go away after a while.
Regards.
aam.

Save

chriswufgator

· #3 · Apr 5, 2009

Other people have had this problem before.

It's one of the electronic sensors. Bobterry will know this one.

Save

karas

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 5, 2009

aam said:
Oh.
Mr. Karas.
You talking to the right person.
Don't ask how I know.
Take the special wrench and manually close the lock from the trunk to
complete the cycle, either one of the seals is to tight, or one of the valves is weak.
Close it like I said, it may go away after a while.
Regards.
aam.

Thanks aam. Unfortunately the special wrench will not lock the driver's side latch but will close the passenger's side without difficulty. I may remove the latch itself and take a closer look. Did the person you know ;-) also get a window switch error code with the described problem?
I'm new to Benzworld but have spent many hours on it. What a great resource! I even found the exact scenario with the top stalling half way up and read that it may be due to the window limit switch (my windows go up and down appropriately) and an answer was posted as to how the switch may still be involved but unfortunately there was no feedback provided by the submitter as to whether or not the solution worked.
Thank you for your help. I'll see if I can get it to lock somehow. I doubt it is a weak valve since it was just rebuilt this week.
jsk

Save

karas

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 5, 2009

karas said:
Thanks aam. Unfortunately the special wrench will not lock the driver's side latch but will close the passenger's side without difficulty. I may remove the latch itself and take a closer look. Did the person you know ;-) also get a window switch error code with the described problem?
I'm new to Benzworld but have spent many hours on it. What a great resource! I even found the exact scenario with the top stalling half way up and read that it may be due to the window limit switch (my windows go up and down appropriately) and an answer was posted as to how the switch may still be involved but unfortunately there was no feedback provided by the submitter as to whether or not the solution worked.
Thank you for your help. I'll see if I can get it to lock somehow. I doubt it is a weak valve since it was just rebuilt this week.
jsk

Part one solved. I took off the rear latch and confirmed that it would move back and forth at the appropriate times. Then I reattached the latch and was able to get it to pull down by pushing it down with my hand at the correct time during the cycle. I did this a couple of times back and forth and it appears fixed. Now to take off the door and find the window limit switch. I noticed that the window goes all the way up and down during the cycle of the soft top but when I press express down it sometimes goes down all the way and sometimes stops somewhere along the way. Would the limit switch cause this or is this a window switch issue? When I hold the window switch in non express mode it goes all the way up and down.

Save

aam

· #6 · Apr 5, 2009

One out of two is not bad. Lol.
Chris, you don't trust my abilities any more?

That is OK, I don't trust me either. Hahaha.

I don't do windows.
Haha, I never had problems with that, so I'll keep my mouth shut.

But I do have experience on how to open/close female mechanics,
will that help?

When you work the top, windows must go down some generations go half
way some go all the way and if you have the doors open,
all crazy things do happen.

Don't forget things are old, I can not bend like I use to. lol.
But I can sure think about it.

But as long and it works, who cares, don't be very particular.
If you are married you know what I am talking about.

Regards.
aam.

See less See more

Save

bobterry99

· #7 · Apr 5, 2009

karas said:
I noticed that the window goes all the way up and down during the cycle of the soft top but when I press express down it sometimes goes down all the way and sometimes stops somewhere along the way. Would the limit switch cause this or is this a window switch issue?

I would suggest the limit switch is the most likely cause. Other possiblilities include damaged wiring from the switch to the soft top controller or the controller itself.

When you remove the door panel you should readily see the limit switch located in the bottom, middle of the door.

Save

karas

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 5, 2009

bobterry99 said:
I would suggest the limit switch is the most likely cause. Other possiblilities include damaged wiring from the switch to the soft top controller or the controller itself.

When you remove the door panel you should readily see the limit switch located in the bottom, middle of the door.

ALL ISSUES SOLVED! I decided to go hunting for the door limit switch. Found it and it appeared to click appropriately. I then decided to take out the door strap which I thought was broken and was intended to be a project for another day. I found a severed wire which, when resoldered to it's distal end fixed the limit switch error. Also, the screw that held the door strap to the door was missing (found in the bottom of the plastic) so I reinserted the door strap, connected it all back together and it worked too! It appears that the door strap retaining screw came out (WTF?) allowing the strap to swing around and sever the wires to the window limit switch. What a journey this weekend! Next weekend I'm going to try to put on the new top.

Save

lynns

· #9 · Apr 5, 2009

karas said:
ALL ISSUES SOLVED! I decided to go hunting for the door limit switch. Found it and it appeared to click appropriately. I then decided to take out the door strap which I thought was broken and was intended to be a project for another day. I found a severed wire which, when resoldered to it's distal end fixed the limit switch error. Also, the screw that held the door strap to the door was missing (found in the bottom of the plastic) so I reinserted the door strap, connected it all back together and it worked too! It appears that the door strap retaining screw came out (WTF?) allowing the strap to swing around and sever the wires to the window limit switch. What a journey this weekend! Next weekend I'm going to try to put on the new top.

Man, you deserve an applause!:bowdown:

Great job, reading and DIY'ing. Now please feel free to hang around and help the next guy with all the info you pulled together.

Save

chriswufgator

· #10 · Apr 6, 2009

aam said:
One out of two is not bad. Lol.
Chris, you don't trust my abilities any more?

No I trust your abilities just fine, aam. After all, you were one who figured out how to rebuilt your hydraulics with bicycle pump seals, that honestly deserves the BenzWorld Prize :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

MacGuyver would be jealous of you.

But on this problem, I remembered that those sensors can act up and make you think it's the hydraulics when it's not. Other people on here have reported it, and we had issues with those on the old 300SL as well. That seemed like the likely cause...

Save

aam

· #11 · Apr 6, 2009

Bravo Karas you got two out of two.

And now that the trust department is up, I can work on my
confidence.
Hmmmm.
I wonder, what my wife knows and I don't?

Regards.
aam.

Save

torchtamer57

· #12 · Apr 23, 2009

How do you close the top from the trunk with the spacial tool? I am having the same problem,Torchtamer57

Save

RKH

· #13 · Apr 23, 2009 (Edited)

The special tool only releases it, and MB said in the Manual you can not manually lock the rear of the top. But fellow Forum member had figured way to lock the top from the trunk, but you have to remove the carpeted panels to access the locking mechanism (near the hinge)

Save

aam

· #14 · Apr 24, 2009 (Edited)

You can lock the front or the back by using the special tool from the trunk.
Remove the plastic covers by the hinge and push down with the tool while
you have someone push on the hard top to make things a little easier.
Unlocking is an other story.

Haha.
I see we all have our moments.

Regards.
aam.

PS.
Now how do you tame a torch, torchtamer?

See less See more

Save

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month