[R129 SL] 129 Top problems

[Norm and Pat Waleke]

on 2/16/02 4:44 PM, Tom and Karen at tandkw@bwn.net wrote:

> While trying to put the softtop down on my 1990 500SL, the whole top
> mechanism quit working. The rear hard(tonneau) cover went up, the top
> unlocked and then nothing.  I can put the top down manually even though
> I can tell it is working against hydraulic pressure. The latches for the
> hard cover are in the latched position, with the cover up.  Fuse #6
> under the hood is good. I have power to the fuse block in the trunk. The
> red light in the switch is on steady.
> I can put the top up manually and lock it. Moving the switch only puts
> the windows down or up.  It seems the whole system is out of sync.
> This has been a problem ever since I got it home from the dealer(Sears
> in MPLS), 2 1/2 years ago. It worked before I bought it, (at least it
> did once), and then intermittently with help until last year the dealer
> had it, and now, nothing.
> 
> I have an appointment with the Mercedes zone rep on Monday, which the
> Denver dealer set up. The dealer had the car for 6 weeks last year and
> didn't get it right. I assume that the top system is so troublefree that
> dealers never get good at diagnosing/fixing them.
> 
> I am wondering if any other lister has had top problems of this nature
> and what the resolution was.  Thanks in advance.

Tom,

We had a similiar problem on our SL500AE last summer, but it started with a
low battery and the top down. The light also stayed on all the time. We
called the dealer and they told us that the windows and the top needed to be
re-synchronized after having a low battery. That didn't take care of the
problem, so we took the car in and they said they had never had this problem
with any other car, but they finally diagnosed the problem as a defective
'top control module', which they replaced and everything works just fine
now.

Hope this helps,

Norm and Pat
New Mexico, USA
'89 560SL 42K (his) "White Knight"
'91 Mighty Max 34K (ours) "Blue Max"
'93 300E Sportline 50K (ours) "Green Hornet"
'97 SL500AE 4K (hers) "Red Baron"
'98 SLK230 7K (ours) "Slick"
'00 S2000 2K (his) "Ichibon"
'01 PT Cruiser 2K (ours) "Salsa"
'01 Prowler .5K (hers) "Pumpkin"
photos: http://www.zianet.com/SLlover
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