Sl600

My hardtop was put on 3 weeks ago to bring it up from Florida, the battery was disconnected and now the top won't come off. I took it to a mercedes dealer and they said replace the soft top controller and pay us 3k for it, which had been fine. At any rate, I need to find out how to manually release the hardtop and reset the controller after a battery disconnect. If anyone has been down this path...Please help.... Thanks in advance for your help

Robert

[LeaUK]

Some dealers should be shot, they make me mad!

Give us some more info. Make sure the car's running, in P and windows are fully down.

Pull back the top controller red button - any beeping, any flashing, constant light? Count beeping/flashing.

Thanks, the red light stays on constantly, no sounds or beeps it is on only when the car is running. The roll bar also doesn't move, the lights on it also are lit. I pulled the fuses on the roll bar, in the trunk, to see if they were blown and they weren't ...however this made the rollbar light yellow light on dash come on when I started the car back up...they turned it off at the dealer...I guess that is what my $150 diagnostic fee paid for along with the cup of coffee...hehe. There is no sign of leakage...anywhere...it's been in my garage for last three weeks and no stains. Hope this helps

[LeaUK]

What's the car age?

Have a look here for instruction on pulling the soft top codes - much cheaper than paying another USD150!

Basically you need to access the diag connector and short 2 pins together, then you may find that the soft top switch blinks at you. Count the flashes.

Others might be able to help more...

Thanks for your input, I don't see anything on a car newer than 93...unfortunately mine is a 97...I'll keep looking

[bwheitman]

The manual for my car says that low voltage can cause this issue or if your windows are not synced. Make sure your battery is fully charged. If the light is on it is likely someone didn't install it properly or there is a malfunction. Try to sync your windows, make sure the battery is fully charged. The big misconception is with a 97 the engine has to be "off" When I got my car the dealer could not get the top off because of this. You turn the key to position 2 and within 10 seconds you have to start the unlocking procedure. If this doesn't work let us know. I had my soft top replaced and when I got my car back they mounted the hard top incorrectly, one of the pins in the rear was not in a lock and it caused the light to come on, it was a mess. I had to take it in and I am not sure how they fixed it, but they had to replace the lock and the pin. Good luck!
B

I GOT IT ....daymmn mercedes rep said it couldn't be done. It's so simple really...front unlocks with allen wrench,...the back you need to go into the trunk undo the panels to expose the hydraulic locks...on the outside locks on each side there is a place to put a 10mm wrench...place your wrench there and pull up gently....and there you have it! Voila!...now I have to find a neighbor

ps....it's really nice to figure things out on your own sometimes

[bwheitman]

wOW!
I am going to look at mine, thanks so much for posting that, now if I have problems I will know in the future! Thanks!
Brian

Car's beeping at me now when I put it in drive...I guess I need to manually raise and lower softtop so it can get back in synch...I will post an update on it when I find out more

Update...beeping stopped immediately after I started moving. I went and checked the battery to make sure it was good, seemed to be dragging on me a little....It was bad. Apparently the root of my troubles. Replaced it, but now I need to reset codes to put everything back in synch, at least that is what MB tech told me that my boss got me in touch with in Florida late last night...those guys really know what their doing. They told me how to unlock hardtop, which I had done already . They said to unlock hardtop...take it off, clear codes, and then relock hardtop and it should start working again. If not then I'll have to purchase a controller, but the tech was pretty confident that I won't.

[bwheitman]

Well you are becoming the resident expert on this! Thanks for sharing your findings as it will help people in the future! Sounds like you are on the road to recovery and should have a fully operational top system soon.

Update...Ok so It didn't work, they couldn't clear the codes oh well I took a shot. The softtop controller went bad, I could have bought one online for around 850, but I was able to acquire one locally from a wrecked 500. As soon as I plugged it in, & reconnected the battery, turned the wheel all the way to the left and all the way to the right, put in the radio code, the red lights on the roll bar and the softtop button went out. The roll bar worked so I knew I had a good module. The car thought I still had the hardtop on so when I pressed the softtop button it made some locking noises ...trying to lock hardtop down. I drove it to my house put on the hardtop and had to synchronize it, until it locked down...on one side I had to release the lock under the trunk (same one I used to take hardtop off to begin with... After synchronizing it, I drove it a bit then... I took the hardtop off and the softtop worked but didn't lock down on the passengerside back, I put the top up and then down ...still not locking, it would pull it down but not keep it. I had someone push the softtop button for me while I viewed it. Come to find out, the latch had gotten a little bent and although going into the hole it wasn't centered in it for the lock to grab it...I pushed it forward (just a tad) and VOILA! It works beautifully... thanks to all who posted their help

[merc2merc]

in my opinion, if you can do the work yourself, a major drain of money can be avoided. parts are relatively cheap when compared to the labor costs at a dealer. my sl 500 needs an evaporator coil. costs around $300 for the part and they wanted $4000.00 fo it!!! you do the math. i can understand the part costing $800 at the dealer..but the rest? the v12 is definitely an exclusive club!

Yeah...1800 labor for 2 10mm nuts and two clip on electrical contacts is more than a bit ridiculous... and this car is alot easier to work on than my old XJS jag

[Kebowers]

R&R the evaporator is a R-129 is about 24 hours of solid work. Part is $700 or so Dealer retail, add another $150 for drier and refrigerant. You do the math.