soft top / roll bar problems 91 Sl300

[tecqboy]

Well, it would seem that the soft top / roll bar gremlins have stuck me too. It seems they are a lot of guys with my vintage SL having similar problems. Last fall when I put my car into storage, everything was working fine. I have now gotten it out for the summer and when I tried to actuate the top. all I get is the dreaded flashing switch. The roll bar doesn't work either. The hydralic pump does not run and no relays are heard. I have searched this forum for info, and so far, I've located the diagnostic connector and shorted pins 1 and 10 as advised. I get the following series of pulses. 5,6,7,8,10,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,28,29 and then it repeats. I can't believe that all those switches have gone bad just sitting for 6 months. Anyone have any ideas as to what to look at next? The battery was connected all winter with a trickle charger and is in good condition. Thanks Tod

[bobterry99]

Some of the codes you have stored will disable top operation until you clear them, Tod. So I would suggest clearing all of the codes, trying the top, and if it still does not work, then read codes again.

[tecqboy]

I built a "tool" consisting of two pin plugs, 4 feet of 2 conductor cable, and a push button switch. It's a whole lot easier to sit inside while watching the flashing codes. I followed Bob's instuctions and read, then cleared each error code. After one pass, the system still was inoperative. So, I read the errors again. This time I had only 19, 20, and 21. I cleared these errors. Still no operation. Re-read the codes. This time only 21. Cleared. Finally, suscess! Everything is working again. It took 3 passes at erasing the codes. I'm going to keep my "tool" with the car. I have no idea what would have initiated the problem, but if it should occur again, I'm prepared. Thanks BobTerry. Tod

[bobterry99]

Nice going Tod. I should have mentioned that on early controllers that a code must be read twice before it can be erased. You may have one of these.