Another Top Won't come up Problem

[DavidWeis]

IU've been driving around with the soft top up for about 2 weeks. Last week, while out with my kid, the top would not go back up.

I had brought it down, turned the car off to get ahot dog, then when the car started again, the red light came on. I tried putting the top up, but all that would happen is the windows go down, and the flap would raise. I could hear the hydrollics trying, but to no avail.

In a desperate attempt to solve continue driving the car, I tried to put the hard top back on, but that shut the whole system down.

Dealer fixed the problem in 1.7 hours and said the 'latches' were out of synk. Great; So I paid, and tried the top (down, then up) with the car running. That was yesterday.

Today, I dropped the top, drove about a mile, then got some coffee. When I put the key back in, that darn red light came back on.

I checked the latches (they are all in the same possition. The sensor on the drives side is locked down, and I can't lift the top up manually while the switch is engaged.

Since I can't find any diagnostic switches to ground 1 to 7 (or whatever) to diagnose, its going back to the dealer.

Any comments on what I can try?

Thanks (and sorry for the long winded note

[cbdo]

As a 107 owner, it would be remarkably unhelpful of me to suggest driving your 450SL instead....

[DavidWeis]

Looks like I screwed up the signature function. Those cars without the * are cars I used to own but are long gone, so your suggestion is invalid.

[bobterry99]

When the red lamp is on, it typically indicates that the system senses that the soft top is closed but not secured, the hardtop is on and not secured, or the top is down but the compartment cover is not locked. Your latest problem may be that the switch on the soft top compartment cover lock mechanism is not sensing that the cover is locked. Your car was supplied with a special wrench for working this lock. You might try manually closing the compartment cover as described in you owner's manual and verifying it is secure. If the light is still on -- well, I think the switch is adjustable and may be out of adjustment. But first, if you want to avoid a trip to the dealer, you should probably do some troubleshooting.

On '90-'95 SLs, it is possible to retrieve diagnostic information from the convertible top controller simply by shorting from a point on the diagnostic connector to ground. But on '96 and newer cars, M-B's HHT or a similarly advanced scan tool is required to communicate with the controller. Still, you can check quite alot with a VOM or a $1 LED from Radio Shack and a battery. Post back if you want more info.