Soldato
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How's this for luck.. I went to put my roof down on my 170 230 slk and it's just leaked hydraulic fluid everywhere!! Just had to drive home with it dripping on me. 
Mercedes Benz and AMG Owners
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Dripping on you? Hopefully an easy fix! Pop over to slkworld.
How's this for luck.. I went to put my roof down on my 170 230 slk and it's just leaked hydraulic fluid everywhere!! Just had to drive home with it dripping on me.
Good news is that hydraulic leaks are a very easy fix...there is nothing individually expensive on the roof mechanism of these vario roofs.
Soldato
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Yes!! When I tried to open it, it was making a noise but didn't move, so I started driving home and then in traffic it started dripping from where the roof meets the windscreen, onto my right arm and leg, all over the seats and dashboard.. then when I got home 10 mins later it started dripping from the left side as well. Could just be the seals, according to a quick Google search I just did.
Good news is that hydraulic leaks are a very easy fix...there is nothing individually expensive on the roof mechanism of these vario roofs.
Yeah does seem to be a cheap fix, it's more the mess it made and frustration as it's the first time I thought of putting the roof down in over 2 years.
That could well be why, you possibly seized part of the mechanism if it hasn't been regularly used and greased which perhaps caused a pressure issue. In future the general advice on Vario roofs is to keep them well used even if just to test it once a month or so.
Soldato
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That could well be why, you possibly seized part of the mechanism if it hasn't been regularly used and greased which perhaps caused a pressure issue. In future the general advice on Vario roofs is to keep them well used even if just to test it once a month or so.
Yeah I've just realised it's something that must have been broken a long time ago, one of the things I should have noticed is the crumpling of the roof lining where it meets the windscreen.
Soldato
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Stupid question but will it start leaking again when I start the car? or just if I try to open the roof again. Which obviously I won't do.
I have an R230 but i think the principle is the same; the hydraulic motor runs when you press and hold the roof button. I think you'll be ok as long as you dont activate it
Soldato
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I have an R230 but i think the principle is the same; the hydraulic motor runs when you press and hold the roof button. I think you'll be ok as long as you dont activate it
Thanks mate! You're either correct or it ran out of fluid. I just took it to a convertible specialist to book it in for next week, the guy thinks it's either the seal or the tubing. First one is a cheap fix the second option is gonna be more. Also noticed a crack in the windscreen! On the plus side it's OK to drive and the leather on the seats has a nice shine to it today.
I've started to hanker after a W204 C63 AMG - hopefully my next car after I've got the 2 seater convertible bug out of my system.
How do you find yours?
So I had my first issue with the Airmatic system last week. Thought it was going to be an expensive one but thankfully a reasonably simple one fix (this time!).
Got the (non-red) message on the dash with the picture of a car and an 'up arrow' with text "Visit Workshop". Car seemed to drive absolutely fine and didn't appear to droop on any of the corners or front vs rear.
Got it on STAR and did a compressor test which only managed to reach 10bar (requires 14 to pass). My first thought was the compressor had started to give out as apparently this is quite common but without the sound of engine/exhaust going and the compressor running I heard a loud-ish hissing from the rear passenger wheel well.
Bit more investigation revealed a cracked air line to the strut - bit of a bugger to get at and it needed a slotted socket to remove and re-seal but managed it without too much bother. Hardest bit was getting it back in!
Got the (non-red) message on the dash with the picture of a car and an 'up arrow' with text "Visit Workshop". Car seemed to drive absolutely fine and didn't appear to droop on any of the corners or front vs rear.
Got it on STAR and did a compressor test which only managed to reach 10bar (requires 14 to pass). My first thought was the compressor had started to give out as apparently this is quite common but without the sound of engine/exhaust going and the compressor running I heard a loud-ish hissing from the rear passenger wheel well.
Bit more investigation revealed a cracked air line to the strut - bit of a bugger to get at and it needed a slotted socket to remove and re-seal but managed it without too much bother. Hardest bit was getting it back in!
Reading around the issue while waiting for the sockets to turn up, the compressor failing seems to be very common. I wonder how many of those were due to overworking because of a leak elsewhere though rather than outright failure. It was my biggest concern along the relay sticking issue. In fact, as soon as I had the message pop up, I got home and didn't drive the car till I'd sorted it.
Fortunately it wasn't the strut itself (or any part of the air line that would have been even harder to get to!)
Fortunately it wasn't the strut itself (or any part of the air line that would have been even harder to get to!)
Yeah i would imagine the failures are mainly due to leaks, people dont notice them and let the pump over run for months if not years on end. The pump then obviously finally gives up. Happened on my old S-Class.
On that front i am kind of glad that i have had ABC instead on my last couple of self levelling mercs. Ive had a valve block issue on my current one, but at least with ABC you get a noticeable hydraulic leak rather than air escaping unnoticed.
On that front i am kind of glad that i have had ABC instead on my last couple of self levelling mercs. Ive had a valve block issue on my current one, but at least with ABC you get a noticeable hydraulic leak rather than air escaping unnoticed.
Had a B Class - B200 63 plate 6 weeks now. Really happy with the car, but ive just worked out I achieved about 34mpg which I thought was pretty low for a petrol version, albeit it is the higher bhp engine. But then I haven't ragged/mistreated it.
Good point... a visible leak is always easier to troubleshoot. Before I got the CLS I toyed with the idea of a CL but I was always a bit put off by the silly high pressures in the ABC systems. They seemed to be more problematic than Airmatic and I got the impression that they fail more 'catastrophically' in comparison - based purely on reading around various forums, mind. The reality may be different - how have you found yours to live with?
Absolutely fine, it is IMO a much better system when in use than airmatic too. The components are not known to fail any more frequently than airmatic components to my knowledge. If you get a leak you get a visible hydraulic leak accompanied by low fluid - so very easy to spot. It really is the better system, especially these days with recon struts available, etc. Nothing on the system is massively expensive any more.
Interesting, thanks I had visions of high pressure hydraulic fluid spurting everywhere and making a real mess running the pump dry or something!
Won't be so quick to dismiss it then if something I'm interesting in moving to happens to have it.
I had visions of high pressure hydraulic fluid spurting everywhere and making a real mess running the pump dry or something!Won't be so quick to dismiss it then if something I'm interesting in moving to happens to have it.