W209 Convertible Top Issue Hydraulic Leak I wanted to share my experience of tackling the repair of my 2004 CLK500 W209 top not working. Hope this will help other DIY ers. Like many others, my top did not open completely stopped in the middle of opening. Had to push and shove the pieces and get the car home. I knew NOTHING about convertible tops (my first convertible). I jumped on internet and started researching. Needless to say, I found a lot of posts by others having the same issue and one common resource amongst other DIY ers was the forums. The WIS on bulletings boards helped but it assumed you had all the tools and above average knowledge of autorepair. I also found certain steps missing. There are a lot of blogs on W208 vs W209. Since I am paranoid about making things worse, I wanted to find the exact step by step before I start. So I spent about 2 3 days on assembling the pieces and approach. Since I relied on a lot of kind DIY ers who posted their experiences, I wanted to give back and share my approach. Please use this as a guide as I am sure there are better ways of doing it. This is meant only to document what I did on my 2004 W209. Documents needed: Manually open/close top (THIS IS A MUST KNOW): http://benzbits.com/w209/soft_top/manualclose.wmv WIS Manuals (Good reference). In particular the rear sear and rear side panel removal that can be found here: https://mbworld.org/forums/clk class w209/377003 06 clk350 soft top problem.html Absolute Tool Needed: Cylinder Bolt Retaining Pin removal tool. I used a cotter pin removal tool that I bought for $12 at an auto store. Go get one (see below). Other special tools needed are some Torx of varies sizes and plastic prying tools.
FINDING THE LEAK Seems there are 2 reasons your top wont work hydraulic issues or some sensor switches not working. I would recommend you check your fluid level in the hydraulic pump first. It is easy to do versus having to check all the sensors. Remove driver side panels in the trunk to get to the pump. If the fluid level is low, you have a hydraulic leak. My tank showed loss of fluid.
To check if you also have a limit sensor switch issue and also pinpoint location of leak, here is what I did: 1. Place paper towels under/around all cylinders (see pictures of paper towels). 2. Refill hydraulic fluid to MAX. 3. Put top down normally using the button. I was able to go through a complete cycle of open which tells me the limit switches are good. 4. Manually open the top and check your paper towels and fluid level in pump. I found fluid I just filled is gone and the paper towels under my main cylinders were leaking. If you do not find any leaks under cylinders, then your leak is at the pump (refer to the end of this document for pump removal to check for leak)
Rear Seat Removal You will have to remove the rear seat to get to the main cylinders. I used the directions on how to remove the rear seat (use WIS document). Pretty straight forward except you need to remove the plastic bolts that are anchoring the back of the seat cushions. Once those are removed, the back cushions come out easily. Your car will look like this:
Removing the side panels, I did the following:
Now you can see the bottom of main cylinders and the bow cylinders. I debated on replacing just the main, but suspecting that the others will leak soon as well and I didnt want to go through all this again, I opted to replace them all. Note I had to use my car while waiting for parts so I put the seat belts anchors back.
EXTRACTING THE CYLINDERS FOR SHIPMENT The Front Cylinder first. Open the top manually with the top stowed in the rear compartment, follow the WIS PDF and manually opening the top to place the cover in the compartment. You want the top to look like this: Open the cover to get to the front cylinders. Remove the bolts per below picture. Flip the assembly over.
Zip tie a bag over the lines to catch any hydraulic fluid. I put the cover back because I need to drive the car. Close the top so you can access the top of the main and bow cylinders from the rear opening. Removing the main cylinders and bow cylinders next: From your back seat, remove the bottom bolts of main and bow cylinders
Remove the bolts to both main and bow cylinders. This will free up the bottom of these cylinders. Go to the rear compartment with the rear window folder up to expose the cylinders, remove the top of the main and bow cylinders. Bow cylinder is with retaining clip latch; main cylinder is via retaining pin. Disconnect lines. Zip lock the lines to prevent fluid draining. You now have a total of 5 cylinders in hand.
Last Rear Compartment Cylinders With the compartment cover open, unlatch the retaining bolt clip (easier from here). DO NOT REMOVE bolt. Close the compartment cover to get to the trunk. Remove the retaining pin and bolt on the bottom of the cylinders. Follow the cylinder to the top and now remove the retaining bolt clip previously unclipped. Remove the compartment cover cylinders. The driver side has the sensor switch which you can unclip and remove. Zip ties a bag over the lines to catch any hydraulic fluid.
With the driver side cylinder removed, you can also pull out the pump to see if there is a leak. There is a bolt securing the pump assembly to the side panel you need to remove. Then just wiggle it out of its foam well. Hopefully yours is not leaking. You will need to refer to other doc on removing the pump. I was fortunate enough not to have to deal with that. You can manually close and lock the top now since it will take time to get the rebuild parts back. A word on where you should get it repaired. I actually look into rebuilding the seals myself and decided not to hard to find parts and I didn t want to screw up the cylinders. I shopped around on rebuild services also. Top Hydraulic had the best prices and reviews, plus they are and have been a great resource for us DIY ers. Good luck in your repairs.