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Roof hydraulics leaking, but not like I expected they would

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380 views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  psg  
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#1 ·
I bought an '01 SLK 320 a few months ago in Florida and drove it home to Illinois. 39K miles then, 43K now, loving it so far! It had some of the usual cosmetic problems (delaminating mirrors, etc.) but the interior was otherwise in nearly pristine shape--none of the scratching or fading I've seen on so many others out there. No roof problems or history of repairs, and I've used it quite a bit.

The roof has been working fine for me, using it nearly every time I drive. It even worked just fine today, and continues to function now. But today I noticed the telltale staining on the headliner over the passenger side. I removed the headliner, and sure enough, I found signs of hydraulic fluid on one of the hoses over the passenger side going to the back, and on the metal supports. I tried to take some photos but none of them really turned out well. I'll try again tomorrow.

The thing is, it doesn't look like the leak is coming from the top lock cylinder. It almost looks like it's coming from the back and dripping into the headliner, or possibly from a hose connection right next to where the active drip seemed to be over the passenger seat. Is this usually how this goes? From everything I've read here, it seemed like the typical failure mode was to have a seal on the lock cylinder fail and drip fluid down into the passenger side of the headliner. There is no fluid around my top lock cylinder.

Is it possible this is a hose or connection problem? Should I just tear the whole thing out and send it to Top Hydraulics now, or is there something else I should be checking?

And yes, I have searched the forum and I watched most of Klaus's YouTube videos before I even bought the car, just so I'd know what I might someday be getting into. I was just hoping "someday" would be a year or two down the road.
 
S
#3 ·
Check out tophydraulics.com
My opinion besides here best place to find answers for top problems
Klaus there is great.
Many dyi videos there and youtube
 
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#5 ·
It has to be the front cylinder leaking, and like Klaus states...remove all 5 cylinders and have them rebuilt.
It's worth the peace of mind.
The only other thing I can think of for hydraulic fluid leaking on the passenger side only is if someone installed a hose coupler in that location.
Electrical cable Trunk Carbon fibers Wire



Electrical cable Fuel line Wire Coaxial cable
 
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#6 ·
slk230red said:
The only other thing I can think of for hydraulic fluid leaking on the passenger side only is if someone installed a hose coupler in that location.
Click to expand...
I removed the headliner before posting here. There is a hose coupler, yes. The only active leak that I found yesterday was right next to the coupler on the right side.

A guy at the dealer that sold it to me, who was one of the previous owners of the vehicle, told me that the top cylinder had been "serviced" a few years prior, but he didn't have the records for that specific repair. The service records are otherwise excellent as listed in the Carfax he gave me.

Picture below, where you can see the couplings. I wasn't sure if these were normal or not. Obviously now I wish this was not the path the previous shop had taken.

Electrical cable Silver Wire Cable management Electrical wiring
 
#7 ·
The repair on yours was the easy way out, just cut the lines, rebuild the cylinder and reinstall using couplers.
Sounds like you have a nice '01 320, if you are planning on keeping the car I would contact TopHydraulics and talk to Klaus about exchanging yours for a rebuilt one, or having yours rebuilt with new hoses.

You might want to inspect the other 4 cylinders for any signs of repairs or rebuild. If they look original I would have all of them rebuilt by TopHydraulics.

Good luck.
 
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#8 ·
slk230red said:
The repair on yours was the easy way out, just cut the lines, rebuild the cylinder and reinstall using couplers.
Sounds like you have a nice '01 320, if you are planning on keeping the car I would contact TopHydraulics and talk to Klaus about exchanging yours for a rebuilt one, or having yours rebuilt with new hoses.

You might want to inspect the other 4 cylinders for any signs of repairs or rebuild. If they look original I would have all of them rebuilt by TopHydraulics.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
I suspect they're all original. My only hope is that whatever repair was performed on the front one was not done in such a shoddy way that it prevents proper rebuild by TH, or even worse, that it's a lousy aftermarket replacement. With low miles and an excellent interior, I do plan to keep the car a good long time. I'll dig into this more over the weekend, and I'll likely end up sending the whole thing to TH.

Honestly, I think I'm more annoyed that what appears to be the original headliner is likely trashed.

Thanks for the info.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I was going to ask you about the headliner, I'd be surprised if it's the original. I bought my 2001 new, always garaged, and in 2012 it completely fell down. I replaced it with a new one from MB and it also failed in 2020.
I recovered it with a charcoal foam backed fabric and like it better than the original.
If you decide to remove all the cylinders be sure to take lots of photos for reference.

Did you happen to purchase your SLK in Sarasota. Here's a company in Sarasota that does the rebuilds using hose couplers.
Cabriolet Hydraulics
 
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#11 ·
Bought it closer to St. Petersburg, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Cabriolet coupler. Guessing the shop that did the work just didn't tighten it properly.

Headliner looks original but I could be wrong. Pretty displeased about the whole situation, but it's not like I'm the first person to go through this.

Silver Linens

Grey Silver
 
S
#10 ·
When I did my Crossfire, I paid core charge and did the replacement one on one with original still in car.
Since old ones back , core charge was speedy returned
Klaus and his company are great.
 
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#13 · (Edited)
That occurred to me, and I was a bit worried about it, but I wasn't planning to use the core exchange service anyway. I'm completely fine waiting a few weeks for all the cylinders (and a bit more for the pump) to be sent back to me. I was hoping TH could replace the hoses.

Found this:

Top Hydraulics can now replace hydraulic lines, but there would be an additional charge of $50 per line.
Click to expand...
Small price to pay for peace of mind and a secure repair.
 
P
#16 ·
Had similar leak on mine several years ago (have owned my 2000 since 2003). The headliner needed replacement as it was beginning to fall down, sag. When headliner was off they found one cylinder with leak so had it replaced....3 years later another leak. This time when I replaced it we did the other three at same time...fortunately no leak damage, just intermittent failure to close the lid. As mentioned in prior post doing them all while liner is out is worthwhile...imo.
 
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