You sir produce some absolutely pristine, turn by turn instructional formatted videos. All the while being a somewhat soothing tone of voice to push me through this tedious displeasing job. Very well done and thank you for the instructional. It’s appreciated from sunny AZ. Enjoying my 1 owner SL500 M113!

@TopHydraulics

10 ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad the video are helpful. Congrats on a 1-owner '98+ R129 - one of the best made cars around and the torque from the M113 engine makes it a joy to drive!

These guys are awesome!

I did it 1 by 1. Perfect discription. Thank you.

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

Congrats, glad the instructions were helpful!

Thank you very much for the explicit tutorial.It is very helpful, whiteout your knowledge, it will be almost impossible to repair those cylinders. 👍

Thank you for the Video. I was unsure of how to get the panels off with wrecking something. The rest of your video was very helpfull.

A very thorough and concise video. Easy to understand and follow. Kudos to you sir …….. is there or will you post a video on how to rebuild the cylinder … replacing the O rings …. ?

Thank you for the verry detailed information , it s was very helpful!

Hi. I just bought this car and I don’t know why my top doesn’t work properly. There are no leaks. The thing is that if I reset the battery, it will work. I can open and close it. But when I drive with the top down somewhere it won’t close. I then have to manually close it and it won’t work again until I reset the battery again.

Very helpful thanks

thank you for your video. good

I wonder if main cylinder is remove should be rroftoop easier to manually open and close? Since is very heavy to be a 1 person job

@TopHydraulics

Жыл бұрын

I'm not sure that I understand your question properly. It is not terribly difficult for a single person to manually move the top. Make sure to move it the same way the pump would: hold the rear bow (the section with the rear window in it) up while raising and lowering the top.

I dropped the bolt once in the hole of the frame. It's a nightmare trying to fish it out. After a long while of trying with a flex jaw pick up tool finally got it out.

@TopHydraulics

3 ай бұрын

Congrats on getting the bolt out and thanks for sharing! I haven't dropped one yet myself, but the feedback is unanimous: you can get it back out with a lot of patience.

How does one establish these cylinders are faulty? I don’t see any visual leakage on any of the cylinders. My softtop is in closed position. If I open the top, the front unlocks and the back part lifts up but that’s it. When I try to close the top, the hinges upfront are not engaging. When I store the top in manually, the red button does not stop blinking. The battery has been dead a few times. Is this a module reset problem or a cylinder/actuator problem?

great video we have just bought a '92 SL500 and the leaking started with the Tonneau cover. I replaced those. Now the main on the driver side is leaking and with your video I think I can change it. How do I order from you?

@Hmmm313

3 жыл бұрын

replace all at the same time...

Be sure to not drop that main lift cylinder bolt! This particular cylinder section took me 1-2 hours longer than it should’ve, all because the bolt fell down into the frame. I had to go through so much more effort to retrieve it; had to take off additional panels near the seat area, engineered my own magnetic tools (mainly a magnet affixed to the end of a stiff but flexible wire), had to stick my hand down tight crevices. What can I say, it got frustrating. There were seemingly multiple locations it could’ve dropped into, and I couldn’t get a visual on it. So after a long time of probing each area, painstakingly peeling the magnet off of the walls before I reached the abyss where the bolt “could be” - I finally felt that highly sought after “grab” from the magnet accompanied by an audible “click.” It still took a while to carefully hoist the bolt back up without dropping it again, and fitting it through the hole that it was originally supposed to come out of. In the end, I got it done. Klaus is great, readily answers your questions. Top Hydraulics is great. Helpful tutorial! Much appreciated. Be blessed.

@yobfd

2 жыл бұрын

I can't imagine the pain. I CAN imagine the Forever Rattle you would hear if u had just replaced the bolt tho! Touche'!!

@optionalcoast7478

Жыл бұрын

Just did the same thing... FML

@ruslankontsimal7072

Жыл бұрын

@@optionalcoast7478 you’ll be fine, patience!

@optionalcoast7478

Жыл бұрын

@@ruslankontsimal7072 had to call over a guy from the neighboring shop to help me lol but we eventually got it

@ruslankontsimal7072

Жыл бұрын

@@optionalcoast7478 that’s excellent news to here! Now just be careful when trying again haha

Great video. I'll be giving you a call.

Hardtop not locking down in back. R129 1994 How i can do it ? Subscribe Search this Thread

I dropped the big bolt where you dont want to. I think the cars totalled now

@TopHydraulics

11 ай бұрын

You are not the first person this happened to. It takes some patience and a strong enough magnet at the end of a retrieval tool and you will be able to retrieve the magnet. So far, everyone I talked to managed to do it.

I'm putting this back together from a bucket of parts. I have many clips for hydraulic lines but the bottom line on the main lift cylinder seems different. Is it?

dear friend, help please, I need your advice I have r129 of 1999. Today I ran into a problem the back part opens the back part of the soft roof rises and the front part does not release The upper cylinders are not unlocked and the roof does not fold Changed the two upper cylinders to the original After replacing everything worked the roof folded and unfolded But today I encountered such a problem. Please help me figure out the problem. You are the only specialist in the hydraulic system. Thank you for your help and understanding

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

Which cylinders did you replace?

@ilgargurbanov4983

2 жыл бұрын

@@TopHydraulics I changed the two upper ones that stand above the windshield Everything worked but today I wanted to lower the roof and it does not fold The back part rises and the upper part does not

@ilgargurbanov4983

2 жыл бұрын

@@TopHydraulics maybe the oil level? after replacing the cylinders, the original was filled with new oil

@ilgargurbanov4983

2 жыл бұрын

what is responsible for unlocking the upper locks? what kind of fuse or microswitch? My upper locks cannot be unlocked and therefore the soft roof does not fold, I changed two upper cylinders

@ilgargurbanov4983

2 жыл бұрын

good time of the day I found what was the problem The key unlocked the upper part of the roof and with the help of a friend manually folded the roof I started the car and closed the roof with the open and close button Everything worked I checked the oil everything was ok

How do you manually raise the roll bar

These videos are great ! Thank you ! Quick question regarding the removal of the rear trim panels to access main lift cylinders, does it come out the same way when you have seats in the back ? Thanks !

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

Good question, I don’t know. Some customers abroad who have the rear seat told me that it was easy, but I did not get the details of how the hardware for fastening the seat affected the panel removal. If you could share in detail what was involved after you are done, that would be great!

@stephaneroels4253

2 жыл бұрын

@@TopHydraulics I'm about to make it the same way, with rear seats on my SL, thanks for your help.

Question my hard top roof won’t stay down or connect with locks and I already tried manually to shut the roof but it won’t happen any advice ?

On the R129, Is there any way to test the microswitch on top of the windshield?

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

There are two or three three switches on top of the windshield, depending on the model year. What is your model year, which switch are you looking to test, and why?

question: you do all the removal both sides while the top is down? You mention while doing the right side at about the 12:57 mark something about moving the top UP manually? can you explain.

@TopHydraulics

Жыл бұрын

We filmed part of this DIY with the top down because it was easier to film this way and because I prefer working on an open top. You could do the whole job with the top up if you prefer. It is difficult to remove the upper mounting pin on the main lift cylinder when the top is down. That's why we raised the top manually to get access to those pins. Ignition off, lift the top manually until it rests on the windshield. While lifting the top out of the storage compartment, be sure to lift the rear bow (rear window section of the soft top) together with the top, or it will get stuck.

@rioraton

Жыл бұрын

@@TopHydraulics Thanks again K

well, I think I'll try and magnetize a socket before attempting to retrieve those bottom bolts.

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

Good idea

Isn't it technically less effort to manually raise and lower the top than doing all this work?

@TopHydraulics

2 жыл бұрын

The R129 top is made to be operated manually only in emergency situations. Manually actuating the locks a lot will wear them out and you end up having an even bigger problem at your hands. Manually lifting the top without damaging the rear bow (the rear part of the soft top with the window in it) can be challenging for people who are less than perfect physical specimen...

@jksynapse

Жыл бұрын

I wonder if main cylinder is remove should be roftoop easier to manually open and close? Since is very heavy to be a 1 person job