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Thanks for watching. I’m happy to have helped.

@@HandyVal 👍🙏⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The 600s can run hotter, but not by much. Is it 110C in stop and go traffic? Or is it at that temp at decent highway speeds too? The aux fans should come on just before 110C. Damage is done at 125C. So you’re close to it, but still have some safety. Make sure your aux fans are working, and then try a coolant refresh, and try the viscous fan test. When the car is off, can you free move the viscous fan? Or does it barely move. If it freely moves, then that’s likely your culprit. I hope this helps. Keep me informed.

Are the ASR and ABS light both off now that you replaced your brake light switch?

@@HandyVal no

Do you have any performance issues, with the lights on? Like poor acceleration?

@@HandyVal not yet

Hopefully, you figured it out by now. What year is it?

@@HandyVal it’s 04. Bought 04 ones and they’re not right. I don’t have clips on mine, I have a little pin, so you lift them up and slide them off the pin. I figured how to do it, I just can’t find them to buy.

My suggestion is to find a local retailer who sells Bosch.

Happy to have helped!

Helped tremendously ​@@HandyVal Now the fans are working. I paid 800 for my 1995 SL320. Guy could t get it smogged because the EGR Valve was seized. Replaced that and then got it smogged, but I noticed the car was getting warm 105°c when I ran the AC and the fans weren't kicking in. Fixed the fans, changed my thermostat, changed clutch fan, flushed rad and changed the coolant and ran water wetter in it, and now I can run the car with AC on 4 in 104° F weather at idle and the car won't exceed 95°C

That’s an amazing deal. And with a little bit work, you now have a car operating like new. And oh, it’s an R129 - a super cool car. It’s win-win-win!

The cabin air filter is in the glove box. I have a video on how to replace it.

Thank you. The cleaning is fairly simple and it has a lot of short term and long term benefits.

The wire color should be the same blue one for all second generation CTS, including the 2009. I have no reason to be it’s different. Let me know.

Pleasure to help. Thank you.

I’ll try to help as much as possible. The good thing is that 100C is a reasonable temperature in stop and go traffic. No harm is being done to the engine. Damage is done at about 120. I’d be worried at about 110. Good news is that your aux fans are working. Also, you travelled a short distance before realizing the lid was missing and the coolant needed a top-up…again no damage could have been possible. So good news. Now to solve why it’s going to 100, when previously it was 90. Can you ensure the lid they used was yours? And not a random one from another car manufacturer? Those lids are meant to keep a certain pressure, and are marked for a certain pressure, typically it’s 140KPA but do a search for your car. Keeping the system pressurized properly keeps the car cooled properly. Second what thermostat did they put in? Those thermostats have temperature ratings too. Original specs from Mercedes is 87C. So when the coolant temperature reaches above 87, then the coolant is circulated around the engine. The thermostat they put in Might have been a different spec, and so you get different temperatures. Does the temperature begin to fall once it reaches 100C? It could also be a faulty thermostat. It can happen, and may be worth a replacement.

@@HandyVal@HandyVal Thanks, Val, well. I watched your video on replacing the header tank and followed the instructions to help bleed the system. I had the heater on full temp and drove up and down some hills. That seems to have cured it, and the car is back to running at normal temperatures, even after a good blast on an autobahn and the straight into stop-start traffic she stayed in the high nineties. Normal driving she is back to 84C, thanks again.

Excellent news! Great to know the car is back to normal. Happy to have helped. 😃

Let’s try to fix it. Are there any performance issues when driving the car? And is the ABS light on too?

@@HandyVal well lets see as soon as the ASR light comes on the first half of the pedal is useless the acceleration is done only in the second half..No ABS light on.And thats kinda it nothing else happens beside the acceleration control..

Without the ABS light we can shorten the list of things to consider and look at, which is a good thing. I assume you tried some of the basic things in the video…battery is good, tried unplugging it and then turning the steering wheel? It seems like it can be related to your electronic throttle actuator or the accelerator cable. Try the accelerator cable first by tightening it a bit. I should have asked earlier, what year and model is it?

Thank you. I appreciate it. Happy to help as much as possible.

I certainly have read and heard about this rolled towel trick, but I’ve never witnessed it, and I’ve never attempted it myself. I can understand how it prevents the windows, rear and side from folding ‘like a book’ to a much more gentler, rounded fold. I think it’s tricky to slide the towel in while the roof is folding - the risk is that when the towel is laid it misses the mark and then gets caught with the roof metal folding frame parts and potentially bends those frames. I’d love to see a video on it too. I think our soft tops could all benefit from a tutorial on how to do it. I’ll try myself and if confident enough I’ll share the technique.

The engineers screwed up this one. They’ve jammed a lot into the engine bay, without little extra room. It’s certainly doable, but it’s a process.

Congrats on the R129 purchase! The older tanks have a design flaw where they will eventually leak from the neck, where metal meets plastic. I call it a design flaw… but some are still doing fine after 30+ years! Thanks for subscribing- much appreciate it. More content is being planned.

No adjustments are needed/required. Can you get them to fit? There is some play with the trunk opening further when no struts are stopping it.

@@alextaylor1882 It can work well too, but you need to make sure the wires are twisted together and the electrical tape is nicely wrapped around the wires. Doing so, will make it hold. It won’t hold as long as the method shown in the video, which is a more permanent method.

@HandyVal I'll give it a shot. Hopefully it can stop it from going out at all.

Thank you. Glad it was helpful - much appreciated.

Thanks for the comment. Head gaskets failures are mostly based on age, mileage and notably overheating engines. I do believe that using the car, and not having it sit for long periods of time, keep gasket material moist, lubricated and make them last longer. Your point is well taken that head gasket materials have come a long way and Mercedes has corrected their past flaws.

It’s certainly true. Jumpstarting these cars will fry its convertible roof module. It was not the situation when the cars were newer, but it’s a common problem now, as most of these cars are over 30 years old, and they are sensitive to electric jolts. It won’t happen for every jumpstart but it’s risky, and I recommend nobody ever do it.

Thank you! I much appreciate the feedback. I am so happy I got you through it.

Haha. Happy to help out, as much as I can.

Thank you. Happy to help. 😃

This doesn’t feel right. I know on the 202 they moved to a single sensor starting in either 1996 or 1997. But nonetheless, we need to be 100% certain it’s a faulty sensor or poor instrument cluster connection. So let’s be 100% certain the car isn’t overheating. To do this, you can use an infrared thermo gun (~$25 on Amazon) and point it to the thermostat cover. If that temperature is less than 100C then we know it’s not overheating…and we can investigate further from there. Does the car have any other problems - poor cold starts? Or poor warm starts? I’m trying to gauge if it’s just easier for you to replace the coolant temperatures sensor with a new one.

Hi Val, thanks for the reply. It doesn't show any other issues and I took it for a long drive today up to higher speeds and in traffic without it going over 85°c. When I pulled up on my drive and applied the handbrake and Park gear, the needle shot up to red and the aux fans came on. The needle isn't erratic, it just glides ride up to red.

It does have one sensor on the thermostat housing with the others capped off.

No issues with cold or warm starts as of yet.

I use a thermal imaging camera at work and will use it on the thermostat on Saturday when I'm next in. I'm guessing I should do it when the car is warmed up?

Larry. I’m sorry but this is something I don’t know. I’ll check my files and see if I have an electrical diagram but I don’t think I have it. If I do find it, I’ll let you know and I can forward it to you.

Thank you! This video covered, in my mind, so many important diagnostic details. Happy to have contributed to your R129. 😃

There are ways to repair them, but it’s not worth it. It’s best to buy them new - they’re cheap and readily available by good companies like Bosch.

😂 Red looks awesome on a Fusion.

@@jayi836 Many thanks. Always appreciated. It’s a good topic and I’m happy to provide a few options for the DIY.

The seat fix from the video was completed exactly 3 years ago…and the bond is as good as ever. I’ve never had to redo it since. The next level of fix is to use a small strip of plastic or metal, which is then glued and screwed into the seat plastic - this will make it bomb proof. What type of bond/glue did you use? I’ve had great experience with JB Weld on this fix and many other fixes. It’s even fixed a hair line crack on a metal coolant pipe…and still going strong after a few years.

Oh… I know, the suffering we endure to keep them clean. I use two rim cleaning tools. I now use a ceramic paste wax specifically made for rims (McKees is the brand). It’s better. My fronts have Akebono ceramic pads so the dust is minimal, but they still get dirty from road grime. The rears are standard brake pads (I bought Akebono for them too, but I haven’t installed them yet), and so they get much dirtier, much faster.

That’s a smart tip on tilting the seats forward - thank you! Regular leather conditioning is ‘a must’, I agree completely with you.

This method works and is a good method. It’s a variant of the video’s Method 3. It’s good because the clamp holding the reservoir tank is never removed. The only caution I have with the method you describe - is that you should only use clean ZH-M fluid to swoosh around the reservoir to clean it. Never put any other cleaning liquid in there because you can never be 100% confident you can take it all out. Thanks passing along this method.

@@HandyVal@HandyVal, your video is great. I never thought of disconnecting the return leg and draining all of the old fluid while topping up the reservoir with new fluid.

Thanks. The technique you used, is what I call Method 2 in the video. Most of us, like you, are in disbelief just how dirty the fluid can get. I am a big fan of Top Hydraulics and Klaus and his replacement cylinder videos. I love the AMG Sport Package on the R129 - great car and great purchase. Keep enjoying it.

Thank you. This is one area of maintenance that is a fairly easy DIY but yields a lot of future savings.

Thanks for sharing this. I’m with you, I’m a strong believer that with preventative and regular maintenance these cars, and others, will keep on driving and going for many, many years to come. The alternative leads to breakdown and expensive repairs.

Klaus from Top Hydraulics is beyond any doubt, one of the best experts in the world on convertible tops. His company's products and services are excellent.

33 years and clear fluid is amazing! Whatever you are doing, keep doing it. On many R129s it's very common that it gets dirty...actually it turns black. My suggestion of annual maintenance was really about Method 1 - removing what's in the reservoir and then adding fresh fluid. I appreciate you sharing your experience and thoughts on this practice.

"How dirty can it get?" Even though it's a sealed system,it will naturally have a breakdown of the fluid,it will have deterioration of seals,and it will have the metallic deposits due to the natural function of the cylinders. This is why some will look black. If yours is clear still,that is fantastic,but I have had 4 r129s, and it is not the norm. Just curious,do you use your top a lot? I could see one with seldom use staying much cleaner than one with moderate use.