HOW-TO: Repairing rear roller blind motor issue

[ivanned]

So I have had a problem with my rear blind: the motor will work but at a bottom or top position would not stop but start clicking. I assumed the electrical part of the motor was working and there was a type a mechanical failure. The motor has 2 parts and the mechanical has 2 gears turned by the electrical motor. One of the gears is the one on the picture and was damaged which was causing the clicking. I looked to just buy the gear but it is not available separately.


I am hoping to salvage a gear from a dead unit so please PM me if you have one.

Also I believe that the underlying reason for the failure was a nonfunctional stop switch which allowed the motor to run at a bottom most position and strip the gear.

However the top position also causes the same clicking effect and I did find a separate stripped part of the gear. The interesting part is that the top position does not seem to have a stop switch, so I am not sure how stripping of the gear is prevented for the top position.

In addition to replacing the stripped gear, I plan on replacing the faulty switch and hopefully the blind will be operating perfectly again.

I will add more pics for the overall process as it comes along.

Jimbo, did you have the same problem?

 

[Trae]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Both of mine click until I release the button at the bottom of the down/stowed cycle only.
So far, no clicking at the top/up cycle. I try to release the button just as soon as I hear that clicking.
Thanks for looking into this common problem. I will keep reading your posts for solutions.

 

[Jimbo]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Yes Ivan, I did once have this problem about 10 years ago....so I bought a whole new complete roller blind assembly and installed it myself. At the time they were about $300 wholesale, I imagine they are well over 5 or 600 now.

I applaud you tho for trying to fix it ! It's not such a great engineered design IMO....but no problems here since with the new unit.

I'm not sure you will find a suitable 'used' piece as it seems they all strip out at some point. But maybe not. LMK if you want new...25% off list and no shipping (but CT tax).

 

[ivanned]

I contacted a company and they said the original materials are pretty bad and to make it properly it will be minimum 400 dollars. My thought is that once we get the designs, they can make us many copies for minimal additional cost. The 400-500 should be only the initial cost.

I will need a group buy for that of at least 10 people for this to make sense this will split the initial cost.

I am still exploring another alternative but not sure it will work yet.

 

[ivanned]

Just sent the gear to a 3D printing facility. Let's see what happens.

 

[Ron500E]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Yes Ivan, I did once have this problem about 10 years ago....so I bought a whole new complete roller blind assembly and installed it myself. At the time they were about $300 wholesale, I imagine they are well over 5 or 600 now.

Jimbo:

Entire assembly is NLA, motor is $252, not sure if it includes the gear.

Before anyone reinvents the wheel, why not contact the manufacturer and see if they have a gear available?

R

 

[Glen]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Many cars have similar power blinds so you may be able to salvage parts from another car, even if a different make. Or you could try a used assembly, here's one from a newer MB on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/00-06-merce...ow-power-sunshade-215-810-00-20-/190759914133

 

[ivanned]

It would be great of I can use a motor from a newer model but I am wondering if the connectors are the same? Also would these motors fit the rods assembly that lifts the blind up? But yes that's worth considering. I just don't want to get stuck with a useless part. Ill see if I can get a used motor for cheap.

Jim, thanks for checking. And yes this is the price of the whole motor including the fear. My concern is the quality of the gear in the new one. I it is made from the same material it will fail again most likely.

Thanks guys!

 

[ivanned]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Just ordered a blind from a W220. The motor seems the same or at least very very similar. I will try to either use the motor, or use the whole blind if it is in a great shape and can be retrofitted. Worse comes I will just steal the gear from the working motor. I got the whole assy for 80 bucks shipped.

 

[Jimbo]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

I was on the dealers EPC a few hours ago...the W124 blinds 'ARE' available; there are some in Germany but the system was having problems and I couldn't get a count or color availability (thinking they are all super-ceeded to black now). But forget it... list now is 1790 $ !!

Good thinking Ivan...hopefully the W220 or even a W140 blind motor will work. LMK when you decide to bring the car up to CMC.

 

[ivanned]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Update: the W220 motor has the same dimensions and mount, but you also need the connecting disk from the blind of the w220. I will have to rivet the w220 disk onto the rods for the w124. I do not want to use bolts because if they get lose I will have to take everything apart again. There is no other way to make the w220 (heavier duty) motor work with the w124 blind. The reason is that the e124 disk has a hex fitting to the motor and w220 is a weird fitting. I will post pics when I confirm it is working.

 

[J-Sauce]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Mine finally froze up. Glad you're keeping us updated!

 

[Jimbo]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

I am surprised that anything electric from a W220 even works at this point !!

Good going Ivan...

 

[gsxr]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

I am surprised that anything electric from a W220 even works at this point !!

What? Kent says the W220 is a DIY car! And Kent is always right.... right?

http://mercedessource.com/video
http://www.youtube.com/mercedessource

Warning: Watching his entire 10-part series may cause blindness, insanity, or purchase of a Japanese car. What has been seen... etc....

 

[ivanned]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Hahaha good one Dave.

I think this motor may simply be an archaic leftover from the earlier models that they decided to use in the w220. It has exactly the same layout as ours and fits the same mount, and has the same wiring. I just need to find some place that can replace the spinner that is riveted to the lever rods with the one from the w220 and I will be ready to put this stuff together again.

 

[Glen]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Can you post close-up pictures of both so we can see what you are talking about?

 

[ivanned]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Here is the component I am describing: the disk with the hex insert is connecting to the w124 motor and the elliptical one is from the w220. I have to swap them because the connecting rods are different length. Also the insert is different.

 

[Glen]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

I see. Google "two piece rivets", I think you can swap them yourself fairly easily. Good luck!

 

[ivanned]

It worked !!!
The w220 motor is perfect. I will post some pics and a how-to. No need to spend on a questionable quality w124 motor. I was told that the gears in that motor are the cheapest ones that can be made. Also you can reuse the rivets.

 

[gsxr]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Cool! Did you get a new W220 assembly, or used? Part number?

 

[ivanned]

I got a whole assembly with the motor used from eBay for around 80 bucks. The car had only 60k miles on it. I'll check the PN and post it.
You can't use the w220 motor as a direct swap. The output shafts are a different pattern and the output shaft is part of the gear that fails otherwise it could have been used in the original motor and save the modification to the blind itself. I'll post pics. when I can.

 

[ivanned]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

This is a partial write up. The rest of the process is removing the rear blind from the car and taking the rod assembly that connects to the motor out. Once this is done you get the rods connected to the round center piece which in the case with the w124 setup is round with a hexagonal internal hex for the motor.

Here is the PN for the blind you need from a w220. The rods of the w220 assy. are asymmetric and cannot be used for the w124 blind. So the centerpieces have to be swapped.



These are the tools I used to remove the rivets that hold the rods to the center piece:

1. Hammer

2. Hammering pin

3. File

4. Two screws that can fit very snug within the gap between the sides of the centerpiece. (very important!)

5. Loctite (I used red)

IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO DRILL THE PINS OUT JUST FLATTEN THE TOPS SO YOU DO NOT SLIDE WHEN TAPPING ON THEM.



A: Lay the assembly on a two hard surfaces in a way that the rivet large end is unobstructed. Do not grind or tap the large end of the rivet because if you do you cannot reuse it. Tap the pins out. Do the same with the w220 rods and centerpiece.



This is the w124 centerpiece with the two 4mm diameter rivets out. KEEP THE RIVETS. You will have total of 4 rivets so if you damage 2 of them you have extras.



B: Reassemble the rods to the rear blind with the centerpiece without the rivets to ensure the assembly fits. It will be a snug fit, but it should align near perfect. Then MARK THE RODS AND THE CENTER PIECE IN THAT EXACT ORIENTATION SO YOU DO NOT CONFUSE WHICH SIDE THEY GO ON AND IF THEY ARE TURNED FACE UP OR FACE DOWN. I marked them 1/1 and 2/2. with a pencil but a permanent marker may be better.



C: Tap in the used rivets in with the w124 rods in place in the correct orientation and the w220 center piece in place.

D: Place the screws with the gap of the center piece as shown. They will prevent you from over-tightening the rod movement. The rods have to be loose when you are done, no resistance should be felt. The screws have to be snug in place.

E: Support the 2 rods and lay the center piece on a hard surface with the open ends of the rivets facing up. They should be a 1-1.5mm higher than the level of the centerpiece.

F: Place the back of the hammering pin onto the rivet and hammer the open end until it becomes flat and flush with the center piece.

G: remove the screws and make sure the rod moves freely

H: repeat for the other rod




I: Reassemble your blind with the w220 motor in reverse order and you are done. I used LOCTITE in the bolts holding the motor just in case.

**Remember that you have to swap the electrical connector from the w124 motor to the w220 motor. In addition flip the harness connector in the car that goes to the motor. This connector is detachable, so it takes 30 sec.

If you want to get new rivets that is also an option, but you don't really need to. Shops around the area wanted 2-300 bucks to do what I just did for 30 min with minimal tools.

Special thanks to Glen for giving the idea!

 

[Jlaa]

Re: Rear Blind motor issue

Thanks for posting this Ivanned. I am considering to conduct the same surgery on my own rear sunshade. Indeed the symptoms are very similar. It goes up fine (with no clicking). It also retracts fine. However, and the end of the retraction, the sunshade mechanism starts clicking and the end of the sunshade just flops there on the rear deck. I need to take my hand and "help" the sunshade end back into the housing.

So I am looking at part number 220-810-00-20 as you suggest (the W220 sunshade motor mechanism). There are seemingly bazillions of these on ebay, ranging in price from $40-$120.

What should one look for when selecting this mechanism on ebay (other than - "it works").

Thanks