Ruairidh

Hi,

So my convertible roof is not unlatching when I press the switch. Any and all advice greatly appreciated.

There is a noise from the rear like the motor is trying to work but neither right nor left front latch try to work.

note I disconnected the convertible roof lowering mechanism some years ago, I have had no problem using the electric latches and then manually lifting/lowering the roof since then.

Finally is there any connection between the switch and the stuck shift? Does the stick lever have to be in neutral for the convertible top to work?

Norse_man

Not sure if it needs to be in neutral or not. But the car cannot be started or ignition turned all the way. Let turned in the second position before the start position for things to work up or down.

Ruairidh

Thanks - got the ignition thing down. The neutral question is because my linkage has just been adjusted

Norse_man

Could be, I've never tried putting the top up or down while its in gear.

Gus

First what changes have you made to the tops system. It sounds like there is no current getting to the latch motors to allow them to operate. This can be caused by several conditions. The micro switch in the latches could be bad - but don't think both would fail at same time. The issue could be in a broken wire that does happen where the wire makes a 90 bend going to the front along the passenger side at the top of the roof line and "B" pillar. There is a lot of flexing at this point as the top is raised and closed.
The noise you hear in the rear is not good if this is the main drive motors. This should only begin once roof has been pushed up by latch motors. Have you made any changes in this area?

Ruairidh

Gus, the only change I made was to disengage the drive to the roof lowering/raising mechanism some years ago. IIRC there is a simple, easily reversible, way to disengage the power thus in effect turning the car into a manual roof with the electric latches at the front operating as normal. For years this has worked well.

Gus

Ok - understand, several folks have gone this route. If you have not done anything else then you need to determine why the latch motors are not getting power. You will need to remove the rear interior panel on the passenger side and find the power plug for the cable (numerous electrical wires ) that run up the "B" pillar and goes forward to the latches. You will need to remove the inside cover on the inside of the front of the top to gain access to the wiring that goes to the latches. Ron a check between the latch wires and the plug contacts to make sure each wire is good. This takes a little while as I can't recall which color wires go to what. But first check the main fuse to make sure it is good. It has been a while since I had this issue and I trying to recall what steps I took to repair. Sorry

tfitch03

I experienced this same problem. For me it turned out to be a bad solder in the control box (or whatever its called) on the driver's side up under the dash. It is located pretty much above the brake pedal behind some other control box that I think must control the gauges because it has VDO printed on it and if I remember correct it is metal colored. I dont have pictures of it but there are some somewhere on this forum. The convertible top box is about 4"X4" and black, held in by 2 nuts. It isnt hard to take out just awkward. It has 4 plugs going into it.

After removal you can open it up and check over the circuit board. I hit all the solders for good measure, put it all back together and the top operates great again!