EddierRo

So I get in my car this morning and decide to drop the top. The trunk opens and the roof unlocks itself in its opening sequence. To my surprise the roof tries to open but does not. I hit the close button and the trunk comes back down and closes. I try to drop the top again and only the trunk opens but the roof does not retract. Does this sound like a bad top motor? Could it be that the top is confused. Is there a way to "retrain" the top?

mrblister

Does the trunk open all the way up and stop ? No other noises or motors ?

Buddy

EddierRo

Trunk opens all the way up and stops like it should. The roof appears to unlatch. When the top begins to retract it moves about an inch then stops. I can hear the motor trying to open the roof then it just fades.

mrblister

Have you done this with engine running ? If so I have heard before that if the battery is weak the cars computer will shut down various accessories to allow the motor to get as much juice as it needs to run . I would check the battery make sure cabels are tight and that battery is charged . If these things check out your probably going to have to take it in to agency. Is the car under warranty ? Or do you have extended warranty ?

Good luck

Buddy

EddierRo

I tried to do the manual roof fix and it only made things worse. The roof wants to open on one side and doesnt on the other. To make matters worse the locking hooks are stuck in the lock position so now the roof wont close . I will be taking it to the stealer.

mrblister

Have you had the engine running when you tryed to run the top .

Buddy

EddierRo

Engine was running when attempted to open the top.

FALCON1

Sorry to hear about the roof.
After 6 years of trouble free ownership I have wondered who among us would be one of the first to have a one way roof................

I can tell you that IF one motor goes down all must be replaced as they are sold in a packet or box of 13 motors.............never got a dollar amount for parts and labor but its one reason my tech said to get the extended warranty for another 6 years...................could reach 7-9 grand in my opinion but then again I am honest............stealership terms might be higher.

FALCON 1

EddierRo

I found the problem!! It turns out its not the motors but a cable on the driver side of the roof that is supposed to free the a latch so that back half of the roof can bend. This cable doesnt look to be retracting completely causing one side of the roof to open and the other side not too. It seemed odd that I could hear the motor working but then it got stuck. I have cycled the roof so I know the motors work but that cable continues to make the roof not open unless I manually free the latch on that side.

mrblister

Good news let us know what the fix was and what the cost is

Buddy

Roofless

Had a similar problem a couple years ago. Top would kind of start to lift up on one side and then stop. One of the cable holders in the roof had loosened and dropped the cable. Dealer put the cable back in place and tightened the holder. No more problems.

Sorry, I can't tell you where these holders (guides) are located, but the fix was easy, in that it took only 15 minutes.

LeslieRC

Sounds like the problem I experienced in the `02 SC430 I used to own. This happened to me in 2004. The dealer replaced one of the struts under warranty. The technician explained that this was because one of the cables wasn't working properly and that, outside of the warranty, a single strut would have (then) cost about $2700.

Habious

EddierRo,

I think I speak for many of us when I say, please keep us informed of what the final outcome (and price) is.

I've got a 2003 CPO SC430, with about a year left on the CPO warranty. Been toying with the idea of extending my extended warranty. If there's a potential (albet minor, considering the number of times this HASN'T come up on the forum) chance of a $4,000+ top repair, that will certainly be a factor in the decision!

For you, I really hope it's something simple like a slipped/broken cable.