SC430 top latch T30 screws fell out
09-24-16, 07:02 PM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
SC430 top latch T30 screws fell out
Hi,
Today I heard a clank when closing the convertible top and then an unusual amount of wind noise inside of the car when driving on the highway, eventually traced to the "claw" / latch on the passenger's side of the car which connects the roof to the windshield not fully engaging. I tried opening and closing the top again for a few cycles and wasn't successful to the point where I had to manually close the trunk in reverse position several times and was unable to get the read windows to close, even with several ECU resets. When I removed the right hand side upper plastic trim I'd found that all three T30 (Torx) screws which hold the "claw" / latch in place had fallen out. I put them back in place, reset ECU again for good measure and everything seems to be fine now. There appeared to be no real damage to the threads or evidence of previous use of any sort of threadlocker.
Ex-girlfriend hasn't been a problem for a few years and the valets that regularly park the car are all wonderful, it's completely unlikely that someone did this intentionally so chances are they've worked themselves loose over time. The right hand side seems to be well torqued, though I'm not sure if there's a spec for them.
While it seems rather odd to me, at ~161,000 I think I've been lucky to not have more problems with the convertible top. I've asked independent repair shops in the past (one of them which takes far better care of me than they should) as to any recommended maintenance or lubrication schedule for the top and they've all advised against messing with it till there's a problem in wanting to avoid attracting dust/dirt to additional lubricant. Is anyone doing anything special to maintain their top mechanisms or would you agree it's best to just leave everything alone? I'd imagine that whatever is used at the factory could be reapplied at specific places and certain fasteners retorqued to spec.
I've written far too much in hopes that this will catch for others in search engines should they ever run into the same problem.
Thanks in advance!
Today I heard a clank when closing the convertible top and then an unusual amount of wind noise inside of the car when driving on the highway, eventually traced to the "claw" / latch on the passenger's side of the car which connects the roof to the windshield not fully engaging. I tried opening and closing the top again for a few cycles and wasn't successful to the point where I had to manually close the trunk in reverse position several times and was unable to get the read windows to close, even with several ECU resets. When I removed the right hand side upper plastic trim I'd found that all three T30 (Torx) screws which hold the "claw" / latch in place had fallen out. I put them back in place, reset ECU again for good measure and everything seems to be fine now. There appeared to be no real damage to the threads or evidence of previous use of any sort of threadlocker.
Ex-girlfriend hasn't been a problem for a few years and the valets that regularly park the car are all wonderful, it's completely unlikely that someone did this intentionally so chances are they've worked themselves loose over time. The right hand side seems to be well torqued, though I'm not sure if there's a spec for them.
While it seems rather odd to me, at ~161,000 I think I've been lucky to not have more problems with the convertible top. I've asked independent repair shops in the past (one of them which takes far better care of me than they should) as to any recommended maintenance or lubrication schedule for the top and they've all advised against messing with it till there's a problem in wanting to avoid attracting dust/dirt to additional lubricant. Is anyone doing anything special to maintain their top mechanisms or would you agree it's best to just leave everything alone? I'd imagine that whatever is used at the factory could be reapplied at specific places and certain fasteners retorqued to spec.
I've written far too much in hopes that this will catch for others in search engines should they ever run into the same problem.
Thanks in advance!
09-25-16, 08:41 AM
#2
Here is a past conversation on this. I use silicone lubricant as to avoid dust collection. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...ing-in-sc.html
Last edited by Coleroad; 09-25-16 at 02:32 PM.
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