Have any of us tried installing a secondary battery, maybe in the trunk, that could be a slave to the top-operation exclusively? I believe the Merc SL has this type of setup....

 

I never operated the top mechanism unless the engine was running.
Here are a few pics of the cable and the quick fix with gorilla tape.Now the cable can not slide to the left like it use to. If you follow the cable under the carpet it will go thru a plastic ring . Lexus (in my opinion) should have move this plastic ring 1/2" more to the right so the cable will maintain the perpendicularity to the wheel that sits on it . In case I will have this problem in the future I will buy the plastic ring and install it properly.

 

Correct position of the cable .

 

Incorrect position of the cable.

 

What's the point of a "secondary battery" in the trunk? Your top just gets screwed up when that battery goes dead.

 

To clarify, I meant a 2nd battery that's also wired into the alternator, like the primary battery, and thus would be recharged while driving.... I thought maybe it would provide extra reserve power and not kill the battery as quickly if they were doubled-up.

 

Here is a photo with the tape attached. I know is a quick fix and probably unaesthetic but the multilayer makes a strong bound and that is what I need for now. Tape is attached underneath and on the side(right side) of the plastic part to fill the gap between the plastic part and the wheel that holds the cable. I also tighten the cable (see the next photo)

 

I decided to tighten the cable (a little).

 

In case you are wondering what's behind the carpet ??

 

And another one...

 

Finally a sign of relief , everything is back together.

 

adi, thank you very much for the photos!!! that cable will be on my checklist from now on.

 

Those are very helpful photos to have available.
Thanks a lot.

 

Thanks for taking the time to take and post the pics.

 

After more than 1 month, sadly I found out that my cable supposition was incorrect. Again my top mechanism will not close. Today I took the car to the Lexus dealer and I got an initial diagnostic stating:
"Scan check obd system failure code B2518"
Lexus suggested further diagnostic for open circuit at package tray motor circuit at 3 hours labor $336 + tax. After this they will tell me what is wrong and I will received an estimate of the labor + parts. I was told it could be the motor which is $1500 +6 hours labor. Anyway, I decided to do the labor myself take out rear seats and now I have access to all the electrical wires of the top mechanism. Here are some photos....
If anybody knows what that code B2518 more specifically means please let me know. Anybody knows since everything is accesible can I use some kind of meter to cascade and observe if the curent is intrerupted . Than I will just replace that cable or electronic component?