Wine Guy

Has anyone had problems with their retractable top not fully releasing? The trunk lifts up and out of the way fine and then the roof latch starts to unhinge but both passenger and driver side latches stop as if caught on something. The roof has a gap about 3/4 of an inch when it gets stuck. Any ideas?

EddierRo

Remove the headliner and make sure everything is working properly. Sometimes one of the roof motors will go out causing the roof not to open. Good luck!

VVTiBob

There is one roof lock motor which simultaneously unlatches the driver and passenger side. But there are three switches controlling the action. One checks open status and two, one for each side checks locked status. But there are about 20 other switches and motors which all have to reach certain predesignated states for the next movement to be signaled and the roof ECU which watches over everything.

The car also stores trouble/malfunction code(s) when something goes wrong, there are about 40 codes. By the way, did both rear windows retrack properly?

From the description you posted it reads like the Roof Lock Motor is NOT retracting the latches all the way. The problem could be the motor, the gear drive, or latch assembly or ECU. There is a thermistor which can be tripped if the unit overheats.

First check the fuses in the trunk luggage block. There are five, yes five, covering the motors and switches. They all should be 20 Amps. If all the fuses are intact, then its probable time to pull the trouble codes.

But if you feel adventurous there is a manual gear drive tool in the trunk. If you go to this THREAD and posts 8 and 9, specifically there are two items you want to look at; a partial diagram and a manual close TSB. There also are instructions in your owner's manual.


Finally, sometimes the ECU just gets confused... believe it or not, sometimes it can be reset by just disconnecting the power for a few minutes. (battery terminal). Yes you may loose some presets, stereo and seat position memory, but it may fix the problem, (no guarantees).

Wine Guy

Thanks for the info! I love this forum.

Yes, both rear windows roll down without a problem. The roof latch moves and then both struggle to release but it never releases.

dag8882

did you ever find a solution to this problem?

ser67

Mine will sometimes struggle to unlock itself, and you can feel it 'pulling' itself away from the windscreen and hesitating.

Its stopped twice before, but I just push the open button again and its on its way.

Idaho430

We are struggling with the EXACT same issue currently on our (new to us) '02. You might want to consider lubricating all the mechanisms that latch on both the windshield side (female parts) and roof side (male.) I found mine had never been lubricated by the factory, dealer or previous owners and they are supposed to have a fair amount of white lithium grease on them. It has helped my situation, although not apparently cured it yet.

dag8882

As per EddierRo & VVTIBob suggestions i decided to remove the headliner for further inspection as to what could possibly be causing this issue.

&So for once, I'd like to think I may be actually contributing useful info to the club forms members .

after much research and disassembling the roof liner I was able to determine the actual cause
for my roof malfunction(exact same symptoms wine guy, s e r 67,Idaho 430 were experiencing)

its a motor located front dead center once headliner is removed,this motor controls the arms which simultaneously unlatches the driver and passenger side locks that latch roof into place once in the closed position.

After disassembling the motor I was able to see the gears were actually broken. simple case of wear and tear It seems.

took some pics, if any of uguys happen to run across this part please notify me for a prompt sale.
thanks in advance guys!!! & good luck!

WOULD ANY1 kindly HELP ME FIND PART# PBT-GF40 FOR THIS ROOF MECH? if so please PM me or jot down for all us CL members to know. thanks agian

Scarletti

Have a look at http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...C430-2002.html. You may have to get an assembly rather than just the gear itself.

ser67

Looks promising, but for non-mechanical people like me, any chance you can post a picture showing where it is broken and what is missing ?

It may already be in the pictures, but perhaps point it out ?

thanks

Wine Guy

I still haven't fixed the roof latch. My wife works for a Toyota dealership, so I get a labor rate discount. I will post the fix when i bring it in to them. I've just been lazy with the car but busy with life.