Power top question
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,365
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From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Power top question
Top won't open. Cover opens all the way and power top cycles to the first position where the bend is 90 degrees. Motor still humms but top wont move. All is in place. Safety in trunk is locked into place. I tried disconecting the battery and reconnected it then re indexed the windows. Did a search and found some stuff from 2005. No help. I was hoping that someone had figured it out since that thread or is it dealer time?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,502
Likes: 462
From: Southern Utah
Top won't open. Cover opens all the way and power top cycles to the first position where the bend is 90 degrees. Motor still humms but top wont move. All is in place. Safety in trunk is locked into place. I tried disconecting the battery and reconnected it then re indexed the windows. Did a search and found some stuff from 2005. No help. I was hoping that someone had figured it out since that thread or is it dealer time?
Page 2-73 in your manual ('08)
Last edited by cclive; Sep 30, 2009 at 12:35 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,365
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From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
I would expect that its one of the limit switches that tells the system where the top position is....but sounds like dealer time...sorry! You can always loosen the screw and just move the top by hand to see if it is a physical situation though. You should be able to put the top up by doing that...its in the manual.
Back in 05 it was so new that the early manuals said the hydraulics were under hood when they were indeed where we know them to be today. I guess they still don't have their s**t together with these things. From reading the old threads I figured just like you did (and I'm sure you're right) that it was one of those sensors. I'm curious as to why rebooting the whole system by disconecting the battery doesn't work??
Last edited by steve miller; Sep 30, 2009 at 02:35 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,365
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From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,365
Likes: 7
From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
I'll just wait for the dealer tomorrow now!
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Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
sorry it happened to you and your new car. hope it doesn't happen to me. and that's a pretty good explanation that I wouldn't have thought of, Chris! 
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
I'm 2 for 2 with the PT. If I had ordered the car I would have bought the manual top. Ten seconds later......
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
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From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
that's funny!
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2004
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I have experienced the same problem twice now, both times it was the limit switch. Unfortunately this is not a cheap repair at the dealer due to the time involved and the cost of the switch. On my car I couldn't even use the override relief valve to raise the roof manually. I was in Canada when it broke and needed to go to a dealer who disconnected the hydraulic lines to the cylinders to release the pressure that then allowed me to close the roof until I had time to go to a dealer to get it fixed.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,502
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From: Southern Utah
I wish they would not require the power top as part of 3LT....I would be happy to do without it, but not at the expense of the HUD and to a lesser extent, the heated seats.
The top is about as small a top as there is anywhere, so there really is just no need for power. It's just like the older 280SL Mercedes, it was a manual top and was VERY easy to do...without motors, hydraulics and all the added complexity and expense.
The top is about as small a top as there is anywhere, so there really is just no need for power. It's just like the older 280SL Mercedes, it was a manual top and was VERY easy to do...without motors, hydraulics and all the added complexity and expense.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,326
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From: louisville "derby city" kentucky
I have experienced the same problem twice now, both times it was the limit switch. Unfortunately this is not a cheap repair at the dealer due to the time involved and the cost of the switch. On my car I couldn't even use the override relief valve to raise the roof manually. I was in Canada when it broke and needed to go to a dealer who disconnected the hydraulic lines to the cylinders to release the pressure that then allowed me to close the roof until I had time to go to a dealer to get it fixed.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 8,285
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From: Iowa
I'm sorry to hear of this problem. I've had an '05 with PT for almost 3 years and have had some DIC "Top Not Secure" warnings but it has always worked fine. Best of luck and please publish the findings!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Follow up: Tech spent 10 minutes with a flashlight in the trunk. Pulled the carpet back and finally found what he call a loose wire attached to a cylinder. Sometimes power top issues work out alright
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,196
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From: Fairview, TX
This is an easy one. There is a switch where the pin goes in over the drivers seat. Just pop off the cover and adjust the switch a little.
