03 Z4, Roof wont unlatch / red light blinking

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:58 am

Hi folks,

I have read tons of posts about the micro-switch, the red hydraulic disabling switch, the drains, the rear left hydraulic motor, the trunk rack being in low position, manual opening and whatnot. But my problem is that I can't even get my roof to unlatch from its closed position. Now i realize this is ideal to it being stuck open, but I still want to operate my top, here are my specifics:

Top was working fine today, I got in and went down a few blocks, came to a stop and decided to drop the roof, the windows went down halfway, the front motor made the typical noise to unlatch...but then nothing happened. I tried pressing it again and nothing, now I am dealing with a permanent red blinking light, I tried initiating the closing sequence thinking it would reset something and allow it to reopen, and it will whirl and the motor will then loudly squeal but the red blinking light remains.

I am not sure what the problem is, most people have the top unlatch and then it wont go down, or its down and it wont go up, but i couldnt find any posts of somebody with their top failing to unlatch. I opened the center panel in the top and fiddled around with the hex key but nothing seemed to loosen/unlatch and I felt like I was going to just make it worse so I left it alone.

Some sensor or something failing to engage is all I can think of but I have no idea where to begin the diagnosis.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks,

Bob

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:03 am

Follow-up, it worked the next morning just fine! Then that evening it wouldnt lower again. Is there some setting that stops the top from going down at night? I have read the thermostat can affect this, but my car reads the outside temp accurately and this is 75+ degree weather...I am confused how this is occurring.

Crazy Harry · Post by **Crazy Harry** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:34 am

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum - quite a few members on here can advise you; just that there are only a few of us active at the moment and I'm not one of them in the know. I guess from the temp that you're not in the UK though as here you're never too far away from help.

How about posting some pics of your Zed (its a forum thing!) and sunshine (its almost autumn here and the days are starting to get shorter and cooler already) while you wait for a roof expert to come along.

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:47 am

Hey thanks for the reply, here's my Z.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:00 pm

It’s certainly not thermostat or night time related! If the unlatch motor is operating but its not physically unlatching it could just be the latches need greasing. If you can get it open again make sure to apply some grease on the latch points.

Crazy Harry · Post by **Crazy Harry** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 9:20 pm

Nice clean looking Zed - and a roadster

- well we knew that!

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:30 am

ph001 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:00 pm It’s certainly not thermostat or night time related! If the unlatch motor is operating but its not physically unlatching it could just be the latches need greasing. If you can get it open again make sure to apply some grease on the latch points.

But it works everyday with no problems. It simply doesnt work at night! lol This is the weirdest thing ive ever dealt with, it's as if there is a PM-Disabling button. 11PM rolls around and it wont go down, but next morning I leave for work, it goes up and down just fine.

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:15 am

Just as an experiment I went ahead and kept the top down before nightfall. Now it is down and wont go up at night either lol. It is the latch, it simply wont unlatch at night, this is the oddest situation.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:30 am

What sort of ambient temperature differentials are you experiencing between night and day where you live? I wonder if the cooler / warmer temperatures are affecting the alignment of the catches somehow. Have you greased the contact points as mentioned before?

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:31 am

BMAD wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:15 am Now it is down and wont go up at night either lol

...do you mean the roof isn't moving at all or just the latches aren't engaging properly?

Jembo · Post by **Jembo** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:46 am

... this is what gives these cars such character.

I never had this issue with my old E85, though I did keep it mainly garaged, cleaned drains & tried to squirt the odd bit of WD40, not sure if it ever hit anything but must have just been lucky

Hope u find the fix soon

BMAD · Post by **BMAD** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:45 am

ph001 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:30 am What sort of ambient temperature differentials are you experiencing between night and day where you live? I wonder if the cooler / warmer temperatures are affecting the alignment of the catches somehow. Have you greased the contact points as mentioned before?

I live in California, it ranges from 70* to 96* right now, it cant be because its too cold. I cant see it being a need for lubricant as everything works perfect in the day. The motor runs, the latches simply wont disengage, though i hear it seeming to try.

I am going to try one more experiment tomorrow with leaving the top 90% closed without latching and seeing if it will close and latch itself.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:03 am

BMAD wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:45 am The motor runs, the latches simply wont disengage, though i hear it seeming to try

..at the risk of repeating the above, that sounds exactly like the conical pins sticking in the holes. It's important that both these areas are well lubed. Use a thick grease on the conical pins and a good quality spray grease on the black latches.

: roof latch 1.jpg (151.18 KiB) Viewed 1856 times

: roof latch 2.jpg (103.31 KiB) Viewed 1856 times

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:38 am

You can see how the latch mechanism is operated on this image. There is a single motor in the centre that operates both latch mechanisms via a flexi coupling...

: roof latch 3.jpg (89.4 KiB) Viewed 1851 times

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:40 am

This You tube video describes how it works and how to access the motor. Maybe you have a gearbox issue as suggested in the video but I wouldn't really expect that to work sometimes and not others....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCbHnwZ-Ig

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