How to replace soft top motor without removing roof.. DONE!

Found someone online who wrote that they suffered from a "fractured relief valve body". That got me thinking. Mike, do you think it's possible that the bypass valve works well in one direction (closing the roof) but doesn't seal completely in the other direction (opening the roof)? I'm thinking of switching the hydraulic lines and also switching the electrical connections to test if this reverses the behavior. Would such a test work?
 
ch_ryqmhho said:
Mike, thank you, found the part and figured it out in the meantime. Who would have thought that such a tiny piece of metal makes all the difference. Luckily the disc wasn't worn too badly yet and now the rattling has stopped and the pump is actually working!

Now the roof is (mostly) moving and I am experiencing a phenomenon that I noticed before the motor gave out in the first place: while the system can easily close the roof, it doesn't have enough "pull" to open it from the closed position. I need to help manually. Interestingly, a couple times I managed to move the roof back and forth a little bit several time and the pulling strength increased to the point that it could open by itself. After closing the roof again it was back to being too weak though.

Any ideas? I understand that this is not a motor issue anymore. I'm clueless though.
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Mine does that, the pump on it is weaker in one direction than the other. I've confirmed this by swapping the hoses, and it does it in the other direction. I've had the pump out, stripped it and messed with the two adjustments, it's better, but still not perfect, needs a shove with the hand to get it opening, but is fine then and closes perfectly. Keeping my eye out for a used pump so I can rip mine to pieces and have a play to see what fails. In the meantime, I just hit the button for half a second (gaptech RCH+ fitted) and as it unlocks I accelerate away which makes it open on it's own, and is also a good xcuse for getting off the line sharpish "Officer, I was opening my roof, honest...)

Mike
 
Ducklakeview said:
...Keeping my eye out for a used pump so I can rip mine to pieces and have a play to see what fails.
Mike
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When mine failed I replaced it with a new unit, but then decided to have a go at reviving the faulty one. Not surprisingly it was easily resurrected and I've tested it in the car successfully. It's been sitting in the garage as 'insurance' should the new unit suffer the same fate as the original (hopefully not as the car is kept garaged and doesn't go out in the wet much).
Perhaps we could work something out between my soft top motor and your modded exhaust? :)
 
Mike, so I'm not the only one with that problem...good to know. I wonder why the pump works better in one direction than the other. You mentioned some adjustment screws....are there any pictures or diagrams to be found anywhere? Would like to have a look at it. You don't think it could be the bypass valve that doesn't seal properly in one direction?
I'm currently looking to sell the car, so I need this fixed completely. Is a new hydraulic unit the only way out then?
 
ch_ryqmhho said:
Mike, so I'm not the only one with that problem...good to know. I wonder why the pump works better in one direction than the other. You mentioned some adjustment screws....are there any pictures or diagrams to be found anywhere? Would like to have a look at it. You don't think it could be the bypass valve that doesn't seal properly in one direction?
I'm currently looking to sell the car, so I need this fixed completely. Is a new hydraulic unit the only way out then?
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Remove the big jubilee clip and inside these are 2 x 4mm hex headed bolts, try adjusting them half a turn in each direction..

Mike
 
Mike, thanks once again. I will have a look at that. I assume that it will be a time consuming process considering that I have to drain/refill the hydraulic reservoir every time I want to see the effect of an adjustment of the bolts.
 
Mike,

just took a look at it. Were you referring to the two bolts visible in this picture on the side of the metal block? From your first description it sounded like I had to take off the fluid reservoir...

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Anyway, if these two bolts are adjustment screws then I'm screwed (pun!). They don't move at all; completely rusty. Trying to turn them only strips them :(

Do you know if the whole pump can actually be taken apart? It's so frustrating to have come so far and still have to buy a new unit for $500.
 
Good afternoon,

I have been accompanying this forum for some time, which is very useful for me.
I live in Brazil, where convertibles are very rare and the workshops do not have the necessary knowledge to perform the repairs. Sorry for the grammatical errors (I used the google translator to write this post).
A few months ago the hood of my BMW Z4 did not work. At first I could hear the sound of the electric motor. Then even that noise stopped.
Yesterday I removed the rooftop and the electro-hydraulic motor, to which I verified that water had entered. I performed the kerosene bath, which caused the electric motor to run again. However, despite hearing the engine noise, the rooftop does not move, that is, it just unlocks.
I suppose there was a problem with the bypass system.
In order not to need to remove the hood again to service the engine, I cut the attachment point of the engine's plastic cover to one of the pillars of the hood. I removed the plastic part from the bowden cable attached to the motor, and saw that the supposed bypass button is fixed (it does not move out or inside the housing). I used v40 oil to try to unclog it, but it did not change anything.
I think the problem is the bypass release. What should I do to release the button?
 

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Hey mike, my '08 z4 roof has stopped working, it unlatches/latches but doesn't go up or down. Any chance you could help? Thanks
 
Going to attempt mine this weekend - thanks for the helpful advice here posted.
I'll take photos etc. as I go in case they're helpful for anyone and report back how I get on.
 
Hi all, today I finally finished relocating the soft top motor from the water tank to the boot. So I’d just like to say a big thank you to all you great people who have contributed to this thread, especially to Beynon5 for getting the ball rolling and his advice on how to go about the job, owm for providing the link to another pdf guide which was also useful, Enzed4 for his insights and Mike Ducklakeview with his encyclopaedic knowledge.
Needless to say, my thanks also go to the Z4 Forum website and those who keep it going.
Cheers!
Robert.
 
Hi there,
With the help of this thread I've managed to successfully remove my motor.

I note Our Guru Mike mentioned that virtually all motors are salvageable...

I've struggled however. Despite getting it out soon after failure and cleaning it up it has refused to operate.

It span freely on removal but despite a couple of minor jerks when powered up it has refused to spin....

There is talk of soaking in diesel, wrapping in a WD40 soaked bag but wondered old there is a best fix.... I note that it looks like it will separate further.

Thanks in advance.

Athers.
 
Hi Athers,
Mine wouldn't turn on removal. I let it dry out for a couple of days as it had been sitting in 150ml of brown water for God knows how long. After that I gave it a good dose of WD, tapped the casing a few times with a small hammer and turned the motor spindle at the base of the unit with a pair of pliers a few times. It then fired up no problem although it wouldn't lift the roof as the bypass valve had become stuck in bypass mode (a relatively easy fix as it turns out). I did notice however that when I was tapping the casing that a few flakes of rusted metal fell out of it, so I'm wondering if something like that might be jamming your motor. Good luck.
Robert.
 
Robert hi....

Sorry I didn't phrase that very well.

The motor was and is still spinning freely...i think I got it out in good time.

It just won't run.

I see there is a circuit board at the bottom...im getting 12 volts there so that may well be the culprit...

The motor doesn't seem to want to come apart...looks crimped together.
 
Sorry about the misunderstanding. I know what you mean re the circuit board, mine was covered with a brown residue when I removed it but thankfully kicked into life. Can't advise further but hopefully someone will.
Robert.
 
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Athers?....thers?.......hers?.........ers?.............rs?............s?................?
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