Roof problem... Ouch

M

Maxsam

Senior member
 Blackpool
Whilst the rest of the country seems to be bracing for snow today, we have bright sunshine, so got the car out pressed the button for the roof down... red light flashed windows dropped and then nothing.. light continued to flash no roof motor noise no movement. turned off ignition and restarted car pressed roof down again no flashing lights :( Guess I have fallen foul of the failed roof motor. No pre-warning last used the roof a week ago worked fine, no lag no strain. Damn.. I said worse at the time...!!!
 
Condolences. :( Probably should check the fuses on the off chance...
They are numbers 31 and 55.
Perhaps take solace in the fact you are now a member of a very popular sub-group of the forum? :roll:
 
Have you checked the rear shelf is down? i gave myself a heart attack and then found it was up slightly so roof cant go down.
 
This has recently happened to me but have not had the time to dedicate to it over the last couple of weeks.

Do the soft top up/down lights flash if there is a problem i.e luggage cover not correctly positioned or the mircro switch u/s also knackered motor?

My situation could been caused by several reasons,

1. jam packed boot. (only just room to lower luggage cover) poss knacker Micro switch.

2. As I was about to drive through Glen Coe on a frosty but clear and beautiful morn, I hadn't thought about the fact the roof may be frozen shut thus hopefully resulting in a blown the fuse. Same scenario though...flashing red, then ignition off. Checked luggage cover position, flashed her back up and nowt :cry:

3. Motor u/s. hope it isn't this as there was a new motor fitted last April and I kept telling myself to clean out the drains but never got round to it :oops: :headbang:

I am going to sort it one way or another this weekend.

I know everyone hates this but, I have been searching the forum on and off since this happened to find out where the fuse box is kept and also where the drain cleaning guide is any pointers or links would be greatly received.

I do struggle with forums. :oops:
 
Checked the rear shelf today and its down... Roof had been working fine with no lag used it last a week ago. When you press roof down button no lights show and no noise from motor although windows drop... will check out fuses. if not will have to find a local indi (Blackpool) as I don't have anywhere to do the work myself.
 
Ziggy4 said:
This has recently happened to me but have not had the time to dedicate to it over the last couple of weeks.

Do the soft top up/down lights flash if there is a problem i.e luggage cover not correctly positioned or the mircro switch u/s also knackered motor?

My situation could been caused by several reasons,

1. jam packed boot. (only just room to lower luggage cover) poss knacker Micro switch.

2. As I was about to drive through Glen Coe on a frosty but clear and beautiful morn, I hadn't thought about the fact the roof may be frozen shut thus hopefully resulting in a blown the fuse. Same scenario though...flashing red, then ignition off. Checked luggage cover position, flashed her back up and nowt :cry:

3. Motor u/s. hope it isn't this as there was a new motor fitted last April and I kept telling myself to clean out the drains but never got round to it :oops: :headbang:

I am going to sort it one way or another this weekend.

I know everyone hates this but, I have been searching the forum on and off since this happened to find out where the fuse box is kept and also where the drain cleaning guide is any pointers or links would be greatly received.

I do struggle with forums. :oops:
Click to expand...

Fusebox info
http://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38888
 
Maxsam said:
Fusebox info
http://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38888
Click to expand...

Thanks a million, :thumbsup: I have only just realised you have to search the correct forum section to get the right answer. I thought you the search was general.

I have found a drain cleaning guide now but with no pics, so when I get round to it I'll add some.

Maxsam said:
Checked the rear shelf today and its down... Roof had been working fine with no lag used it last a week ago. When you press roof down button no lights show and no noise from motor although windows drop... will check out fuses. if not will have to find a local indi (Blackpool) as I don't have anywhere to do the work myself.
Click to expand...

My windows don't even attempt to go down?
 
Maxsam said:
Checked the rear shelf today and its down... Roof had been working fine with no lag used it last a week ago. When you press roof down button no lights show and no noise from motor although windows drop... will check out fuses. if not will have to find a local indi (Blackpool) as I don't have anywhere to do the work myself.
Click to expand...

Maxsam any luck with yours yet?

I have replaced all associated fuses with no luck :x

I am right to believe if the there are no lights at all on the roof up/down switch and the front roof latches fail to operate at all the problem is more likely to be and electrical fault rather than a motor issue?????
 
Ziggy4 said:
I am right to believe if the there are no lights at all on the roof up/down switch and the front roof latches fail to operate at all the problem is more likely to be and electrical fault rather than a motor issue?????
Click to expand...

That is my understanding, though I am no roof operations expert. I hope it's not too difficult to locate. At least when the motor fails, we know exactly where the fault lies.
 
Is your outside air temp sensor working correctly? when i bought mine the roof would work sometimes, this was caused by the air temp sensor sometimes reading -40c, at that temp the car shuts down the hydraulics, i bought a new sensor off ebay for about £12, hope this helps!
 
If the parcel shelf (microswitch) is in the incorrect position then the light will glow orange, if the windows drop and the latches unlock and still no movement then i am afraid its the roof motor.

Mine is the same, although it works now and again, you can do it but its fiddly and you need someone to help lift out.... as a foot note when i took my roof off the drain holes were bone dry with very little if any rust on the motor casing
 
Ziggy4, have a dig around http://www.shipkiller.com for guides on cleaning drain holes, broken roof motors, window resets and a bunch of other Z related stuff. He doesn't post much anymore, but shipkiller's website is a goldmine of knowledge when it comes to information about your Z :thumbsup:
 
My roof didn't work last year due to the motor failing (now replaced). When was motor issue windows would go down, the roof would unlatch and then nothing. The windows and latch are electrical, the second stage of actual going down is the motor. Hope this helps.
 
My roof didn't work last year due to the motor failing (now replaced). When was motor issue windows would go down, the roof would unlatch and then nothing. The windows and latch are electrical, the second stage of actual going down is the motor. Hope this helps.
 
neilthomas said:
Is your outside air temp sensor working correctly? when i bought mine the roof would work sometimes, this was caused by the air temp sensor sometimes reading -40c, at that temp the car shuts down the hydraulics, i bought a new sensor off ebay for about £12, hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Is this the same sensor that supplies the temp info to the speedo binnacle?

if so the temp is never that far from perfect.

deka said:
If the parcel shelf (microswitch) is in the incorrect position then the light will glow orange, if the windows drop and the latches unlock and still no movement then i am afraid its the roof motor.

Mine is the same, although it works now and again, you can do it but its fiddly and you need someone to help lift out.... as a foot note when i took my roof off the drain holes were bone dry with very little if any rust on the motor casing
Click to expand...

No roof movement or lights are when the button is depressed. I have played with the switch with no success.
Is there a way of seeing the imut/output signals through a hand held diagnostic thingy :oops: ?

Bing said:
Ziggy4, have a dig around http://www.shipkiller.com for guides on cleaning drain holes, broken roof motors, window resets and a bunch of other Z related stuff. He doesn't post much anymore, but shipkiller's website is a goldmine of knowledge when it comes to information about your Z :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Cheers, have had a quick look at this, it looks great. I will check it out properly when I finish work.

Sunnyme said:
My roof didn't work last year due to the motor failing (now replaced). When was motor issue windows would go down, the roof would unlatch and then nothing. The windows and latch are electrical, the second stage of actual going down is the motor. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is a help as it hopefully means the motor is ok. :D :?
 
Maxsam said:
Checked the rear shelf today and its down... Roof had been working fine with no lag used it last a week ago. When you press roof down button no lights show and no noise from motor although windows drop... will check out fuses. if not will have to find a local indi (Blackpool) as I don't have anywhere to do the work myself.
Click to expand...


im trying to get an indie to fit the new motor that i have- and im in Blackpool - if either i find the right guy - or you do, we can compare notes
 
Well, I've just had a weird moment :?

Tyre pressure light came on so I topped up all four and reset the indicator prior to going to book a service and diagnostics for this and the airbag light problem at a local indie and decided to try the roof for one last time.

It worked perfectly???????????? :)

Not sure of the reason for this but I'm sure something will flag up on the service next week as I've also had the battery light on twice in the last week with not that much travel between it resetting after turning the ignition on/off?

The battery is less than a year old so I'm not expecting it to be that. May be something a little deeper with the elec bits. :? Time will tell.
 
I had an intermittent fault with my roof going down when i first bought mine, found it was the micro switch which tells if the parcel shelf is up or down, the switch was faulty so i linked out the connections and now it works everytime :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom