Pictures of My Recalcitrant Roof

Sorry, not quite understanding. Trunk gets stuck at the position in pic 2 or trunk does not latch closed?

I found that leaving the top in an open position as in pics 3 - 7 would always result in an overheat error message in my 2010 Cali.

But a trunk that does not latch closed at the end of the cycle is an easy fix.

SV

 

I've had this too...resetting with the key helped and making sure nothing is in the way.

 

Thanks for posting the photos of your malfunctioning roof. I think all of us would like to figure out and help you fix what is ailing your roof mechanism. It looks like your roof stops closing at a late stage in its movement when the rear window panel is still positioned at some aspect of its folded position. In the first set of photos, the trunk cover is also about to close and in the later set, the trunk cover has already closed (and probably latched).

You can certainly interpret this behaviour as positional with maybe a problem associated with the rear window panel position, some sensor or you can interpret this behaviour as temporal, relating to time as with the amount of time the mechanism has been operating. If it's temporal, the electrical system may be failing to supply adequate current (or voltage) at some point in the roof's movement. Low voltage can cause the pump to overheat and trigger a sensor (which stops the mechanism) depending on how sensitive a (presumed) temperature sensor is set. If this is true, the most likely (though not the only) culprit would be the battery. It does take 14-15 seconds to operate the roof. This theoretical sequence does jive with the "system overheating" reported by your car.

BTW, be very careful if the rear window panel is left frozen in an elevated, unlocked, position suspended above the solid roof panel. The master mechanic at my dealer told me the hydraulic pump will not be able to maintain a static position and the hydraulic fluid will eventually bleed (past the valve) and the roof panel can plop back down with a crash. This will likely cause the panel to travel past its normal resting position due to momentum and elasticity in the mechanism. Over-travel will cause dents on the metal roof panel from the forward latches under the rear window panel.

 

Roof Failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcavalie View Post
Keith and ferrarichat to the rescue! I love this community and thanks so much for posting this tip! My roof is now working fine.

Here's what I did: I tried holding the trunk open and door open buttons on the fob for 5s, and nothing happened. Then I started fiddling. I then held the door open button on the fob for 5s and that was the magic. After 5s, it appears the computer reset the locking mechanisms. The fob would then open the trunk. I confirmed nothing was in the way, closed the trunk, and tried to raise the top normally and it worked fine (with the windows going down first, as they should).

Thank you thank you thank you!

Keith - you are the man! I had the exact same problem. I held various buttons on the fob down for 5s and it works. The system reset and the trunk opened. Thanks again for posting!

 

Not sure if it'll work for you but good luck!

 

It's certainly worth a try and perhaps the dealer should provide more information on the procedure. There should be a proper troubleshooting checklist from the factory for handling roof problems and the key fob procedure should be on that list. Owners should not have to experiment for fixes.

It seems to me there is a lack of organization that should be coming from the dealer and the factory. Why should owners have to reinvent the wheel every time something like this happens???

It would be interesting to see if the factory continues to use a similar folding hardtop in the CaliT replacement car.

 

I hope your intuition is right. I know how frustrating a malfunctioning top can be. Its a big reason I sold my 355

 

William, I think you may have identified a real issue and hopefully it is the only one causing your roof problems.

Assuming your photos of the caps were taken with the roof in the same position then there's definitely a difference between the positions of the 2 caps. I have attached photos showing the caps fully-opened on my Cali30, where my roof differs slightly from your CaliT.

FWIW, I have watched the caps operate when the roof is raised and the caps will start to fold back in as soon as the rear window panel is raised from its position above the metal roof panel half-way through the roof-raising operation.
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Maybe remove the offending cap and see if the roof works properly for a while? My experience with the dealer on roof issues seems to be they will just cycle it a few times and sign off on it if it doesn't fail but having it out in the real world will tell the true story.

The good news for you -- if there is good news -- is it seems to be failing regularly which is much better than failing intermittently, they have a better chance at figuring it out.

 

What I might also suggest is to have someone video the behaviour of the 2 caps when you cycle the roof. You may need 2 cameras to simultaneously cover both caps but if you have a tripod and a digital camera as well as a smartphone you can do it with the help of one assistant.

If the roof cycle fails, the video will capture the moment with the cap hopefully being the culprit.

I would also do it under reasonably bright conditions to maximize camera resolution and have the cameras cover enough to show the roof and part of the trunk so as to clearly show what the roof is doing as it encounters the problem.

 

Fingers crossed for you. Are the caps aligned now? Or, still askew?
T

 

Maybe I'm old school here but when I was faced with issues like this with Porsche I felt that since I paid them handsomely for the car it was their responsibility to correct things. I had repeated problems and they failed multiple times to correct them end result was I demanded all monies spent and eventually got that after a fight. The customer shouldn't shoulder the time/effort troubleshooting Ferrari's problems, your'e not being paid a significant consulting fee for doing so you've invested in their product which should also include quality testing/R&d on THEIR side. With a >$225K car I expect it to perform flawlessly OR I fully expect them to stand behind it and bend over backwards to make things right -whether that be a $5 drill from Home Depot or a Ferrari make it right and take care of the customer... this "mystique" of Ferrari is pure silliness it's a car mfg not a religion that is beyond reproach so many here treat the Ferrari name being challenged like Muslims do with drawings of Mohammed

 

+1

 

maybe lexus LFA a better choice