HELP! My 98 355 soft top won't go back up. Currently, it's in the down position and when I go to raise it, the seats go all the way forward and then nothing. It's worked fine until now and I hate to take it into the shop again (long story) but thought I'd post this to the board before taking it in. I'm pretty handy with tools but somewhat intimidated by electronics. I did several searches but couldn't find anything specific on how to diagnose it or what to look for. Any and all help is appreciated.
If the seats stop moving, it'd sounds to me like the potentiometers are shot, which sadly, is quite common. http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=247005 Can you be a bit more specific? The seats move, but the top doesn't?
Correct. The seats move to the proper position but that's where the show stops. I'm going to try and check the center bar referenced by No Doubt. Thanks for that link. If the center bar is fine then it looks like it's time to bleed the system and see what happens from there.
That center bar looks like this picture on the 348, dead similar to the 355. More pics and explanations here: http://webpages.charter.net/aircover/348%20Spider%20Top%20Process.htm Image Unavailable, Please Login
It could also be that you need to add hydrolic fluid to the pumps that raise the top, or they seriously need to be bled. I've had the dealer do this to my spider when top does not operate properly. Do a few searches on "spider hydrolics" or some such in Tech section and I'm sure you'll find instructions, etc. Sorry for the vague answer.... Eric
try searching for "spider bleeding" in Tech Q & A forum- first article seems very useful... but maybe not in your situation? http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88241&highlight=spider+bleeding
