FERRARI 360 SPIDER SOFT TOP ROOF HOOD HYDRAULIC LIQUID RESERVOIR HOW TO TOP IT UP

Good question. If it's not on the ground, it's still in the car flowing around someplace. The one picture showed the fluid level to be quite low. i.e., lots of fluid leaked out.

Maybe someone ought to do a DIY for finding the resulting leaks! Maybe when my 430 Spider's top goes south after warranty... ;-)

Tim

 

my roof was not closing or opening when it was getting to half way point unless I tried a few times. However, after topping up the oil as described by one of the members. It works perfect. Many thanks

 

You usually have to work the top up and down a few times to work all of the air out of the system. If you remove the forward panels inside the engine bay it exposes the hydralic rams for the top...those are what generally leaks. Most of the time the leak is gradual enough that you won't see the fluid on the ground.

 

Thanks for that bit of info.... that explains why many need to top off but never see a tell tale oil spot on the floor..

Ferrari should have realized anything that has 10,000 hydraulic lines put in by italians was going to be service needy & put a 1 gallon reservoir in there, would have given many years of service before anyone ever had a hydraulic/air complaint

 

Actually the entire convertible top's hydraulic assembly in the 360 is made by the Germans.

 

Hei,

I have got a 360 like this, and when I try to open the top I got a alarm sound. You think low liquid level is the problem here?

Tron Obrestad, Ferrari Club Norway

 

Does anybody know of a write-up like this for the 430? Can't find anything. Need to find out why the open roof warning stays on. Roof seems to operate normally, but have only opened it twice (just got the car). Thanks.

 

Hello,

My car doesn't complete it's full cycle and stops when it needs to put the windows up, the pump stays on.

What would the level of fluid be when in closed position?

Regards Rody

 

where do I fill it to? I see some say top it off is that the correct level? My top is opening to the first fold and then nothing else. Photo is my level should I fill it up and where did you get the oil? I am going to go to the local Mercedes service center to try and pick some up. The fill screw is on extremely tight afraid that I iwll strip it.
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Thanks for the detailed info I followed your instructions and it works perfectly. I can only imagine what it would have cost if I sent it to the shop. One suggestion that I think someone pointed out already but remove the bottom bracket first in order for easier access to he inside bolt listed as the first item to remove. other than that a breeze to fix.

 

Spiderscott is a genuis. Thank you so much for your step by step procedures. I just finished the project in 30 minutes from beginning to end and the top works like a charm. If these directions are followed correctly and there is low fluid you will be good to go. Thank you Spiderscoot so much for putting so much time and details into the instructions and the pictures. Your detail was so great that I even had to use the part number for the hydraulic fluid at the Mercedes Benz dealership. Once I gave them the part number they knew exactly what I was talking about. Without your instructions and pictures this would have been a complicated job but you made it easy. Thank you so much! Spidersscott for President...

 

Thank You Spider! Very easy to do.

That fill screw bent my 5mm allen wrench so bad, i needed to buy another one. I thought i was going to strip the head, but then a loud crack and the screw finaly broke free!

I also didnt have a squeeze bottle or tubing, so I went to the 99 cent store to find something that would work and I bought a turkey baster for a buck, shaved the tip and didnt spill a drop!

Unfortunately, it didnt fix my problem, but replacing the elastic straps will.

 

Man, thanks for writing up this fantastic post - the roof on my spider stopped working a few days ago, fixed it this morning!
Cheers,

Serge

 

tanks to you spiderscott i finaly closed my roof and happy evry thing is workig fine now,exactly like you explaned,tank you back again your good.

 

I did exactly that, only I did not tilt the assembly and I was able to fill with it upright.
DO NOT use Syringe.. with fluid it binds too much. My top worked like it should. Thank you for the posting.

 

Very useful thread...

Ultimately though, what is the permanent fix?

 

I noticed my top opens perfectly and quickly, but when putting the top back up the cover opens and there is a long pause when the soft top does not come out, when I release the button the top jumps out a couple inches and goes back down and eventually it comes out and closes. Is the a tell tail sign of low fluid?

 

Just saw this 2009 thread (today 2014) that helped me very much to understand how the roof works. My roof wouldn't close entirely alone and needed help to start opening. After checking the capote oil level, battery voltage, middle bar position, etc., I have resolved my problem very easily. The painted capote cover has left and right guides on the front edges that get inside 2 holes on each side of the body of the car. My left guide was not getting correctly in the hole and due to this needed to be hand guided. Since I repositioned the left guide using the 2 tuning screws the capote now gets correctly in the holes and opens without any help. My problem has gone as simply as that.

 

Per the workshop manual, the fluid level is supposed to be checked with the soft top down.

"With the soft top gathered in its housing bay, the level should be at the mid-point on the indicator found on the tank. The arrows appearing along the perimeter of the circular indicator represent the “MIN” and “MAX” levels of the oil in the tank."
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I got a "stubby" allen key off ebay, and an oil can with a longer hose which came with a nozzle (Oriley auto parts) that fit perfectly in the 5mm opening, so I no longer have to take the bottle OUT as described here, saved a lot of time as reinstalling the canister was a bit tough the first time.

 

I Was just going to post regarding this -- checked mine with the top down and then put up the top to see the difference.

With the top down the fluid level is right around the max level.

With the top up, it drops below the min level by about 0.5" or so.

 

Thanks for the post! Just changed my oil in the top mechanism and seems to have eliminated my top "hesitation issue" where it wouldn't come out of the housing unless I cycled the other way back down. I removed the electrical connector off the back of the plate allowing me to carefully turn the pump over and drain most of the oil. Filled up and after 6-7 cycles, I no longer have it hesitate.
Cheers!

 

HELP!!!
Firstly thank you,spiderscott, for an amazing post. It looks so easy and thus far it was.
My convertible top stopped halfway up twice. I recycled the operating system a few times and it worked.
So I was sure it needed more hydraulic fluid.
I picked up some at my local Mercedes dealer and followed your instructions to a "T."
See photo of the fill step.
I pulled the plug, and BTW it is on the left of the little hole, there are only 2 not 3.
When I pulled the plug with the 5mm allen wrench, I heard a little pop and a very small amount of fluid seeped out.
Yes, I have it loaded with rags all around it and the reservoir is horizontal.
I next tried to add fluid, but....it will not enter the opening. I pressed a small metal rod into the opening and it stops an inch from the top. Also, fluid is pushed out when I inserted the small metal rod.
And the top is currently down. I "think" the reservoir is more full with the top down as opposed to up, but not sure.

Is there a flap valve behind the filll opening?

The reservoir is about 3/4 full as you can see from the photo attached, but it will not let me add any fluid.
See attached photo.

BTW my car is a 2004 360 Spider manual transmission with 9,000 miles
Any comments or helpful hints PLEASE.
The sun just came out here in CT/USA and I'm looking forward to "exercising the horses."

Larry
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I dropped the bottom down so the reservoir is on a 45 degree angle. I was then able to get a couple of ounces added.
Putting it back now.
The bottom long screw holding the bottle against the post is a challenge to line up...but I finally got it.
I am now going to test it, raising and lowering it a few times to see if it helped before I put the gold bars back on and close it up.