355 Spider top issue

Stupid question. Emergency brake engaged?

If yes, the top ECU is upset about something. I had the same(?) problem that turned out to be a seat pot that would stop and start randomly as the passenger seat moved.

I changed that pot and was OK for some years. Now both of my pots are bad. Rather than change them, I decided to wire the emergency switches to the center console switch. I'd rather spend $20 on relays and diodes than piss away money on pots.

 

I have a similar issue with my top and it took me a few minutes to observe all the functions involved with the operation of the top and discovered that my emergency brake light does not stay on throughout the operational process. The light is comes on during the starting phase but does not stay illuminated after about 5 seconds upon the key in the second position. So if all lights are not on throughtout the process will interfere with top operation. Something too consider to rule out

 

Forgot to add that for now I will just turn the ignition on and off from second position to open or close top while the emergency brack light is still illuminated. A nussiance but something minor I can live with since the top remains down for majority of the year. A simple fix for my mechanic

 

That's what i did.

Use the two pole switch that is there for the top. I added a switch so I can use the original switch in normal mode or run it in bypass all while sitting in the car.

Forward = up
back = down

You move the windows & seats manually and then operate the emergency switch via the switch on the panel.

Once I get the top fully sorted, it will run as designed with the regular switch. If something goes whonky, I just use the the other switch and run the windows and seats by hand.

 

There is a post on here on rebuilding the pot. Have you looked at that and are you inclined to do that?

I would like to mess with a faulty pot just for interest sake. If you or anyone has a bad one, I'll try and fix it. Mine are fine but I would like to see what it is that fails in them myself.

 

The e-switch simply by-passes the ECU and the associated prox switches in the system.

As long as you manage the seat position and windows manually, using the e-switch will be fine.

Mine has been wired that way for 3 years now.

 

I took a better look at it today and figured out that I didn't need the relays or diodes.
If I just wire the red wires from the bypass to pins 1 and 2 respectively on the existing console switch, it "should" work.

The other thing I'm going to do is wire the seat switches directly to the seat motors.
In the past when I disconnected the pots, the seats would work from the ECU but now they don't. Well they will, but only forward.

 

Here's the thread on fixing seat potentiometers quickly and for almost no money.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/288373-fear-not-seat-pot-potentiometer-how-rebuild-one-without-removing.html

 

That's the thread I was referring to. Thanks Paul for posting it.

Mine are working fine but if they go awry I'll fix them as you did.

I noted in reading through the threads that Mitchel (yelcab) fixed his pots in a position that is "go" for the top Ecu and manually moves the seats if they are in the way. Another option.

 

If the top does not want to come down electronically via center console switch, there are several micro switches which need to be activated to allow the ecu to move the top. Typically these ecu burn out the transistors and need to be replaced. Some ecu's require more work than others.

Make sure the center bar is pushed upwards otherwise the top will bind and not be able to collapse correctly. You can pull the pins on the main hydraulics on each side to convert the top into a manual (2 person) top.

If the top has not been used regularly, and the hydraulics have not been serviced you will see one side of the top move faster than the other. There is a company who will rebuild the hydraulic cylinders and even rebuild the hydraulic lines for you to have a complete new system.

The microswitches are typically on the driver side: windshield latch point, mirco-swicthes on mechanical arms.

You can bypass the ecu to wire in relays to lower and raise the top if you do not want to have the top ecu fixed or replace with new one. Do you have any 355 Spider owners near you that you could swap the ecu from car to car to be sure its not the ecu?