355 Spider top Problems | FerrariChat

355 Spider top Problems

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by allanlambo, Mar 12, 2004.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. allanlambo

    allanlambo F1 Rookie

    Jun 9, 2002
    4,363
    Maui
    Full Name:
    Allan
    #1 allanlambo, Mar 12, 2004
    Ok, my wife came home and went to put her top up, and stopped in the middle of the sequence. Now the top wont move. What do i do?
     
  2. richard_wallace

    richard_wallace Formula 3

    Feb 6, 2004
    1,956
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    Richard Wallace
    #2 richard_wallace, Mar 12, 2004
    I assume you opened doors, moved seats forward, shut it off and on and tried agian...

    First thing I would try is to help it along a little... If the motor of the Top is not working... if you remove that panel in the back of the seats - there is a little disengage thingy.... That will enable you to do the top manually. My top has been fixed twice now and the motor replaced... If it does it agian - I will have the first truly Manual 355 Spider Top - Worst Part about the car is that top...

    The owners manual has a little section about that release thing for the top - if I remember correctly - but you should see it when you open the top motor compartment.

    Rich
     
  3. 355f

    355f Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2003
    307
    #3 355f, Mar 13, 2004
    Hey Alan

    thought you were getting rid of that for the Gallardo
     
  4. FL 355

    FL 355 Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2002
    1,665
    Ft Laud
    Full Name:
    Frank Lipinski
    #4 FL 355, Mar 13, 2004
    Alan

    Open the drivers door and look at the extreme rear of the center consol. You will see a round "Plug". Pull out the plug and you will get a switch with a long wire attached. Switch is 2 way...open/close.

    The switch overides the sensors, ECU, potentiometers, etc. Usually this is what goes bad (potentiometeres).

    If this does not work, then you have a mechanical/hydralic problem. You can close the top using the tool kit by the parking brake. Insert into hole and crank.

    If it is the potentiometeres, the fix from the dealer is to sell you an entire seat reail with potentiometer attached. However, you can buy them seperately aftermarket.

    Any probs? Send me a PM.

    Frank
     
  5. FL 355

    FL 355 Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2002
    1,665
    Ft Laud
    Full Name:
    Frank Lipinski
    #5 FL 355, Mar 13, 2004
    Truely not a bad idea....wish it was like a Vette or older 450SL.

    If it is a continued problem for you, suggest you wire the overide switch mentioned above to the regular swtich in the center consol (very easy to do) but it will not move the seats and window, so you have to be sure you do that first or you will trash the top.

    If you even go with a manual top, please post something here.
     
  6. Merdav

    Merdav Formula Junior

    Apr 11, 2004
    980
    #6 Merdav, Jun 18, 2004
    Hi Frank, I read an older post about 355 power tops. Well mine is acting up, goes up fine, won't go down, the potentiometer was just replaced about 2 months from a dealer too far from me now. I've been told this is really the only thing that goes wrong(under the passenger seat). I was wondering if you had any advice, and where you got your after market. Thanks in advance-MICHAEL
     
  7. TheOriginalJimC!

    TheOriginalJimC! Guest

    #7 TheOriginalJimC!, Jun 19, 2004
    TRutlands has the potentiometers. They are quoting ~$350 each. Since I did not shop around, I don't know if that's the going rate or not. Seems high to me...

    Before you run off and buy this part and rip your seat out to install it, unplug the potentiometer under the front of your seat, hook up a standard DVM to it, and run your seat back and forth. You should see a smooth change of about 4k Ohms or so from furthest forward to furthest back. The total resistance across the pot should be about 4.7k - 5k Ohms. Make sure the change is smooth. You may compare readings from driver to passenger seat to double check your work. This entire effort takes about 10 minutes, the most frustrating part being connecting the pot connector back to the computer side. (My hands are a bit too big for this! :) )

    Anyway, if the potentiometers are fine, it would make sense to look at the other components in your system.
     

Share This Page