Thanks chaa!!! A first class f-chatter!! Long live the 355!!!
Yea brother i have a few that i have done. From front and rear bumper removal, fuel tank removal, pressure regulators removal,clutch removal (though quite common now) steering rack removal and recon,and my latest that i did last week, an engine removal and replacement As you need them i will send them to you Yea long live the 355s
Yes, but does it work at -40C? I know I want my top (hood?) up when I go for a drive below -30C Jay thanks for the excellent write-up
Oh, is your hood effected by the cold weather? I have not come across that problem. And your wellcome.
Yes i have mate they are still to be uploaded from my camera. Did that one last week while i changed my gators and track rod ends. Tried changing the gators while the rack was inplace but you wont beleve how there is very little room in were the rack sits. So i started to strip the front boot and discovers the 4 10mm nuts under the long grommits and then one thing lead to another and the baby was out within the hour I will add them to my write up in the near future.
I actually fill to about 5 to 7mm above the max line...and check at least every 18 months! For some reason, some cars lose fluid faster than others. If you check at least every 18 months, you will not let the reservoir run below the min line. If you let it run dry, you WILL destroy one or more rams...and they are pricey suckers...the previous owner of my car did this and had to replace two rams, I think the repair came to over $3k. The first time I checked my reservoir, about 28 months had passed from the previous repair and fill by the prior owner...it was right at the Min. line. My friend filled it for me to about 5mm over the Max line, and I checked it about 18 months later, and it was half way between the Min and Max lines. Some cars can go much longer...maybe they don't use the top as much as me, or whatever..... The important thing is CHECK IT.
I just finished filling the reservoir!! It was very low but like in chaa's instructions it needed to be cycled a few times. It works great and alot faster too!!!
Just finished top up the fluid. Man, it was low! Under the "min" line. Top works a little faster now, and most importantly with less noise. I thought it would come all the way down to the top of the windshield, but it still requires pulling down about the last foot of travel to close.
That's how it should work, have to close it manually. Also when you open it you should hear a beep when you manually move it back to this same position. That signal indicates that you can engage the top down button to start the automatic cycle to fully open the top.
Mine, on closing, will travel all the way to the last 8 or 9 inches, then gravity takes over and it sort of "flops" down to meet the windshield. I will usually catch it, with my hand.
That's how I expect it to work. As for opening, do you have to lift it about a foot before it starts retracting? Mine doesn't beep or anything.
Yes, lift back to about over my head...it will "beep", then I activate the switch and the power operation takes over.
Hey Guys, Just bought a 355 a couple months ago, dead of winter. Bill Pollard and Sportauto just finished the first post purchase work on this 355. Bill and Sean did a great job correcting 4 or 5 fairly minor problems some of which required some clever work. None of the problems were actually that interesting to the forum community, so I won't bother posting about those, but they did a great job. The convertible top was low on hydraulic fluid and they sorted that out and it works well now. However, not sure it is working perfectly in one sense. I remember reading about some springs that were attached to some of the bars, but I can't find that post using search. I release the top manually (parking brake etc), push up until I hear the beep. That goes fine (I may want to ask about what should be going on with the windows, but let's leave that alone for now). During this early stage of lowering the top, one of the bars that crosses the top bows down toward the driver, not up toward the sky. I need to manually push this bar UP and only then will the top go down correctly when I press the switch that is supposed to retract it. In a way this sounds like what ND says about the 348. So here's the question. What do you guys think is going on with this support bar that it needs to manually be pressed up. Is it missing some springs that need to be replaced, or reattached? I don't think the bar is bent, which some other posters have seen, because the roof looks good when in the up position. But maybe. Thanks for any help. Mike M
I will tell you why this bar can at times bends. Two main things. First: things are put on top of the roof while its up, like bags, while you open the car and pop the boot. Secondly: when the car is parked in a tight space. When the driver climbs out of the car trying to avoid the door hitting say a wall. As he is climbing out he can at times rest his forearm on the roof to lever him self out (yea who hasnt). Both these actions bend the roof support bar so slightly that it does not fold up when the roof is operated.
Might just be the cheap rubber bands on that bar need replacing. Low cost, easy fix. No harm in trying that first, anyway.
Zero and ND, thanks for the responses. I will try to see if the bar is bent. ND, I remember reading about the rubber bands/springs, I am a couple hours from the car, so I can't look, how do you get to the bands?
I haven't really looked. Plus, I've got the manual top 348, not the hydraulic top 355. But on my 348 there is a black rubbery "strap" attached to each extreme right/left end of that center bar, visible from inside the car when the top is up. The 355 may have different upholstery on the roof, too. I don't know if you will have the raw, unobstructed view of that center bar from inside like I do in the 348. The straps are not listed in the parts book.
Thanks ND. I will check it out when I am back tomorrow. Huge help, a good start on figuring this out-bands or maybe bent.
The little springs that you are referring to are at the corners of the header rail, under the material. These springs can snap as well as stretch. If you cant find them let me know and i will take a picture. Regarding the bent rail, it can be hard to see if the rail is bent. But it will be, if its bent the other way you will find the bar then allows the roof to go down with out having to push the bar up. Its webbing/straps on the 355 by the way, not elastic.
