F355 Spider Top not working

It shouldn’t matter if you leave your finger on the switch or not.


I assume the park brake is set, both windows dropped normally and when you pulled back on the roof manually, you got the correct beep (not the warning sound).

Did both seats move to where you think they should be? Did the first small rib of the canvas roof (aft of the windshield frame) go upwards, not downwards. If not, reopen and start again, manually manipulating the rib. Your elastics may be weak.

Report back if no progress. Please answer all of my questions. Perhaps take a photo of the canvas (inside) and post here.

 

Also, can you hear the pump running?

 

First rib…

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Doors properly closed?

I assume your instrumentation is working? The roof system uses the A/C (and instrumentation) fuse. You get the beeping noise if the fuse has blown (i.e. not the single "OK" beep). Make sure your tacho, etc, is working.

It's most likely a configuration issue. We just have to figure out what is out of configuration:
Seat potentiometers not showing the seats being forward (The only way to check these is by doing resistance checks).
Park brake not sending the right signal (is your dash warning light on for the park brake?)
There are some orange jumper wires under the seat which have to be connected, but I assume these haven't been disturbed (unless a foreign object went under the seats, damaging the wires).
Because the windows went down to the right positions, I assume the microswitches on the window sliders are ok.

All I can suggest is trying to open the roof using the emergency switches, overriding the safety logic in the Roof ECU. Of course you have to make sure that the roof is not hitting anything as it goes down (and the canvas is folding properly). The emergency switches will tell you if the hydraulic/mechanical side of things are working (and also the relays and motor fuse).

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I assume you've tried opening the roof with the engine running. The battery voltage may be low. I'm not 100% sure this will trigger the beeping, but it's best to be sure that you have full power.

 

If the roof operates with the emergency switches, the next step will be to check all the electrical inputs into the roof ECU. This is best done with an ohmmeter/voltmeter at the ECU (which is under the leather cowling between the seats (see (C) in the graphic in the previous post).

Do you have a Motronics 2.7 car or a 5.2?

 

That beep may be the one indicates the top has been pushed back far enough. After that you would only hear an error beep when the switch is moved to retract. Not clear which beep you are referring to.

Do the seats move if you use the seat switches? Have you checked the fuses?

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You should be able to confirm fuse operation without removing the leather cover on the pump/ECU assembly by
1) using the emergency switches. This will check the 30 amp fuse (if you can hear the motor run).
2) operating the seats manually. AFAIK, this should check the 15 amp fuse.

Wiring diagram here:

https://www.dropbox.com/t/CiirtvXeYjDpcaRj

 

I believe that the sequence involves the seats moving forward until the seat pots read resistance high enough (to the ECU) and then the pump motor is commanded on. If one or both of the seat pots do not reach sufficient resistance (broken pot) then you will hear a beep. I was able to fix my broken seat pots with a roll pin. (From a procedure found here on FCHAT) Hope this helps.

 

At the risk of repeating ourselves...

I'm asking this because I don't know why you stopped operating the switch. The doors being open will stop the seats moving and trigger the beeping when you push the roof switch.

Confirm that the door microswitches are still operating the interior lights.

If the seats move manually, move them fully forward and try the roof switch again. If the seats don't move, then it's probably a power issue. I don't think the potentiometers on the seat tracks will stop manual operation.

Just pull the small oval-shaped cover off the side of the leather cowling (vertical section) between the seats (passenger side if you have a RHD car, driver's side if you have a LHD). See post #6. The switches are mounted to the back of the cover. The button on the aft side of the cover is the open switch. You may need a key or something to push the switch (as it is hard to get to). Also, be sure to recline the seats if they are not far enough forward. Only the handbrake not being engaged will stop the hydraulic motor running (assuming you have power and the relays are operating properly). Before operating the switch, be sure that the roof rib goes up as shown in the photo.

 

Did the seats work with manual control?If they did, it's probably not a power issue, but a configuration issue. One of the position sensors/microswitches may not be sending the right signals to the ECU. Electrical checks and some disassembly will be required.

 

At this point it seems that this may not be a power issue, but a configuration issue.

 

With that particular Bar I have to always give a little help on my 355 top.
I believe I can make new elastic to fix this, but I just always use Manual Help in the opposite direction.
Top Going Up, Pull Down
Top Going Down, Push Up

 

Same here. I changed my elastics, but they still weren't strong enough to pull that bar into the correct position. My new canvas seems to interfere with the elastic (with respect to the angle the elastic pulls on the bar)

 

There may be something wrong with your secondary ram system. There is a solenoid which controls hydraulic flow to the secondary rams. Unfortunately, this system can't be tested with the emergency bypass switches.

The beeping may or may have been caused by the secondary system and I can't say definitively if the seat potentiometers are ok, but I would think that if they were sending out the wrong signals, the beeping would have started before you reached the "apex". Anyway, you can check the potentiometers by checking the potentiometer resistances at various seat positions.

 

The solenoid valve for the secondary ram system is located in the left hand buttress (behind the driver on a LHD car). There was at least one instance of broken wiring in that area.

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