Roof Failure!

You can either reboot the roof mechanism by opening the driver side door and lowering and raising the windows or just go to your dealer. This has happened to me before. It's a pain but also an easy fix.

 

If you take your car in to have it checked out, there is a "Service Campaign 78" which you'll want to see if your car needs to have performed. It has something to do with a clamp for a pump on the roof's hydraulics. Good luck and I hope this doesn't become recurring. I've not had this type of problem.

 

I believe running the metal folding roof mechanism uses a fair amount of power. From your description, the problem seems to be in the raising and placement of the roof panels. The motor that carries the weight of the panels may draw more current than the other units. Aside from a defective motor or something wrong with the mechanism, insufficient current would seem to be the only other obvious source of problem.

Normally, one would test the battery for voltage and capacity but I believe the California's battery is tucked away in the engine compartment, below the air intakes. If the dealer is close by it would be easier to have them check the battery for you.

From my experience, whenever I plug in my battery tender, it takes a few hours before the charger indicates a full recharge, which means the car's charging system hasn't actually kept up with the draw on the battery since I last recharged it and I recharge the battery every day.

Seeing that it's the weekend, if you haven't been using the battery tender I would attach it to your car and see how long it takes to fully recharge the battery. From my experience with other cars, depending on the state of the battery it can take a full day and even longer. Then test the roof mechanism again once the battery's fully recharged. Unless your dealer is close by, it can be a royal pain to take it in for issues that can be resolved at home. You can always take it there on Monday.

Let us know how you make out!

 

Steve, sorry about having to take it in. I too am familiar with 24/7 gridlocks - complete waste of time.

Can't help with the service campaigns but I would suggest you time exactly how many seconds it takes your car to raise and to lower the roof. It will help you to determine how well they actually fix it.

 

This indicates either your battery is on its way out or your charging system has a problem... worth looking into!

 

Sorry to learn you'll have to have the top inspected. Another thought occurred to me. Did you try cycling it with the engine running? I was advised to run the engine whenever operating the top - as 4th_gear noted, the roof motors draw a lot of power. Even if the battery is recharged, if it is decaying, it may not supply sufficient current. Otherwise, maybe the top has gotten out of proper alignment and the motors are struggling with forcing the "arms" to fold/unfold.

WRT Service Campaigns, I just ask my service advisor, who in the past has confirmed I needed some of the campaigns I've seen discussed on F-chat. They use something called the MODIS system, which sounds like a FNA database that tracks which campaigns are associated with each VIN.

Good luck and please let us know the diagnosis as well as your dealership experience.

 

Their system is called: modiscs.ferrari.it/ ...and exists also for maserati ....

 

Mel- Good info. Would love to be able to get into MODIS, but chances are zero for a non-Ferrari approved entity.

 

I agree the freeways in LA carry a lot of traffic.

But there are times during the day when it isn't gridlocked.

I suggest you just pick a non peak time to pick up and drop off

It's ten years since I lived in LA so I can't remember when the quieter times are, but there WERE some

I admit that that the freeways at 3am carry the same volume as an Australian freeway during business hours, that's something I never got used to, there was no time in LA when the freeways were near empty

It's disappointing that this forum doesn't have access to more technical information

I have been trying to get a copy of a service bulletin for the exhaust header issue for over a year with zero success

It amazes me the vast majority of people here are more concerned with custom stitching of cavalinos and floor mats than with the primary source detailing the mechanical problems of the car.

I guess it reflects the typical buyer profile of a Ferrari convertable

 

At the moment all we get is opinion and heresay

I'm looking for the actual service buletins

When I was trying unsuccessfully to get the exhaust problem fixed at greypaul Nottingham they denied there was even a problem

When you can hand them the document it gives us a lot more power

I was able to quote them the bulletin number, and they simply said "that isn't applicable for UK cars"

Without the document I don't know if they are lying

We need copies of all the service bulletins

There might even be one for floor mats

 

Couple of points from a non-Ferrari owning lurker (owned 28 vehicles so far, fairly handy and read far too many posts).

The Ferrari charger is almost certainly a low end CTEK (~$30) with Ferrari stickers on and jacked up price tag. Don't worry Rolls Royce etc do the same thing. If you'd like to charge faster I recommend the CTEK 7002 CTEK Multi US 7002 12V Battery Charger : Amazon.com : Automotive which puts out 7A. I use one on my BMW hardtop 328i convertible (they eat batteries too). Of course it's better to leave the low amp trickle on all the time but few of us do that.

The good (great!) news is that your roof is not mangled. Motors/ electronics are far less expensive than a whole new roof. Can virtually guarantee the roof was outsourced, likely to the group that designed the roof for the new BMW hardtops so it likely has a lot in common with them (they look very similar from photos). My guess is an hydraulic pump issue but I don't know much about your roofs or even if they are hydraulic (seems very likely though).

Final tip for those out of warranty is to make sure the roof pivots are lubed from time to time. At the age most Californias are the dealers should be looking after this. When they start really aging and owners aren't all the $50M private jet types services get skipped.. Wurth HHS-K Spray http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0093LR0M8/ is the stuff to use, it sprays in thin and sets thick - just watch out for drips on that expensive interior! I bought my BMW convertible used with 10.3K miles (first used car in fifteen but they depreciate like bricks and I got it for 54% of MSRP).. anyway the roof creaked like crazy and that oil resolved the issue. Creaks turn into real resistance which turns into a bent roof. An unpainted roof alone is $19K for the lowly BMW three series and I dread to think what a California's would be.

Update: a quick Google shows Webasto made my roof and yours. Likely they are very similar, so as the cars age it should be helpful to search BMW forums for roof related issues. Good news is we've had very owners report issues with folding roofs other than leaks and that's normally due to clogged rain drains

 

Ugh. I'm sorry to read this news. Hopefully the body work is covered as an extension of the warranty for the hydraulics failure, and can be addressed with paintless dent removal. Does anyone happen to know what hydraulic fluid is used? If its the same as brake fluid, it can be highly corrosive to the paint finish. Did you happen to take pics?

 

Just got my wife's 2011 Cali back from the dealer for the "roof failure" light too. Turns out a hydraulic seal broke causing fluid to slowly leak out of the pump. They re-sealed the cylinder, refilled the pump and the roof works again. Just wondering how many more seals are going to fail on a 2 year old 7k mile car?

 

Do I get a prize for the first to guess correctly? j/k - have spent many years on car forums - the final drop was the giveaway clue to it being a hydraulic fluid issue

Two reports is somewhat worrying. Webasto makes roofs for many cars. Certainly on the current gen three series I've never heard of a leak and I see many of those on the road everyday + that model has been out for six years now. Googling only shows a handful of the previous generation having roof fluid leaks

If anyone can grab a part number or photo where the leak is it would be interesting to see if it matches another car's. It would not make sense for Webasto to design a new pump etc just for the California. Also the BMW Webasto reservoirs are clear + have a correct level indicator. Might be worth locating this for the next owner who has a roof issue



Aside: am pretty sure hydraulic fluid won't harm paint. It's likely about the same as goes in my four post lift: basically plain Jane oil without additives IIRC. Brake fluid is special since it has to handle high temps + likely has additives to lessen hygroscopic [sp?] properties

 

Great news. How did they fix the dents?

 

Steve, it's reassuring to know your car roof failure has been completely addressed by your dealer. Thanks for following up with more clues to the problem. I just took another look using the latest information from your report.

I think mp3_e46 has provided most of the answers. The hydraulic fluid that actuates the left (cannon) piston leaked out and the piston failed. It can't work without the fluid. It may have been a seal failure in the piston.

There are probably 2 of these pistons, left and right. If your left piston was disabled because of a hydraulic leak that would explain why the mechanism was so slow as it was only working on one piston. Here is a link I found to a FixYa web page describing a similar problem in a Chrysler Crossfire.

"...How to Open the Chyrsler Crossfire Roof manually? The left hydraulic piston of the roof is gone bad but I want to open and close roof manually as I cant afford the stupid cost. Or please advice where I can buy the left piston? Thanks Problem happened because of trying to open and close with no oil in pump - I didnt know it..."​

I took a look at the location of the hydraulic pump in my car.

Here's a photo of the access port on the left side of the trunk floor, with the cover removed. A pump appears to be immediately visible. The Chrysler Crossfire link seems to indicate 2 motors work the system, one for the roof panels and the other for the trunk lid. The California system is likely similar, so I don't know if which motor this one is.

Also, unlike the access port on the right which seems to provide access to the battery tender port and the manual release for the fuel filler cap, the left access port does not appear to serve an obvious function except to allow a service mechanic to look around ...for a fluid leak perhaps!

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The stamped name on the motor reads "faurecia".

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Apparently, FAURECIA is a huge French automative parts conglomerate. Unfortunately, I could not locate any information on this motor. But the label on the unit does seem to indicate a serial# + ID and what appears to be a build date and time which may be helpful if there is ever a recall on them.

Since these leaks apparently occur pretty often IMO, Webasto should have a feedback circuitry like a simple hydraulic pressure sensor that triggers in the event of a fluid leak.

Anyway, thanks to you guys I will now leave the access port cover latch in the open position so I can check for signs of a hydraulic leak every now and then!
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Good for you!

4th Gear, thank you for your diagnostics/forensics.