galavanter

You used a DIY elastic instead of Nissan parts? I'd be interested in your choice as Nissan probably wants a lot for a couple of rubber bands.

sluggoZ

iTrader: (129)

Lubing all the joints is the major key in proper maintenance.....so far no problems with my '04.5!

YourDream2011

Hi everyboddy. My name is Miro.
I have nissan 350z model 2004. I just change my top soft and on the next day the convertible was not anymore working. i have this problem allready 3 monts.
I am traing to open by my selfe (manually),but is very difficoult and hart to do it. So if i traid to open i can see that the two engine on the do not have a good sinchronisation and thew do not have a enaugh power to open the convertible.So if i push the switch to open the convertible top soft,the windows are comming down and the seat also is moving,but then after is nothing. Can you please tell me what for problem can be this?Is there any one who have an idea what can be the reason for this problem?
Thank you very much.

fastturbinejets

okay it didnt last a year. I found brushes at the hardware store that were almost a perfect match. I sanded them a little and used some small jr connectors used in the rc hobby industry to connect the wires and 10 cycles later its doing great. I also found out the motors are powered directly from the soft top control unit with no fuses......Nissan????? What are you thinking?

So if you test the motors and they read fine it could be the soft top control unit or the prox switches. If you have damaged the board let me know. You can do a jumper on the peg side.

Sincerely,

Eddie

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

My turn

Dealer says "5th bow motor" and "not covered" under my "Security+Plus" warranty, even though "convertible top hydraulic motors" are specifically listed under "What's covered". They said it will cost either $1419 or $2117 to replace.

I bought the top-of-the-line extended warranty for my '05 specifically in case something like this happened, so ... I'm going to call NNA tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great info, forum-people. Already ready about KombatKing, but was anybody else successful in having the 5th bow motor replaced under the extended warranty?

(And yes, I lubed a lot, Sluggo )

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

Does anybody have a part number for the famous "5th Bow" issue?

Reason for asking - dealer diagnosed my Z problem as needing to replace 5th bow MOTOR. Extended warranty agreement says top motors are covered - that's why I bought it. Nissan says the bad part (97100 or 97050) is not a motor and not covered and $1400-$2100 with labor.

domrvt

iTrader: (2)

They pulled that **** with me too. I eventually gave up and ended up replacing the motor brushes myself for about $20 bucks. I also made a mental note to never buy another extended warranty.

About once a year I need to take the motor out and clean it, but the new brushes are still holding up. The original brushes wore out quickly.

Jennifer 2

Blooster it seems (from looking at the Courtesy Nissan on line parts catalog) that they are suggesting replacing the complete 5th bow assembly, which includes the motor. Since it is a top motor that is causing the failure, it needs to be covered. The fact that Nissan only supplies the motor with some other hardware attached, isn’t relevant to the language in the extended warranty.

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

Yeah - I saw your post from 2008 and was wondering if that was holding up for you. Good to know that's an option - thanks for the update.

Thanks for the input, Jennifer 2 - I'm a big fan of your posts so appreciate your take on this. I couldn't figure out from the diagrams and Google whether or not that part was a motor. Now the service rep says what's bad is the actuator, and not the motor. But the extended warranty specifically says actuators are covered too! I'm fighting that fight and will let you know how it turns out.

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

Just wanted to update THIS thread, to help future searchers, to say that my dealer paid about 2/3 of the cost to repair the 5th bow issue.

I contacted NNA and they said it was NOT covered but that extended warranty coverage was up to the dealer. Fortunately, my itemized list of covered components helped convince the dealer that it should be covered. More info about the warranty is in another thread: https://my350z.com/forum/350z-roadst...roadsters.html

BIG thanks to all you forum people who educated me by sharing your experiences!!!

dudegetalife

iTrader: (2)

how many 5th bow motors are their i keep seeing a right n left side on ebay but nissan only gave me 1 part number...

bluebadge

Hey Domrvt, did you take any photos of how you did it or what the 5th bow motor assembly looks like? in fact has anyone taken pics? would love to give this soloution a try!

Thanks

domrvt

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately I didn't take any. But check out this thread about cleaning the window motor:
https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance-and-repair/361241-how-to-repair-stuck-broken-window-motor.html
The 5th bow motor looks exactly the same.

And to access it, just pull up on the black plastic cover over the motor. See this graphic to get a better idea:
http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?i...z5thbowkp1.jpg

I just prop up the black plastic cover with a short screw driver and then unbolt the motor. I think there are 3 screws and 3 bolts. This can be done from inside the car without removing the top. I'll get some pix next time I do it.

bluebadge

Awesome, thanks for that, I'll try and get into it this weekend and will take pics of the steps and post!

bluebadge

Dang, doing this from the inside of the car is a nightmare, I thought I'd give it a try last night, but you have to be a dwarve to get in there and do it! i'm 6ft, it's a nightmare, also can't access the bolts from the inside as the plastic is in the way, tried propping open but the angle is prohibitive for a screwdriver, will give it another shot tomorrow, and if I figure it out will post pics. fingers crossed. I really don't want to get taken for $1300 by the dealer! If anyone has detailed photos, would love to see how you acheived it.

Also it does look identical to the power window motor unit, with the exception of the regulator. Kinda odd that they want to charge an arm and a leg for this unit when the window motors can be picked up for around a hundy.

bluebadge

Ok, so I guess this is the offending article, only wish there was a way to get at the three screws holding the Silver motor housing, can't see how to detach the plastic cover it seems secured pretty well at the back. I am assuming that this motor and regulator assembly is solely responsible for retracting the roof?

pic of 5th bow motor assembly

domrvt

iTrader: (2)

Yeah that's the 5th bow motor and is responsible for moving that section of the roof up and down.

Remove those three vertical screws/bolts in view, and two more that are countersunk in the black case and the motor/gear assembly can be removed. I use a small ratchet with a 1/4" hex on it, holding a philips head screw driver bit since there's not much clearance to get a screw driver in there. I replaced everything with socket head cap screws so it's easier to remove in the future.

Once the assembly is out of the car, you can remove the three small screws holding the case over the motor and get to the brushes.

bluebadge

Ok, so today was the day, not too hot, not too cold, I set the camera up and started to film the process.... I managed to remove all the mentioned screws, the three in view in the pic and the one that was countersunk into the black plastic housing (2nd hole back)... This did in fact free the 5th bow motor assembly to move a little (talking an inch up and down folks!) and that was it, there is no way on this planet that that unit was going to come out, and the reason... the two sets of brass colored tubes that house the cables are riveted to the black plastic housing!

So I would love to know how anyone would be able to remove the unit, since the cable runners are riveted to the unit. Please do explain how you managed this.

Thanks

domrvt

iTrader: (2)

Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it can't be done. Be sure all 5 bolts are removed. I went and took mine out to show you. You can see the bottom view, that gear is meshed with a gear in those rails. Let me know if you need more pics before I put it back again.

bluebadge

Dude! didn't mean to come off any which way, sorry if it sounded that way. I really appreciate you removing yours to show me... For some reason I think I might have missed that 5th screw. Not sure how I could, I will go back and give it a shot right now. It's dark, hot and miserably humid out but what the heck.

One thing I did struggle with aside from the main issue was I could not for the life of me detach the electrical. I managed to snap and break the White protector that holds the wires in (ouch!) but still couldn't feel if there was a tab or something I needed to depress to release it from the motor.. or do I just need to attack it and yank it with a pair of pliers?

Domrvt, thank you for your help, If I can get this thing out it will eventually make for a good tutorial (if it works!)

Ok, that was it, managed to get it out, appears that one of the brushes has pretty much disintegrated! there appears to be some gooey substance on top of electrical contacts, ive remove it, but cant see how to de-solder the contacts... do you just melt through the plastic with a soldering iron? I have spare brushes that were for a window motor that might work.