Funnyguy

Hi all
Does anyone ever have a problem with opening their top? I have an o4 Roadster and the top just stuck for the past month. It doesn't matter what i tried I couldn't open the top. I can hear the motor running but the top just wont open....

gregom

iTrader: (3)

Simple thing of course but your foot is on the brake and you released the windshield locking mechanism right? You hear the top motors trying though huh?

I beleive there are 4-5 motors for the top, maybe one of them is out. Might have to take it to a Nissan dealership to look into it.

Also does the top lid open up?

Funnyguy

the top lid does open but it's the top that wont go down.. I talked to a few dealers around my area and they charge on average of $92 per hour pending on how many hours of diagnosis.. they dont charge $90 flat rate for diagnosis anymore... Do you have any diagram or instruction regarding about the top.. I'm tempting to do it myself ...

skyhiguy

Funnyguy,

Here is some info from Kombat King summing up problems several of us have had on a similar thread.

Good Luck


Hey Everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I wanted to make 100% sure that I could say my top problem has been resolved and I am happy to say now that it has!

Thank God (literally) that I bought the extended warranty for this car - it was $1,500 well spent! If I hadn't had the extended warranty for my ZR, I would have been paying over $8,000 for this repair - not to mention the cost of rental car for 49 days at $30/day - all of this was covered by my warranty. Actually now that I think about it, I would have been forced to get an attorney - which would have meant even greater cost out of pocket up front. Anyway, I digress... the bottom line is this:

If you are noticing ANY similar problems with your top's operation (as listed below) - get the dealer to examine your car before the warranty runs out. I have a sneaking suspicion that early model year ZRs ('04-'05) have some flaws in the design of the control unit and motors and they tend to fail prematurely.
Here is what I experienced with my top:

1. Sluggish opening and closing performance. The top mechanisms function - but they go much slower than normal (at outside temperatures >68 degrees F)
--- Possible causes: 5th bow motor assembly requires lubrication with high quality silicone grease (Primis lube gel or something else) - the dealer can do this for you or you can do it yourself. Basically, you want to lubricate all moving roof parts/motors/latches on a regular basis.

2. Failure of top to complete opening/closing sequence on one attempt. Failure usually occurs mid-sequence and results in "stuck" top. You may be able to get the top to complete its cycle if you toggle the on/off switch a few times and/or you can usually manually assist the top in completing it's cycle if you know which way to push/pull, but this is a sign of impending doom (see #3).
--- Possible causes: Roof motor malfunction or Control Unit malfunction/failure.
You need to get your car serviced soon - things will not get better!

3. Top refuses to open at all - the opening sequence will initiate (i.e. the windows go down and the passenger seat moves forward), but all that happens is the latches make clicking and whirring noises in the back - and no top movement is seen at all. This type of failure will also cause the yellow top light on the dashboard to say lit.
--- Possible causes: Complete roof motor failure, 5th bow motor failure,
At this point, I would advise taking it to a dealer who knows what they are doing and has repaired several tops before.

I made the mistake of ignoring things thinking they would get better until I experienced #3 - then I made the second mistake of taking it to a dealer who didn't know how to repair the tops themselves. They in turn took it to a convertible top/upholstery shop who proceeded to force the top to do things it wasn't meant to do - thereby bending certain roof bows and stretching the top in ways that caused it to begin to separate. In order to "fix" this, the body shop decided to bend the A-pillar of my car towards the roof a couple of degrees... Needless to say this didn't fix the problem and opened up an entirely new can of worms... for instance - now when the top went down the hard cover would
not latch down over the compressed soft top (an obvious sign it was bent to me... but it took them a while to figure that out).

Finally, last month, my dealer hired a tech named Nick who had repaired over 30 ZRs with similar problems... Nick took 28 days to undo the damage done to my car - re-align everything - bend the A-pillar back, and make all the necessary adjustments. The short version is they had to replace my entire roof assembly, the top itself, and all the motors, control units, trim pieces, windshield liner, roof latch covers, etc.

So... the bottom line is this - get the extended warranty - and get help early if you notice any of these problems happening with your ZR. My dealer is Mossy Nissan in San Diego, CA. My service reps name is Mark Bowman - he is honest and an all around great guy. Frankly - he is the reason I did not get an attorney after all the things they did to my car - but I have my baby back now - and everything works great again!



~KK

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions - I have ALOT of useful info and contact numbers, etc.

This is the previous thread with some pics and more details of my saga...

https://my350z.com/forum/showthre...ht=top+problem

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Funnyguy

Thanks for the info guys .. looks like i'm gonna spend a big chunk out ouf my checking account to fix this problem...

Arul Smart

https://g.co/kgs/uKF3BH

LA350ZCHICK

So this seems to be a pretty common problem with 350z roadsters. This happened to both my friend and me. My awesome mechanic says this model has problems with the wiring and motor that runs the top. On both cars he moved the passenger seat forward (because the top and passenger seat are on the same circuit) and then opened and closed the top a few times to prime the motor. Worked after that. Two caveats
1. The first time he opened the top, it stopped part way. He had his assistant press the top open button while he pulled on the top to get it moving again
2. After 5 months of the top closed it got stuck again. So I had to move the passenger seat forward again and prime the motor again.

brooklyn53

I have a 2006 350z Convertible... I need one of two things... A solid repairman (5th bow won't close) all else works. OR a solution The failure is the same as on Service Bulletin #NTB03-122 for the 2004 convertible dated 12-10-2003. I pretty sure its the "blue limit switch under the storage lid... I thinks that's the name... shown in this photo but cant find a part number. The fifth bow motor has been rebuilt and works fine and I have a new lockdown motor if needed... it's that switch thats giving me a hard time. Ignore the markings... it's the light blue switch in the upper right hand corner

Any suggestions would be great