Top won't move
 

Had my Z detailed and now the top won't move at all. Windows don't go down, no motor noise. Yes I have my foot on the brake with the car on. Messed with the switch behind the passenger seat. I even unplugged the battery for a few minutes then tried again. Also checked the fuse under the hood. I'm sure it's something stupid. Also, I haven't put the top down since I had one of the Windows repaired. The guide had come loose and was blocking it. Any suggestions?

I have searched the forum and didn't find anything specific to this

Welcome and sorry to hear about your top. Did you ask the detailer if the top was working when he worked on your ZR? And how long ago was your window repaired? My guess it has something to do with your window fix, but there's a myriad of possibilities to consider.

Discovered the problem when he called me to help him get it down. I suspect the same but not sure what to do next.

First step would be to go back to the tech who repaired your window. First question: did you test the top after you repaired the window? Unless that was a DIY repair, in which case you can just look in the mirror to question the culprit...

Haha. Not a DIY repair. I didn't test it after the repair. I'll try the Nissan dealer tomorrow.

Just rip everything apart till you figure it out... It's gotta be something unplugged or a fuse blown... Did you check the fuses under the drivers side left floor area?

Is there any way to remove the motors from the top?

Mine is doing the same thing and I'm about ready to make mine into a Miata type top. Have it open the hatch but let the actual top be free of motors. Just reach in and pull it up. Save on weight removing the 500 motors in there that hardly work anyways.

Anyone know if this is possible to do? Make the top manual but leave the cover motorized?

OP,
Check for voltage at the top switch, brake switch and passenger seat as these all in "the loop" to make the top operate. If you have voltage to the top switch, check the switch itself for continuity in both open and close modes.

I believe you can accomplish this by simply disconnecting (or removing) the small struts that anchor on the B pillar. When I changed my top out, this allowed me to move it by hand. It should not interfere with latching up or down.

Awesome! That's what I was hoping. Yea mine gets stuck half the time and the other half it works fine. I want to ditch the extra weight of the motors and mechanics anyways but just need the hatch door to lift open, close and lock. Since I manually have to shove or help lift the top half the time anyways.

Theoretically I didn't see it not being possible, but with cars we all know as soon as you think that. It's usually the most complex and hardest part to work on, in the whole car lol

Hopefully I can do it and it works. I'll dig into it next weekend. Hopefully I can come back with good news and maybe some new top motors to sell :D

Small word of caution. You're not going to lose a bunch of weight pulling motors, also if you have loose connections/open circuits the tonneau cover may or may not work correctly. I do not know, but GL!

Here's my update. As I was driving on Monday a kind stranger warned me that my brake lights were out. I slammed my fist onto the door in frustration (important later). Started researching that problem and found that the brake light switch was a common problem. Bought a new one and popped it in and it started working. Cool. Then I thought, what the hell, lets try the top again. The top immediately started working. Awesome! Too hot at that time to ride with the top down so I closed it back up but then the freaking passenger window won't roll up. Damnit! No time for that today, so I start using the car cover which is a PITA. This is on Tuesday. I try a WD40 trick I read about to no avail. So Today, Friday, I had my brother (a mechanic) order the motor and I went to his place for him to put it in (1 hour away). The new motor doesn't work either. Then he looks at me, walks over to the driver's side and proceeds to unlock the passenger window lock and laugh... and laugh... and laugh.

Thank you for sharing, this made my morning. I went through something similar recently - I was installing a gauge on my Supra, had the dash all torn apart to run wiring. Once I got everything back together my turn signals didn't work. I spent hours tracing wiring looking for any faults, blown fuses, etc. The car is heavily modified and the wiring is a mess. After a lot of research I found my problem - just forgot to plug the harness back into the hazard switch. I felt like an idiot.