350z Convertible Top Troubles- Small rear gap and top won't fold.
 

Hello all, my 06 350z roadster (Interlagos fire for those interested) has some convertible top troubles.

1. The top won't seal. It leaves a gap in the back between the cover/hatch. I tried to fix the pulldown for the rear latch but to no avail. The suspected problem with the pulldown was that the cable it has was crooked/misaligned and therefore not moving the mechanism. I fixed that so the cable was straight, but then it went back right to where it was, crooked. Better yet, the cover won't go down. Now instead of having the top with a 2 inch gap, the top is "down"/fully relaxed but the cover/hatch is up so I'm pretty screwed.

2. The top won't go down. I can unlatch it, the cover/hatch will open up, and all the windows will move down, but the top simply won't accordion itself back into the little home it has under the cover.

For both of these problems, it is important to note that I did install a new convertible top (I did this a couple of months ago) and the car has a quarter million miles on it so there's a chance every single convertible top motor and mechanism is too weak to move the new, tight convertible top. Also, I checked and the fuse for the convertible top is not blown at least to my eye. Lastly, unsurprisingly, the convertible top light is also on.

Any help is appreciated, and feel free to ask questions. I may be able to take photos of any areas of the car as needed.

- A desperate Z owner

Attached is the RF (roof) section of the FSM. Hopefully, it will help. There are also lots of threads in the roadster sub-forum about people having issues with the roadster roof as there are a lot of processes that must operate correctly for it to function.

Thanks! I've studied this for a little, but I'm not exactly comprehending most of what I'm seeing tbh. I think I'll have to fire up the parts cannon for this issue.
Also, I have replaced the notorious fifth bow motor but no luck. Lastly, if anyone knows of a guide to convert the automatic top to be fully manual, please reach out.

It sounds like you're probably best off taking it to a shop familiar with how the roadster top functions or the dealer.

Probably end up being cheaper instead of just throwing parts at it.

But hey, it's your money, so good luck! If you end up getting the issue resolved, post your solution here (unlike many others who have failed to do so).

Unfortunately my local convertible shop ghosted me after I called them (if anyone knows a convertible shop with roadster experience in DFW area, please lmk), and the Nissan dealers around here do not have convertible techs. This is what it must be like to own a mercedes lol. I'll post updates.

Well that sucks.

It sounds like your top is getting hung up after step 7 of the FULL CLOSE -> FULL OPEN sequence and step 8 is not starting.

For step 8 to occur, 1) the "storage lid full close detection switch" has to go from on to off, 2) the "storage lid actuator" changes from close, to open, to stop, 3) the 5th bow actuator signals "down", and 4) the "5th bow full open detection switch" changes from on to off.

I would try checking/testing those components first.

I don't know if there is a way to manually lower the top. There is a way to manually close it, but it involves removing A LOT of interior pieces to access the latch release.

I'll have to check those when I get some time. My z is my daily driver (big mistake) so I just manually lowered the storage lid and lowered the top so that I could drive it (for those wondering, you can lower the storage lid manually by cranking the two cover motors in the trunk, you will need a friend to help hold the top up while you raise/lower the cover.) I did some more scouring on these forums and there is someone a bit away from me (DTS interiors, Plano) that understands the black magic of the convertible top operations, I'll probably pay them a visit.

update: DTS interiors will not diagnose issues. The person at DTS told me that the reason why he helped the other poster out was because he was replacing the convertible top anyways. Sorry DFW folks.

Mini Update: I am in the process of buying the entire convertible lid tonneau cover from a parts 350z, and I should be installing it sometime in the summer. It will include all the motors that are inside the tonneau cover. This should fix the pulldown latch issue I am having, and maybe the rest of the convertible process will be fixed too. More updates to come.

Did you get your convertible top issues resolved? I just purchased a 2004 Roadster and the top wont retract. The storage panel will open but roof will not retract.

I haven't fixed the problems yet, it is my daily driver so my priorities on the car are things that are necessary to keep it usable as one. However, I just bought a full tonneau cover with good, working latch motors but with terrible paint, so I am going to find a professional to paint it and then install it on my car. It'll be a month... or two.. or six until that happens though, so check back when I make a new post. I am confident that at the very minimum, the latching problem will be fixed by installing the new tonneau cover. (The paint on the one already installed has paint issues too so that'll be a visual upgrade.)

I have the same issue with the roof not retracting as my post may have detailed (honestly its been so long I forgot what I did or didn't mention,) and if the new tonneau cover doesn't fix that, I will go through diagnosing that and at that point I will also update you. It could be a lot of things. If I had to guess, it would be one or both of these motors as they help pull the top back, but it could also very likely be a sensor. I recommend watching and since those two videos show the same problems I am having and he clearly shows/explains what he does to fix them.

Good luck! If you do find the solution, please follow up with a post!

Well, big update, big worry, and big question.

Just to recap, I attempted to fix the pull-down mechanism motors inside the tonneau cover that came originally with my car. That didn't work, and since then I had just been driving it around with an improvised rubber seal (since there was the gap because the tonneau cover pull-down didnt work.)

I ended up buying a full tonneau cover with working latch motors from a z here locally being parted out for a good deal. As you can see though, the paint was in horrible condition despite the parts car having not too many miles (150000ish.)
https://photos.fife.usercontent.goog...-gm?authuser=0
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....1b54a74b4d.png
Good motors, bad paint.

So I took it down to get painted and it looks gorgeous, far better than what it was and even nicer than my slightly clearcoat-failed original tonneau cover.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....1b71245ac8.png

Today, I went ahead and decided to go ahead and install it. First, I decided it would be easiest if I let the motors lift the tonneau cover currently on my car so as to make it nice and easy to replace. Otherwise, I would have had to use allen keys to manually crank the motors and move it. (I believe this may have been a mistake: more later.)

So, I press the "open" button and the rear/glass area of the convertible top begins to move up so that the tonneau cover can subsequently. It starts smooth but then stops, and it takes a few bumps of the button for it to move the rest of the way up perfectly fine. (Sensors?)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....ca947e570e.png
Yay!
Now, the tonneau cover rises perfectly, so I bolt it off and put the new, beautiful one on and install the actual hook since I took it off when I retrofitted the rubber seal.
In my excitement, I hop in the car, and press "close" so that the tonneau cover would move down and I could see if it latched the convertible top.
Here is where things went wrong.
Presumably because the sequence is out of order, the top moves back to the little hole it retracts to (like I had pressed "open" when I didn't,) getting stuck "half open" and then everything bricks, with nothing moving when I hit either button. The car was quite confused since it kept tilting the seat forward, jerking the top slightly, etc.
https://photos.fife.usercontent.goog...-gm?authuser=0
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....efeef66a9b.png
D'oh!

However, I remembered researching that the top sequence can be reset by taking off a battery terminal and re-applying it 15 minutes later. I do such, and some progress is made when I hit "close" once more. The top moves forward so that I can latch it to the windshield, and then gets completely stuck like this.
https://photos.fife.usercontent.goog...-gm?authuser=0
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....5e3b7e175c.png
Ugh. This is annoying.
Obviously, the tonneau cover can no longer move down because the top is in the way. It's almost like the convertible top thinks the tonneau cover is there, but clearly it isn't.

This leads me to my question: Do I need to manually move the top back to how it looked in picture 3, then manually crank the motors for the tonneau cover so that the tonneau cover is below the top, ready to have the top mount it and then latch onto it?

And, my worry: Is there a sensor that, regardless of me taking off the tonneau cover and putting a new one back on, is messed up and will therefore always cause something like this?
This thing is so damn annoying.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....997a45b7cc.png|
Moved the tonneau cover down, put the 5th bow/convertible top in place for the tonneau cover to recieve it and latch it. Same **** happened again, where the latch is pulled 1/2 way down, right back where I started a year ago. The top does nothing at this point, all I hear is a clicking when I press close/open and that is it.