Greetings!
I’ve just joined this forum and have a problem with the top on my ’06 Cabriolet. The top stopped working. Entirely. And none of the usual culprits seem to be the cause.
First off, the car: ’06 Cabriolet, every possible JCW option including LSD, strut brace and aero kit. Brakes upgraded to Stoptech slotted rotors all around, all SS lines, Hawk HP+ in front, HPS in rear. Schroth four point harness installed for track days along with NM rear lower control arms. ATI damper. Forge coolant tank. Etc.
The problem: All of a sudden, one morning, the top on my '06 JCW cabriolet stopped working completely. The light on the top switch does not light when I press the button and the top makes no noise. It's like it's completely dead. Even the sunroof won't work. I've checked the luggage tray switch and that's depressed as it should be. And even if it was open, the sunroof portion should still work, which it doesn’t. The rear hatch switch works and turns the inside light on and off when it's depressed so I know that works. And the front hood/bonnet switch seems to be fine and is properly engaged with the latch. The open bonnet/hatch dash warning light is not on while driving. What's weird is that the open bonnet/hatch dash warning light lights up after I turn the ignition off AND open the door. When I do that, the warning light on the dash will flash 5 times (along with the chime) and at the same time, the red light on the top button will also flash, though at a slightly faster pace than the dash light. Once the dash warning light has flashed 5 times, everything shuts off. The open bonnet/hatch dash warning light will also go on and flash 5 times when I first open the door but the red light on the top button will not always flash with it, or if it does flash, may only flash once or twice.
One more thing of note is that when I press the down button for the top, I can hear a very faint click coming from the left rear of the car where the hydraulic pump is. There is also a click from the same location when I press the up button. So, I do have power to the circuit.
I’ve also confirmed that the connector to the sunroof motor is properly connected. And I looked around for any other obvious problems. I’ve even disconnected the battery ground for about 15 minutes and then reconnected it in an effort to reset things. (Perhaps I didn’t leave it disconnected long enough as I didn’t lose my radio settings and I didn’t need to reinitialize my windows.)
What I have not done yet is to pull the left side interior trim in the trunk to check wiring, connections, etc., and to see if I can isolate the source of the clicking when I press the top button.
I drive with the top down almost all the time. Like daily, even in the winter, as long as it's not raining. And not being able to put the top down is really bugging me now. I’m hoping I can get some clues from folks here so I can avoid taking my car to a specialist or worse, the dealer.
One more thing, I had a problem with the rear hatch recently where one of the wires that goes between the body and the hatch door broke inside that rubber boot thingy. I couldn't open the hatch the normal way and had to crawl over the back seat. I pulled everything apart and spliced in a new section of wire and restored normal function. I don't think any problems there would affect the top function, though. The hatch works normally for opening and closing and it unlocks with the key fob normally as well.
So….does anyone have any ideas that I haven’t covered already?
Cheers!
Martin
I’ve just joined this forum and have a problem with the top on my ’06 Cabriolet. The top stopped working. Entirely. And none of the usual culprits seem to be the cause.
First off, the car: ’06 Cabriolet, every possible JCW option including LSD, strut brace and aero kit. Brakes upgraded to Stoptech slotted rotors all around, all SS lines, Hawk HP+ in front, HPS in rear. Schroth four point harness installed for track days along with NM rear lower control arms. ATI damper. Forge coolant tank. Etc.
The problem: All of a sudden, one morning, the top on my '06 JCW cabriolet stopped working completely. The light on the top switch does not light when I press the button and the top makes no noise. It's like it's completely dead. Even the sunroof won't work. I've checked the luggage tray switch and that's depressed as it should be. And even if it was open, the sunroof portion should still work, which it doesn’t. The rear hatch switch works and turns the inside light on and off when it's depressed so I know that works. And the front hood/bonnet switch seems to be fine and is properly engaged with the latch. The open bonnet/hatch dash warning light is not on while driving. What's weird is that the open bonnet/hatch dash warning light lights up after I turn the ignition off AND open the door. When I do that, the warning light on the dash will flash 5 times (along with the chime) and at the same time, the red light on the top button will also flash, though at a slightly faster pace than the dash light. Once the dash warning light has flashed 5 times, everything shuts off. The open bonnet/hatch dash warning light will also go on and flash 5 times when I first open the door but the red light on the top button will not always flash with it, or if it does flash, may only flash once or twice.
One more thing of note is that when I press the down button for the top, I can hear a very faint click coming from the left rear of the car where the hydraulic pump is. There is also a click from the same location when I press the up button. So, I do have power to the circuit.
I’ve also confirmed that the connector to the sunroof motor is properly connected. And I looked around for any other obvious problems. I’ve even disconnected the battery ground for about 15 minutes and then reconnected it in an effort to reset things. (Perhaps I didn’t leave it disconnected long enough as I didn’t lose my radio settings and I didn’t need to reinitialize my windows.)
What I have not done yet is to pull the left side interior trim in the trunk to check wiring, connections, etc., and to see if I can isolate the source of the clicking when I press the top button.
I drive with the top down almost all the time. Like daily, even in the winter, as long as it's not raining. And not being able to put the top down is really bugging me now. I’m hoping I can get some clues from folks here so I can avoid taking my car to a specialist or worse, the dealer.
One more thing, I had a problem with the rear hatch recently where one of the wires that goes between the body and the hatch door broke inside that rubber boot thingy. I couldn't open the hatch the normal way and had to crawl over the back seat. I pulled everything apart and spliced in a new section of wire and restored normal function. I don't think any problems there would affect the top function, though. The hatch works normally for opening and closing and it unlocks with the key fob normally as well.
So….does anyone have any ideas that I haven’t covered already?
Cheers!
Martin