UK_350z Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 So I spent most of the day with the legendary Dave Gibson (not sure if he's on here or not) but after a few hours of pulling my car to bits and lots of head scratching we finally pinpointed the cause if the mofo roof not working. I thought I'd start a new post so that it's easier to find for reference, should anyone have the same issues. All our focus was on the tonneau cover latch and why this was not unlatching when the roof switch was pressed. If you look at diagram 1 below you can see that there are 2 parts that enable the tonneau lid to latch and unlatch. No. 9: this is the 5th bow latch lock. Photo 2 below No. 10: this is the 5th bow UNLOCKING actuator. Photo 3 The 2 parts above are located within the tonneau lid. Either the latch has failed, the actuator had failed or the wire cable has failed. The problem I have is that because the tonneau lid is stuck shut I cannot lift the tonneau lid to take off the cover shown below. Under this cover is where the above parts are and are what is causing my roof to not work. Thanks to Dave I'm almost there with sorting my roof out. I just need to find a way of opening the 5th bow latch manually and the rest can be sorted. And once this has been done I can stop bugging you all about my roof! Is there a way of manually opening the 5th bow latch? To enable me to open the tonneau lid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 I just wanted to add the picture below as it perfectly shows how and where mine is stuck. If I can release the roof from there then everything else will be easy to fix. The Last resort is going to be hacking those two prongs, which will enable me to repair the components within the tonneau cover and then finding a new roof. So close yet so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 Thought I would give this a bump, still none the wiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 So no one is available to offer any assistance at all? Or even acknowledge the request for help? I would have thought there was enough expertise on here to, at the very least, offer some suggestions. Perhaps I was wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryptek49 Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Hey, I'm new here & don't own a Z just yet, but from what I understand the latch isn't unlocking meaning that the U shaped hook is locking the top in place. Looks like you've got about an inch of access to that hook. Would the best option not be to cut the metal hook? Do you know how the hook is fastened on? If it's bolted on then cutting it wouldn't be to much of an issue as replacement would be fairly straightforward. I've tried to find photos of it on line but I'm not having much luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryptek49 Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 14 minutes ago, Kryptek49 said: I've tried to find photos of it on line but I'm not having much luck This video seems to show it's just a metal triangle screwed in place, possibly PM zmanalex & see if he can sell you that part if you decide to cut it? I may be completely wrong about this, but I'm just trying to help. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I thought there was a manual release process somewhere. I'll check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 have you tried the process described in the manual for manually closing links are in this thread. i've just had a read through , and in section 2 steps B, C and D above should release the Storage lid for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 On 06/06/2018 at 19:38, Kryptek49 said: Hey, I'm new here & don't own a Z just yet, but from what I understand the latch isn't unlocking meaning that the U shaped hook is locking the top in place. Looks like you've got about an inch of access to that hook. Would the best option not be to cut the metal hook? Do you know how the hook is fastened on? If it's bolted on then cutting it wouldn't be to much of an issue as replacement would be fairly straightforward. I've tried to find photos of it on line but I'm not having much luck Hey kryptek49, firstly welcome to the group! Your assumption is correct in that the hook that's locked shut is not releasing. I'm trying not to get to the point where I have to cut that off. Although that part is riveted on I don't think that part is available as a separate part. There's no part number for that. I'll keep looking for a solution but I appreciate your response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 On 07/06/2018 at 08:38, Paul K said: I thought there was a manual release process somewhere. I'll check Thank Paul. I do have those manual release cables but they are for the two clips that are either side of the main latch and looks like the photo below. Thankfully they work as when I pull those the roof unclips and triggers the dash light to come on. It's looking more and more likely I may have to take a hack saw to the prongs (circled above) and look for a replacement. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DICKO74 Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I have a 2005 roadster, your welcome to have a look at the roofs operation live if you want? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_350z Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 On 08/06/2018 at 22:29, DICKO74 said: I have a 2005 roadster, your welcome to have a look at the roofs operation live if you want? Regards Thank you Dicok74, that's a nice offer, where abouts are you based? i'm In Windsor, which i'm hoping isn't that far from you! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DICKO74 Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 St Albans- PM me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIYdad Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 I'm a little late for this post. I've just had the same issue and came to a resolution today. I made some recordings and hopefully I'll be posting a youtube video on it sometime in the future. For now, I'll try to describe what I had to do in case someone else comes here. My initial thought was mentioned above, cut the hoop to release the top. Being somewhat pragmatic I wanted to know how much harm I was doing myself and researched the cost of a replacement. I literally couldn't find one... anywhere... at any price, so that option was off the table. I began to contemplate how to remove the "hoop" in place, and this was my resolution: First, I used a short (about 1/2" long) #2 phillips bit and a 1/4" combo wrench with ratcheting action on the closed end to take the three screws out of the metal "hoop" or catch in the rear. This was a long and difficult process, I had to use a finger on one hand to force pressure against the bit so it would seat into the screw, and with the other hand I had to turn the ratcheting wrench to loosen the screws. The screws are held by nuts that are kept in place by the metal surrounding the nut, so instead of the screw coming out, the nut is driven inward and starts spinning freely (or it least that was my impression). To pull the nuts back into position so they won't turn freely, I used wedges of wood (a small piece of 2x4 on it's side, make sure you put a cloth between the wood and the painted surface) with wood shims to push the 5th bow upward and maintain tension between the "hoop" and the top (5th bow). Once the wedges are in place you should be able to look in the gap where the "hoop" base is located and see that it is pulled taught so the screws again have pressure on them to pull the nuts into place. Continue loosening and adding shims until the screws are out. My car is a 2004, and at first I was convinced something was locking the 5th bow in place and it couldn't be manually pulled up. However, I found that under constant, forceful pressure the bow started to slowly move and I eventually brought it to a 90 degree angle to the storage cover. At this point I tried to manually release the storage cover using the emergency release cables, but to no avail. In fact, I broke one of the cables, and was quite disheartened fearing a trip to the dealer was inevitable. Hoping for a miracle I began prodding a large flat-head screwdriver around the latch mechanism that held the "hoop" in a locked state. With the screwdriver to the rear of the latch (on the back edge of the latching mechanism, the side facing the rear of the car), and with the tip of the screwdriver closer to the passenger side, but leaning, or angled with the handle toward the driver side, I hit something that released the latch and I was able to remove the "hoop". Once the hoop was removed the top became operational again. At that point I was able to use the top control button on the dash to open the storage cover and gain access to the underside of the storage cover where the access door for the latch mechanism is. I followed the guidelines for service bulletin NTB03-122, (https://f01.justanswer.com/exptech2015/500d3c46-c93a-40a5-a523-1cfece4434c5_5th_bow.pdf ) lubricating the moving parts and adjusting the auto-closure wire. These were not solutions for me. I surmised that my problem was either a bad 5th bow closure motor, or the switch was bad that was supposed to signal the motor. Because my car had been sitting for three months during an engine rebuild I felt the 5th bow closure motor may have become corroded during the stagnation, and gave it several light taps with a socket extension and hammer. To my utter surprise this resolved my issue. I have run the top through several cycles and it is working correctly. If it fails again I'll try tapping it, but I fully expect this is the first evidence that the unit is failing and the 5th bow closure motor will need to be replaced in the near future. I hope this helps. Hopefully the visual aids in the video I'll post with offer further assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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