Yes, my 05 suffered from the green shower of death the other day. I had attached one of the resistors, which probably helped turn the possible shower into a mild drip... but the damage was apparently already there.

Anyway, now the rear windows are stuck in the down position. I thought I read that somewhere in the 15+ page thread in the sticky, but I couldn't find this (and yes, I tried re-reading that thread but obviously missed it if it was mentioned.)

So, how do I raise the rear windows so I can use my car?

BTW, the company that makes the repair kits is out of a few parts... they need to re-stock the connectors so they won't be able to send the kit until after the 18th.

 

Ouch. That's the first failure I've heard of with the resistor installed. I think you just need to get the allen key from the trunk next to the pump and stick it in the little hole above in the window frame above the mirror. It probably has a plastic cap over the hole. You can then rotate the allen key counter-clockwise to lock the latch. That will probably do it. If not, I'm sure Gus will have some advice shortly.

 

Is your top raised and latched? Use the emergency hex wrench stored on the pump to make sure the top is fully latched at the header over the windshield. The procedure is in the manual. Then try holding the button to raise the top and see if the windows close.

 

By the way... was the engine running, or off?

 

When I first got my convertible it was very low on fluid. So low that the top would not raise by its self. I manually closed the top and latched the header with the allen key, but the rear windows would not raise until I added fluid and used the switch to close the top.

Therefore I think there are more switches that need to sense the position of the top than just the header latch. I am pretty sure thrams at the rear need to fully extent as well.

Could you somehow cap the broken line to contain the pressure to the rest of the system? If the broken hose only runs the latch, and you can manually close that with the key, that might work.

 

There may be an easier way. On top of the pump there are two solenoids that connect the pump to either (never both) the hydraulic circuit to the rams, or the circuit to the latch.

I have not looked at this in detail, but it may be that removing the power source to the latch solenoid will function like capping those lines. We would have to be careful not to dead-head the pump (prevent any flow from it) for more than a few seconds at most. Needs more noodling ... only a half-baked idea.

 

Or, maybe it would make sense to find the wiring from those other switches and short them, fooling the module into thinking the top cycle is complete?

Or pull the relays for the quarter windows and jumper power to the lift motors there?

 

Ah, yes, I see. I was working the wrong problem.

If the issue at hand is just to get the rear windows up, I'm sure there are old posts dealing with applying power to them manually.

I was thinking more of someone who might want to permanently run the convertible top system using manual opening and closing of the latch.

 

You can get all the info you need on my webpage, however, if you wish to disable the front latch from the system it is a bigger job than you think. The roof system is dependent on all 5 switches, 2 operating switches, 2 relays, 1 control module and the security control module working in harmony.

As for closing your windows your rear rams must be fully extended in order for the windows to go up. This link should help Hyd Roof Operation Hose Evaluation I hope this helps!

 

The latch hose failed upon opening... The top was fully open by the time I realized that there was a leak.

The engine was off when I opened the roof, however I took everything apart to clean and to look at the damage, and it's at the typical hose location. Judging by how much of the outer shell was cracked and by how pieces just chipped off of it, I'm certain that the leak was inevitable, resistor or not.

I had to manually close the top and after reading I assume the rams are not fully extended. How do I do this without using the hydraulic system? Can I just do this manually? I'd think I'd need to put a lot of pressure on them wouldn't I?

 

However involved the logic of the convertible top system, there might still be a simple mod -- or even just a procedure -- which would let the user interrupt the automatic operation of the system and substitute manually closing or opening the latch.

We shouldn't let those big nasty schematics get the better of us. Even complex logic circuits are sometimes easily fooled by simple workarounds. Again, I haven't looked at this in detail.

As these cars age there might eventually be users who would be happy with manual latch operation, instead of a big hose replacement project. Manual latch operation was the norm for a lot of cars for a lot of years. Still is for some.

[edit] Xeno, sorry hadn't seen your post so this does not address it. I was thinking of the thread before your post.

 

With the latch closed and the petcock closed you should be able to press the closed button to extend the rams and close the windows. This is in my procedure on my page

 

I know how to force the windows closed. Just read my thread about installing the switch to manually raise the rear windows. All you need to do is short a wire underneath the center console to ground. However, that doesn't fix the out of sequence convertible top.

As I was typing that I realized that I'm at an advantage if my top ever gets out of sequence again. I installed a switch to raise the rear windows so I can always force them up if I can't get the top back in sequence before I need to drive the car.

 

I just took a quick peek at the 2000 schematic. I don't know if the 2006 is the same, but it looks like it would be very easy to pop the two relays out of the trunk, and use a jumper wire to short pin 5 to pin 3 of each to roll that window up.

I think that would work as the quickest and easiest way to just get the rear windows up in an emergency.

When you get around to fixing the hydrolics you may have to manually jumper the other pair of relays to roll the windows back down before lowering the top. They would be out of sequence with the top operation at that point - the windows are down until the rams are extended fully. Since your rams probaly aren't fully extended the widows are expected to be down, not up.

 

That didn't work. I ended up manually opening the top. I decided to take the risk, I grabbed a handful of paper towels, closing the petcock and then letting the hydraulics close it... the motor started to struggle so I manually latched it. That worked. At least I can use my car now.

 

You have another option and that is to close and latch the roof. After that is done you will need to force the rams up to lock the roof linkage once that is done you can close the windows electrically. The reason that the windows do not close is that the roof frame is not locked and I do not know if it would cause any problems to close the windows first. If you need help send me a PM and I will help you along. It is not difficult. Sorry for any delay I was working on my car.

 

I have two short patch hoses and one quick connect compression fitting (broke the other one)...

 

This makes sense. The rams probably can't be further extended automatically after the latch has been closed (either manually or by hydraulics) since the logic in the system should assume that if the latch is closed then the rams must have been fully extended prior to that.

With a fresh start (top down) ... as the rams are extended, the hydraulic circuit being driven, the one that operates the rams, should cause no trouble. Then, when the sensors say that the rams are fully extended,that circuit disengages, and the other circuit, the one driving the latch, is engaged. That's when your leaker kicks in and the pump will begin to struggle.

What seems like it would be useful in cases like this is a temporary mod or method to operate the top day-to-day when the latch has leaked ... some mix of hydraulic operation of the rams and manual operation of the latch that would not cause any further leakage. If that would be of interest, I bet such a methed could be worked out here.

Good luck IAC.

 

Makes you wonder if we are delaying the problem and not really solving it with the pressure reducing methods. Looks like the problem crops up every four years or so in hot climates at full pressure. Reduced pressure with heat compromised hydraulic lines gives us more time between occurances. Wonder how much?

Maybe if "cracked, chipped" lines were never subjected to the higher pressure they would not burst.

Jack

 

I think this may be the case. The issue seems to be with the exterior jacket of the hose failing first. I haven't inspected any of these but mine, but it seems that the overpressure is not the direct cause of the problem but the issue that compounds it. This is why I'm waiting for the replacement hose kit from Colliflower. Unfortunately a few parts were out of stock, so I need to wait until they get them in and can ship them out.

Since the time/effort/cost required to replace the full hose is considerable, I want to make sure that I'll never have this problem again.