inspecting the cylinder for leaks
Okay, there is no gushing hydraulic leak, but you have some oily fluid collecting at the trim in the upper rear corner of your driver's door. This means you have a slow leak from the hydraulic system. Rather likely, this is what caused the malfunction in the first place, because the pump was sucking air and wasn't able to build enough pressure to complete the closing function, which made the rear bow lock get stuck. I am assuming that the leak is from the left secondary cylinder.
In any case, you have to find the leak, because it won't go away and it will only get worse. You don't want the whole headliner soaked in smelly hydraulic fluid, and you don't want it to drip on your seats.
The hydraulic cylinders typically fail first where you wouldn't expect it: on the bottom, with the fluid coming out of a seam near the mounting pin. That's why you couldn't see the leak; it's only the lower bottom of the cylinder that is wet right now. There are seven seals inside these cylinders, and they will all fail with time. Some of these seals are made of polyurethane (PU), which decays particularly fast when exposed to heat or to the wrong fluid. Top Hydraulics replaces and upgrades the PU seals with Viton, which has a practically unlimited shelf life. We also improve the size, geometry and material of the piston seal, rod seal and wiper seal. The port seals (where the hydraulic hoses go in) get upgraded to Viton, as well. That's why we are confident that our product will outlast practically any car that it gets put into; we expect a service life of 30-50 years.
Here is how to remove the cylinder:
1) Create access to the lower mounting pin on the cylinder. Maybe you will have to take a trim piece off.
[2) Document the process for the rest of us with some good pics... ]
3) Remove the mounting pin from the cylinder's clevis (the fork).
4) Retract the cylinder's shaft (that pushes fluid back into the pump, and it eliminates the risk of you damaging the shaft with an accidentally slipping tool when you remove the hydraulic line clips).
5) Remove the hydraulic line clips per attached illustration, then pull out the hoses.
6) Remove the travel sensor - it is clipped into the cylinder's rail.
7) Remove the bottom mounting pin.
Klaus
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Top Hydraulics, Inc -- Upgrading/rebuilding convertible top hydraulic cylinders and pumps for Nissan 370Z roadsters and over 30 other brands. Manufacturing new, superior hydraulic hoses for convertible tops.
http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/73-nissan-370z-09-13
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