Roof hitting the tonneau when opening

Hi-Step'n370Z

Hello Everyone,
The tonneau cover began hitting the bow within two years of purchasing the Z brand new. Because of that, I had the bungee's replaced back in October of 2013, then the Z was stored for the winter.

Because of one reason or another, the top was only operated once during 2014, once in 2015, and once in 2016. Last month I took her in for an Ester Oil change and asked the Tech to try the top, and the tonneau hit very lightly against the driver' side bow. Now we're wondering where to go from here.

The odd thing is that when he tried it a second time, the tonneau did not hit. It was as if the system had to be primed up or something. However, the tonneau should not be hitting regardless of whether it was the first opening or not.

Doesn't seem like we have to open the top multiple times throughout the year to prevent the tonneau from hitting, and if the car is stored for six months over the winter, you're automatically back to square one again.

I do remember the Tech telling me that he had to stretch the bungee's in order to be able to install them. He said Nissan instructed him to do so.

In my way of thinking, stretching them could cause the bungee to be weakened before it's even put to use.

I wanted to run this by the Forum to get some feed-back as the Dealer and I both want to fix the issue to last longer than three operations.

The bungee's were supposedly an upgraded bungee which Nissan made the change in 2012.

Could the Tech have made a mistake by stretching them in order to be able to install them? I'm wondering if he should have adjusted the bow to allow the install, then re-tighten it to proper clearances.

The Dealership and the Tech are great to work with, and are seriously interested in finding out why the new bungee fix didn't last very long. They want me to leave the Z with them and open a repair order on the issue so the Tech can be in direct contact with Nissan and compare notes with them as he makes any tests or measurements to allow Nissan to help guide him in finding the problem and making the proper fix.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

gbhrps

Hi-Step'n370z,

I have the same thing happening when opening the top, but only one side of the tonneau cover lightly clips the 5th bow frame. And mine is a 2016 with 9000 miles since new. What I've done is to open the top from the driver's door lock switch, and when the 5th bow folds up, I hold the 5th bow with my hand and pull it lightly towards the front of the car, just before the tonneau cover starts its upward movement. That way it doesn't clip.

Yeah, I know it shouldn't do that, and I really only have to move that bow about a quarter inch to get it to clear, but I'm not going to tackle the bungee repair until near the end of the factory warranty of year three. Its not a big deal, I can do the repair myself but would rather Nissan pay for it, and I don't want to lose the car for the time the service department will want to keep it for the repair, at least not during top down season. So we'll keep an eye on it as that time nears.

As far as the tech's stretching the bungee cords too much, ... I would doubt it, particularly when Subaru of American specifically told them to do it. As with any elastic product, over time they are going to stretch and not be as good as when new.

You have to keep in mind as well that when the top is up that bungee cord is fully stretched. Leave the top up for a long time, and the entire top will get used to staying in that position. So the first few times you open and close it, things will begin to free up, just like my old knees first thing in the morning.

Its a catch 22 ... leave the top open and the bungee cords don't get stretched, but the top wrinkles, and during long storage mice like to make homes in the folded sections (over winter storage), ...... or leave the top up, stretch the bungee cords, lose elasticity of them, so the tonneau cover may clip on opening, but the mice won't do $2000 damage to the cloth top during storage periods. (I found this out on my 1954 MG TF during a two week late fall storage. The devils chewed four folded sections in one spot, leaving 4 finger sized holes spaced 8 inches apart when the top was up. Repair was an entire new cloth top.)

The bungee cord design was doomed to failure from the first, in my opinion. They should have come up with another solution. But it is what it is. You may well find that with more use, your issue may well correct itself.

In your case, you seem to have the right people doing what they can to fix your issue. PLEASE, PLEASE, keep us in the loop and let us know how it works out. Being there myself, I most curious to see the end result. One thing for sure ... the just over $100 a piece Nissan charges for each bungee cord is way out of line.

Gene

DocJ

My 2010 has been doing this past few months at least as well, where 5th bow isn't retracted up far enough & tonneau lid clips it opening. Sometimes the 5th bow cracks & creaks as it folds into the tub & occasionally it will catch the rear of the tub peeling down on the vinyl lining. A convertible/upholstery shop in town checked my bungees & said they looked good, but they "tightened" them up just to be sure. Klaus at tophydraulics suggested might be the hydraulics pump internal valves causing issues, since it's quite sporadic---happens sometimes, other times seems to open without issues.

Just wondering if anyone else had similar repair, & if anyone replaced pump with one from Klaus--how it functioned, fix issues, etc?

BoilardZ

I have a 2017 touring roadster, which I bought in May. Have had the roof-hitting-tonneau issue since day 1. Took it back to Nissan, and they claim to have replaced the bungees (as called for in service bulletin). But the problem persists (albeit intermittent). Seems like this has been a known issue for years, and yet Nissan continues to crank out new vehicles with the same problem. I've adjusted the adjustment nuts on the metal arms multiple times, but can't ameliorate the hitting problem. Any suggestions are welcome.

gbhrps

Boilardz,

As I stated in my posts, ..... open the top from the driver's door lock switch, which allows you to reach across the roof as it folds straight up, and pull that 5th bow towards the front of the car, before the tonneau cover opens and clips it.

Yes, you shouldn't have to do this, but it is what it is. If you're not willing to do this ... then either live with the issue, or replace the bungee cords for the 5th bow.

I've wondered if its possible for those of us with stretched 5th bow bungee cords, .... if its possible to fold parts of those bungee cords back onto themselves and zip tie them shorter, ... thereby shortening them, making them do their job as intended when new, and preventing the tonneau cover strikes that are so common, and also preventing the need to buy new bungee cords?

Is there someone willing to give it a try??? Keep us posted!

Gene

Hi-Step'n370Z

I too had the bungee's replaced and the problem appeared to be fixed, but as time went on, it was and it wasn't.

After seven months in storage, I opened the top and the tonneau lid hit the bow. I was surprised as the bungee's were recently replaced, and as I was told, were of an improved design.

To make a long story short, after I took the Z out of storage, at the first opening it hit. I closed the top and immediately opened it again and it did not hit.

I do not open the top very often and I got to wondering if there was some "hydraulic pressure" type of hiccup going on, as it would hit during the initial opening, then I could open and close the top again and again and it didn't hit. It seemed like something internally needed to "be primed" and brought "up to even pressure", or the internals needed to be "balanced out", and as long as that hydraulic pressure or balance was maintained, there would be no hitting.

As an experiment, I decided to purposely open the top once every month, and each time I did it, it did not hit. I'd like to extend that to once every six weeks, then once every two months, and so on until I found the maximum time the top could stay closed before it would hit upon opening. Maybe I'll try that experiment nest season.

The Z will go into storage again soon, then after six to seven months, I will open the top again, and I honestly do expect it to hit on the first opening, but if I make sure I open it at least once a month, I then expect it to not hit until after the next storage period.

The manual says not to operate the top in cold weather, so that tells us that something is either weak or sensitive or both about the functioning. What exactly I don't know, but it does suggest that the operating system is a sensitive one compared to the old style, more mechanical, convertible tops of yesteryear.

The manual also says not to open and close the top over and over again as it would cause an over heating problem somewhere in the internals. That also suggests that the system is a sensitive one, which makes me think that it may be under-built for the job. Not that someone should go through a series of open and close, but the system should be able to handle it regardless. Just a thought.

Another idea I had, but am not going to do, was to store the Z with the top open. That would relax the bungee's and help to identify if it's more a bungee problem than some other internal issue. When the top was first operated after storage, they would be at full, un-stretched, strength. I'd try it but it may set in some ugly creases and may not iron themselves out. I don't think the bungee's are the problem though, I still believe that the problem lies within the balance of the systems internal mechanism.

Well, that's all I got. Not of any actual repair value, but maybe worth mentioning.

My real curiosity is why only some hit and others do not. It appears that most do not hit, and that only a few do.

With the many Roadsters out there, if most did hit, the forum would be flooded with comments, and the Dealership wouldn't be so surprised to hear of the problem, and then have to contact Nissan for repair instructions.

At least my Dealership had no knowledge of the problem, and they're a large Dealership. My Tech is their GTI guy, so he knows his stuff, and he had to contact Nissan for instructions. Just wanted to throw that thought into the mix.

opruitt

I have a 2016 with the issue and I have been considering the bungee "tie back" option myself, but worry it would show a bulge when the top is up. No evidence for this, just a concern. I might just give it a go this weekend. If so I'll post back.

gbhrps

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Past experience has taught me to not store the car with the top down. The material fold creases may be extremely if not impossible to remove after an extended period of time.

As well, should the storage area where the car is kept be subjected to water spray (ceiling leak, burst water pipe, etc.), the interior of the car could be ruined if it were months later that you discovered the issue.

And then there are the little critters like mice and squirrels that like to make nests in all of that folded up top material when the top is open. One of my last antiques cars had just such an issue. An expensive fix for 4 small holes chewed to nickle size and all in a row. At least the little devil was neat.

The manual says to not open the top when the temperature is under 40 degrees F. That is simply in response to the viscosity of the hydraulic fluid (gets thicker when colder, and thins out when warm), and has nothing to do with the build quality of the top mechanism. As well, all of those plastic hoses that feed the 8 hydraulic cylinders may well crack and spit, and certainly not fold as well, when below 40 degrees.

As for the storage cover striking the top on first opening, but not successive openings, ... its like my knees not working first time I climb out of bed in the morning. But shortly thereafter, they work like a charm, only to do the same routine the next day after 12 hours rest. If at rest for a period of time, all things will take a "set".

I know in my case, I open the top and leave it open for a week or so before I close it overnight, to allow the fold wrinkles to smooth out. I do this all season long until storage time, when the top is left up until the first time out in warm spring weather.

So I'm not surprised really that my cover clips the top frame when it opens. I open it so infrequently, to prevent wear and tear on the system. Does it clip the tonneau cover every time it opens? I don't know, because I frequently open the top from outside of the car, allowing me to fold the 5th bow back to prevent the clip with my hand.

Hi-Step'n370z, I think you have the right idea with exercising the top once every month in storage. It will keep the hydraulic seals of those 8 cylinders washed with fluid, so that they can't dry out and begin leaking (like what happens with a lot of AC systems leaks over the winter months when the AC isn't used). You just have to ensure that its done when the car's temperature is above 40 degrees F.

Gene

opruitt

Ok, I did try the tie back trick on my bungees, it "helped". It still hit but not as bad. I was not sure how much to "pinch off" so I did the smallest I could, it was not too hard except for the bungee is really several small ones, so I was not sure how well that would hold up with a zip tie on them. So I took the ties off and am back to normal.

gbhrps

opruitt,

Glad to hear that shortening that bungee cord has the possibilty of helping to solve the tonneau cover striking issue. I wonder if you traced down all of the section cords and did the same to each of them, if that mightdo the trick.

I've found that zip ties can really be locked if pliers are used to really pull them tight. But in this case, using a zip tie to shorten the 5th bow bungee cord, perhaps a better idea would be to use something akin to a waxed shoe lace or nylon cord.

Just an idea.

Gene

opruitt

Ok, worked on it again tonight. I had did the "tie back", which helped (the tonneau didn't hit as hard), but the quick ties were very tight on the bungees and I was concerned it would cut/damage the segments. So it cut those off.

Tonight i just pulled the bungees through the upper loop. This is when the top is 1/2 open, the loop on top that the bungee segments are held in. I pulled the bungees (both sides of the car) as much as physically possible, by hand, toward the front of the car, sliding the bungee though the loop. So, the half of the bungee near the front of the car is loose, the back side half is tighter. Whala, no more hit AT ALL. So, for me at least I'm convinced this is the fix for my issue. I have opened and closed the top several times since, not one hit. Before this the hit was getting VERY loud on the drivers side.

Now, is this permanent? I doubt it. I did nothing to hold the bungee there. So I assume it will work its way back in to balance, IE both sides of the bungee fold being equal. When/if it starts hitting again I'll look at some way to hold the bungee on the loop so it won't slide back.

gbhrps

opruitt,

Can you post a picture or two of exactly where you pulled the bungee cords, with the top partly opened of course? It sure would help a lot of us out! Please ... please ... please!

Gene

opruitt

Of course, I'll try to take a few pics tonight.

opruitt

In the pics I'm pointing out the location (first pic) and the top of the bungee loop (2nd and 4th pics) from both sides of the car. In pics 2 and 4 it's hard to make out but my finger is on the top fabric loop the bungee is threaded through. That loop is where I pulled the bungee forward, tightening the back side and loosening the front of the bungee.

So far it's still has not hit again, however I've noticed its getting closer to hitting. Right after I had made my "adjustment" the tonneau cleared the bar (in pic 3, you can clearly see the scratch) by an inch now it just about is hitting again. On mine it's been only hitting on the drivers side, but I adjusted the bungees on both sides.

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gbhrps

opruitt,

Thanks so much! This is making more sense as it goes along.

Nissan Service manual drawings don't show the 5th bow bungee cord as an assembly of 5 smaller cords, hence the confusion.

I'll dig into my top cords over the next day or so, and see what I can come up with. In my case, the passenger side hits the tonneau cover on opening.

I'll get back to this thread after I've had some time to play around with it.

Gene