Folding roof issues - update

stube40

So I wanted to give an update on where my issues got to - short story, it's been 2 steps forward and one step back.

Summary of where things were at: the top was permanently locked open which was great if you want a convertible, not so great if you want to leave your car outside. The symptoms were that when trying to close the roof, the left had side of the roof lid cover refused to open - you could hear the electric actuators do their work but the roof would fail right at the point where it tries to start rising - would be a bit of movement then stop. At this point, pressing the Open button again at least reversed everything and allowed the car to drive normally and the boot to open.

When inspecting the inside of the boot to use the manual release cables, there was only one - the left side was missing. This was a clue as it's related....

After pulling off alot of the plastic trim behind the seats to get to the problem area, tried the roof lid manually and noticed it was free to be manually lifted - not sure why, didn't do anything obvious to change anything and was still trying to get to the source. Anyway, this allowed us to lift the lid and raise the roof so we could see inside. At that point I could see the manual cable had come out it's harness, become a little twisted (although not actually around anything in this position) and the electrical cable "protective gator" was frayed, suggesting rubbing. Inspected the electrical cables, no obvious damage, fixed the manual release cable so at least that works now, put the whole thing back together and......... same problem, refuses to open.....

Tried back and forth about 4 or 5 times with open/close button, then the next time I tried I noticed open/close button does nothing - no whine of electric actuators at all. Fused checked, all fine.

So, we obviously have 2 problems now - the original roof opening issue and a new issue whereby the electrics wont even start to try.

Here's my thoughts on the electrical problem - one of 3:

1) There is electrical cable damage somehow and we've disturbed it. In that case,obviously where the cable fray was is the main target area to test first

2) There is a sensor that is either not working or not in correct orientation - could be roof sensor or silly thing like boot-latch sensor, window, door etc. I don't think it could be window or door, but I'm not ruling anything out. Would be great to get and OBD II sensor or something to read codes - anyone know if that is a possibility?

3) I've somehow damaged the main control computer and it died. I'm going to go and do a small test which will hopefully help disprove this (try the electrics with the boot open, hopefully I get a beep.....)

BoilardZ

Sorry to hear about all the frustration!
I'd put my money on option 2--my button will do nothing, not even a beep, if the trunk (boot) is open. I wonder if that sensor (or the associated wiring) is bad.
Have you tried actuating the tonneau cover lock solenoid by applying voltage directly to it? That would at least tell you if the device is working.