Convertible Roof Stuck Closed; and it's not the sensors
 

My roof is stuck and it won't go down and it's not what you think; it's not the boot sensors.

I push the little button to make the roof go down - first the sunroof is supposed to retract. But what happens is that it only retracts on driver side, the passenger side stays stuck in place. There is only one motor (located in the center) and it appears to be working fine. It appears the mechanism for the sunroof part on the passenger side is bound up--it doesn't move at all.
The MINUSA 1800Donotclose # must be ringing off the hook by now!:lol:

But seriously, has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions on how
to fix this?
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :confused: :confused: :confused:

--
- Eric
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==]__}___\__
(O)_______(O)\

'05 HB/B MCS-C ("Rufles")
HomePage : http://home.comcast.net/~minilifecrisis/

There are a few cases of convertible roof failure, for example see my weblog entry from last year:

http://gbmini.net/images/albums/Gene...rtibleRoof.jpg

(not my car)


Also, my friends wifes car refuses to open/close if the car is in very hot weather! See this entry.


Oh - and I think fixing it will require a dealership!

Roof Stuck Closed (pics)
 

Here are some pics (inside/outside) of the problem. Yeah I know, I have to get to the dealer to fix this. It's just a pain to do so. It' been in twice already for a horrible squeeking sound (fingernail on chalkboards) that occurs when it goes up/down. Now this... oh and squeeks again too!

Arg!

http://home.comcast.net/~minilifecri...uckoutside.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~minilifecri...tuckinside.JPG

Definitely looks broken :wink: :sad:

Maybe the fix will stop the squeal this time ...

Interesting you have the LightInSight; I would have thought with the convertible you could just look out over the top of the windshield :lol:

LightnSight. LOL. Yeah, I thought the same. The German/Brit Engineers at MINI have a sense of humor... they knew exactly where to put the A-Frame for the windshield. Right where it's in the way. :lol: :lol:

Roof Repair Update
 

It took a couple of days to get a service appointment to meet my schedule. However, once my MINI was at the dealer, it was fixed rather quickly -- it was done by noon.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Anyway, top works again (I did suffer a long Labor Day weekend of motoring with my top up & closed while it was Sunny 70-80 degF. :mad:

The problem/solution: They replaced (on the passenger side) the carriage cartridge that controls the sunroof portion of the roof. It was bent or something and stayed locked to the window. (see previous photos).

[My MINI was blessed, it was built on John Lennon's Birthday; 10-9-04]

Mine was cursed - it was born on Vladimir Lenin's birthday! :eek2:



:grin:

Seems very fitting. A Mini is such a revolutionary idea. :sly:

:thumbsup: I'm glad to see that it was a relatively easy fix....meaning no new roof.:grin:

Donna:cool: :grin: :cool:

And that ain't no Bolshevik!!

Tell me about it... I'm hosting a rally cruise through the PA Pocono area tomorrow for PhillyMINI. I would have been really POed had I not had my baby. :eek2: Could you see me leading 25+ MINIs through the Pocono's with a lame loaner car? :lol: :lol: :eek2: :eek2: Because you know that a new Roof wouldn't have been done in 1/2 a day (let alone by the end of the week!)

You would have had to find a Counterfeit MINI to lead the pack....:lol: :lol:

Donna:cool: :grin: :cool:

Of course... it is definetely a Menshevik.!!! :thumbsup:

My top has just done the exact same thing yesterday. Unfortunately I have to drive to another state to get to a dealer. I was curious if you tried to use the crank that comes in your toolkit to see if you could unwrench the passenger side manually. I was going to try this but unfortunately when I opened my toolkit the tool was missing :mad: . I am about to call the dealer now but I was just wondering if anyone tried the manual approach.

The manual approach didn't help as the mechanical cartridge was jammed and did not unlatch from the window. The manual crank is only usefull if your motor dies or you lose power. :mad: Besides, I took the cover off and I watched the little nut turn on the motor when the roof was going up and down later on. You better have yourself a power drill because you'll be cranking :impatient for quite a while by hand.:eek:

The dealer replace the cartridge in about an hour or so.

Thanks for the info...my sunroof part opened yesterday but when the actual top part started to go up it went askew so I immediately stopped & closed it. Then when I tried to open it afterwards is when the passenger side locked. I was hoping trying to manually open it might free something up but alas :mad: I guess I have to go to the dealer. UGH my long-distance dealer experiences usually include me calling & telling them my problem, them saying "come on over", me driving all the way over there, & them saying "we'll order the part". So I get to drive from AL to GA 4X for 1 fix. Maybe I will get lucky this time & convince them to have the part waiting on me (but I won't hold my breath :roll: )

Last time I went for my oil change I called them 3 weeks in advance & told them I needed a new glove box lock, wheel paint, & a replacement grill for my rear bumper (phantom light). When I got there they changed the oil & ordered the parts :lol: :lol: :lol: both Hank Aaron & Global in GA = igmos :lol: :lol: :lol:

This happened to my 05 last summer - BTW -same side. The service tech told me a motor burned out on one side and something else broke as a result. It took a couple days to get parts and to fix. No problems since (fingers crossed).

I just spoke with Global in Atlanta & they said odds are the parts will have to be ordered :sad: . I wouldn't mind the 250 mile roundtrip so much if it wasn't such an awful stretch of road. All interstate :cry: (I-20), washboard bumpy paved suface :sly: , & 55MPH speedtraps all the way (saw 9 state troopers :eek: in approx 80 miles last time)

Make sure the pivoting shelf in the back is seated correctly. It happened to me once... Thank goodness I figured it out before I embarrassed myself at the dealer!

It's not the shelf. I went all around & checked everything Monday when it happened.

Sorry Man... Looks like another trip to the dealer... Hang in there, the car's worth it.

Well they fixed my roof so I am topless once again :grin: but man when I raise it it makes an awful squeaking sound as it is going up (kinda like it needs to be WD-40'd). I am not driving back to GA, it's not so bad I can't live with it but...I have a nagging urge to try to WD-40 it :lol: :lol: I wonder what would happen if I did :confused:

I wonder what mess WD40 would make of the cloth top?

I posted back in March that my top wouldn't go up. It would rise a few inches - then stop and settle back down.
I coaxed it up through repeated operation and after letting it sit for an hour <top motor cool-down> it closed and latched.
I was told by the helpful people at Desert MINI in Las Vegas that there's a "recall" <others call it a TSB> on the top for adjustment. They were willing to take me in for adjustment while I was there, but the top then worked normally so I'll do it when I'm in for my 10K at Schomp in Denver.

I asked about using the manual crank when the top was up but would not latch. They didn't seem to know about that proceedure and after a bit came back to the phone and said - "don't do that" :roll:

Peter

That is my concern too. If I did it I would spray just a little & then wipe it off really good or I will probably just listen to the sque e eee e ek :sly: til I have to go in for something else.

When my top was stuck I read my owners manual & it said never lower the top using the manual crank but it said to use the crank to raise the top so someone is wrong Mini or the Dealer hmmmmm I dare say the dealer is wrong (as usual :lol: ). Who knows though they left the little bar you are supposed to use to manually raise the top out of my toolbox so maybe mini changed their mind on that issue :grin: