Top Won't Go Up

[jopizz]

Thanks for ignoring my troubleshooting suggestions. Sorry I wasted my time answering.

[dgs]

jopiszz, sorry to offend, you're help was right on track. I was thinking along the same lines, but hadn't considered making sure it wasn't fully up before starting.

We're all trying to help each other here, no one's input is without value.

[dgs]

FINALLY got some time to try to run this through a few cycles before closing it up. I didn't want to close the deck lid before I was confident it was OK, so it's been propped open for a while.

Well, it's not OK. I placed a block of wood over the switch so that when the decklid closed, it'd hit the wood and activate the switch. It worked great, hit the wood the hydraulics stopped and the screws kept turning. However, when I reversed it I got nothing but that click. I pulled the wood out and tried several more times with the same results.

I pulled the plug on the deck unlock relay and plugged it in, jiggling things around to hopefully, well, do something. (Hey, it worked last time!) Now, I don't even get a click. Close the decklid on the wood and reverse the control and nothing, zip, nada.

The connector felt loose, so I used pliers to gently crimp them closed a bit and tried again. Still nothing.

So, now what? New relay or can these be opened and the contacts cleaned?

I had hoped to make cars and coffee this Saturday AM. Looks doubtful now.

[jopizz]

They're pretty easy to clean. Just unsolder the ground tab and pry the case open. I have had a few that were so rusted that the contacts were gone but if it worked before a good cleaning should do it.

John

[dgs]

More info:

Sometimes I get a click, sometimes not. The click seems to be coming from the top solenoid valve right behind the back seat. My helper (13 YO engineer wannabe daughter) says she can feel it in that valve when we get a click.

When the deck lid is coming down, the lock screws are rotating. When it is going up, they are not. Should they be? It seems that they were when all was working properly.

So, it seems that I'm not getting power to the lock screws in the 'raise the deck lid' cycle, at least when the top is in the trunk. I haven't put the top up to see if it applies then. I assume it will.

The question is, bad relay, bad wiring, bad ground, or ??

[jopizz]

The screw locks should rotate when the trunk lid goes up and down. Most relays will click even when they don't work. Don't over think the problem. Just remove the relay and clean it.

[dgs]

They're pretty easy to clean. Just unsolder the ground tab and pry the case open. I have had a few that were so rusted that the contacts were gone but if it worked before a good cleaning should do it.

John

Sounds like a project for this weekend. Looking at it, it seems the entire relay assembly has to come out to get at one. Is that right? Will what needs to be cleaned be obvious once I get it apart?

[jopizz]

You can remove them individually. Just remove the screw from the power bar and the mounting screw and it should slide out. It's wise to take off the battery cable because the power bar is always live. When you take it apart you will see the small contacts. You should also clean under the center post.

[dgs]

I'll have to look again after work, but I thought I only saw one screw attached to the bar running down between the relays. Is that the power bar? I removed that yesterday and the relay wouldn't budge, didn't see any other obvious screws. Where's the other screw?

[jopizz]

The other screw is at the base of the relay. The wire harness may be covering it. The deck open relay is in the back so it's tougher to get to. Here's a drawing of the relays and you can see the screw at the base.

[dgs]

Ah. It's likely going to be easier to loosen the panel, it's buried under the bulkhead. I couldn't even get a straight shot at the upper screw.

With some luck, I'll get it fixed up tonight and still make Cars & Coffee in the AM.

[simplyconnected]

...Will what needs to be cleaned be obvious once I get it apart?

...The question is, bad relay, bad wiring, bad ground, or ??

Doug, you will answer these questions once you expose the relays.

John provided a great illustration showing the bus bar on top and the mounting screws on the side. Sometimes it helps to look up the relays sold by our vendors, so you can see the mounting holes.

[jopizz]

Here's a picture of the relay disassembled. I believe the deck unlock relay only has one contact like this one. Some have two. You want to clean the contacts and also between the bottom plate and magnet.

John

[dgs]

Got the relay out and disassembled. Looked pretty clean inside, but I gave it a good cleaning. Got to get it back together yet, but I thought you'd get a kick out of what else I found.

(Full sized image here.)

That's the ground wire from the pump to the relay panel. Two wires, sorta twisted together and globbed up with solder. Fell apart as I removed the relay panel. I cut the mess off, stripped it and put a wire nut on it. I might go back later and replace it with a proper single wire, but the wire nut will be better than that mess.

I don't think this is in the circuit that I'm having trouble with. It's a bit surprising that the pump worked, given this crappy ground wire.

Grandpa had hired an old friend to do work on his cars for many years. When his friend was no longer able, he hired the son. The son wasn't nearly as good as Dad, I've found work like this in several places on the car. Had to replace both deck cylinders because of his shoddy plumbing, the power window switches are cobbled together, the top pump isn't mounted correctly and I found one window motor laying in the bottom of the door, no mounting bracket in sight. Fixing them as I find them.

[simplyconnected]

Good pic of a relay, John.
Doug, I'm dying to see your pic but it didn't post.
Regarding others working on your car; assume nothing and go through each task with the resolve that it needs to be redone. You will surprise yourself with how much you can really do, once you get into these problems.