Convertible Power Top Questions?

[ddbaker3]

I've finally had some time to mess with everything a little bit and take some pictures.

ryan_sf_cabrio: yeah I had the trunk closed, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

I think I have a few problems and I am willing to bet that they have something to do with micro switches and the dash switch. It makes it very hard to test things when I'm not sure if my dash button is good or not.

I believe that I am getting the lid motor to lock, but it's difficult to be sure. I read that the lock is very important because it makes sure the motor is touching the frame and completes the circuit to the micro switch? I may end up taking that motor off and wrap a large hose clamp around it like someone else on one of the forums did. They said their top wouldn't operate because whatever that circuit is wasn't fully closing and clamping the motor helped make that contact.

I've tried to take detailed pictures of everything and as far as I can tell, everything is where it should be.

I'm also considering just bypassing the micro switch mess and hard-wiring the motors to 2 individual rocker switches since the motors work fine. I'd just have to be careful and time everything correctly, but I can't think of any major reasons why that wouldn't work

[ddbaker3]

The hose clamp fix idea:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=376831

[bradnic]

fantastic pics. THANK YOU on behalf of the vert community for posting them.

post up links of the articles you're referencing so we can all help you get to the bottom of things.

the dash button is actually really simple. Seriously doubt it has anything to do with what's going on. You're right to focus on microswitch adjustments. But you really need to start from a known base. Everything needs to work in a specific sequence of the motors won't fire. This is to protect the mechanism from damage. If you start 'randomly' tweaking switches you're really gonna have problems getting things back in sync.

It's harder to explain the sync process than to just do it (once you know the specific steps can diagnose their effects properly). If someone has recorded a video of the sync procedure that would be the ideal reference. I've never found one.

In addition to the e30ic.com info, there's an 'official' calibration procedure in the electric top retrofit installation doc. I suggest starting there, and then maybe going back to whatever info you've read to see if anything becomes easier/clearer to understand.

couple of links that work for now (dropbox has hosed everything so these links will expire in a few months). Download them while you can.. and check the diagrams and English instructions towards the end of the docs. There's also a schematic with wire colors and the microswitches. The names on each microswitch hint at what they're intended for. Confirm the wire colors to understand which one is which.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/783836/callie/EM-Verdeck%20BMW%203er-Reihe%20E%2030%20Cabrio.pdf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/783836/callie/EM-Verdeck%2099%20-%2001299783716-E30%20Cabrio%20power%20top%20install%20instructions%20-%20ENGLISH%20ONLY%20copy.pdf

Wish I could provide more info but I haven't finished my electric top retrofit project yet. I have 2 close friends with electric top cars though. I'll post when I can add some specifically helpful info.

[bradnic]

damn dude MPoser and I just picked up an electric top vert in Raleigh this morning. Catch you at the Vintage?

[ddbaker3]

Ah man I didn't know about the Vintage. I've already made plans, but I'm trying to get more involved for sure. That weekend is definitely a popular one for events.

Thank you for those links, they'll be really helpful. I'm pretty confident that most of the micro switches have not been messed with. I would guess that the PO had some kind of problem where the system stopped working and disengaged the motors without looking into it too far. I just need to find out what that problem was. And I only say that because no parts are missing, both motors work, and the rest of the car hasn't been tampered with

[ddbaker3]

I finally got it working, I had to track down all of the different micro switches and see if any of them were bad. It turns out that this guy detects when the top is locked or unlocked and it had went bad. I took off that top panel and messed around with the wiring some.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrj26QpjGE4

I don't know if this holds true for all of the switches, but when the top is unlocked and pushed up during the beginning, the micro switch circuit is actually closed and getting power. That was super helpful because I could bypass the switch by adding a little jumper wire and trick the system.

Then from there, the alignment procedure went exactly as described on http://www.e30ic.com/powertop.htm and the most crucial step is the adjustment of that micro switch to the left of the lid motor. If that thing was even slightly out of place, the system would go back to not working

[bradnic]

Nice job nailing things down

Yeah that microswitch will certainly disable everything for sure if the system thinks the top is locked down to the front window frame. It would assume the lid can't open because the top is up, and if the lid isnt fully open when the system thinks it's bringing the top down the top motor itself won't turn on..

You can assume the designers won't trust user input on anything. The micro switches are there to confirm the position of all key bits in each stage of operation. If something is out of place the motors won't engage to prevent damage.

There's also a connection to the cluster btw, no doubt to tell the system to ignore top button presses if the car is moving