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Automatic convertible realignment procedure

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  • Escaport
    replied
    Originally posted by cory58 View Post
    I see what you are saying. There is a locking mechanism, but it is held in place by the motor shaft not moving on the EM version. I think we are both right. I will edit my previous post. I would not trust the boot lid to stay secured without the front latches locking it in place.


    Cory
    Yeah. Exactly. In essence on the electric version, the motor shaft not moving is the "lock".

    Not having ever owned or examined the manual version, I don't know exactly how it works. I figure it has more of a real door latch style lock mechanism since it has that little door handle in the rear panel where the speaker is.

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  • cory58
    replied
    Originally posted by Escaport View Post
    Yes, but there is no lock mechanism. The cables that pull on the latches are held tight by the "locking" of the motor, not by any true locking mechanism. It isn't as if once the motor cranks enought to a point a latch is engaged that holds the cables and latch hooks down. It's just the friction of the motor that keeps the cables tight. My statement is correct.

    I see what you are saying. There is a locking mechanism, but it is held in place by the motor shaft not moving on the EM version. I think we are both right. I will edit my previous post. I would not trust the boot lid to stay secured without the front latches locking it in place.


    Cory

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  • Escaport
    replied
    Originally posted by Dspill View Post
    Thank you very much for the advice. I want to make sure I understand your comment "I was able to take some material to protect the plate along with gripping the area of it that connects to the emergency release catch with vice-grips and bend it back a mm or two so the catch held the motor in place more firmly. "

    The "material" noted above was to keep from damaging the plate and then grab and bend the corner below 1 or 2mm toward the back of the car which will push the gear toward the front when fully latched in-place?
    Close. I did the bending here..., and in the same direction you indicate. Just enough that the emergency release catch there pulls a little harder and engages the motor a bit more positively. It isn't a big bend, and it won't latch properly if you go too far.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Escaport; 10-09-2018, 01:59 PM.

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  • Escaport
    replied
    Originally posted by cory58 View Post
    That is not correct. As the boot lid motor turns, it pulls wires that run through the boot well. The other ends of the wires are connected to latches that rotate, pull down the front of the boot lid and secure it.
    Yes, but there is no lock mechanism. The cables that pull on the latches are held tight by the "locking" of the motor, not by any true locking mechanism. It isn't as if once the motor cranks enought to a point a latch is engaged that holds the cables and latch hooks down. It's just the friction of the motor that keeps the cables tight. My statement is correct.

    For the scope of what causes the issue and where the effort needs to be focused, it doesn't matter if there are cables and latches after the motor/gear interaction.
    Last edited by Escaport; 10-09-2018, 01:39 PM.

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  • cory58
    replied
    Originally posted by Escaport View Post
    There isn't really a "locking" mechanism per se on an automatic top. "Locking" is done by the motor pulling the tonneau covert down until it triggers the stop sensor. The "locking" is done by the motor in the stop position stricly due to binding or friction of the gears holding the tonneau in place.

    As the boot lid motor turns, it pulls wires that run through the boot well. The other ends of the wires are connected to latches that rotate, pull down the front of the boot lid and secure it.
    Last edited by cory58; 10-09-2018, 01:50 PM.

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  • bradnic
    replied
    Check your owners manual
    You can search online if you don’t have it

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  • Dspill
    replied
    Thank you very much for the advice. I want to make sure I understand your comment "I was able to take some material to protect the plate along with gripping the area of it that connects to the emergency release catch with vice-grips and bend it back a mm or two so the catch held the motor in place more firmly. "

    The "material" noted above was to keep from damaging the plate and then grab and bend the corner below 1 or 2mm toward the back of the car which will push the gear toward the front when fully latched in-place?
    Attached Files

    Leave a comment:


  • Escaport
    replied
    There isn't really a "locking" mechanism per se on an automatic top. "Locking" is done by the motor pulling the tonneau covert down until it triggers the stop sensor. The "locking" is done by the motor in the stop position stricly due to binding or friction of the gears holding the tonneau in place.

    One of the weak point to the design of the auto top power mechanism is the emergency release design. There is a flat mounting plate for the motor that is attached to the release catch. This plate slightly deforms over time a tiny bit. The meshing of the motor's drive gear and the locking mechanism has such tight tolerances that even a mm or two deformation can cause poor engagement of the drive gear.

    My guess is the ratcheting you heard was the drive gear slipping. When it slips, it can't get to the stop point or at least hold at the stop point to perform a proper "lock". I had this happen on my top as well. Scared the hell out of me because I thought I had lost the motor worm gear or other issues I had seen people talk about that required the replacement of the assembly or conversion to manual.

    Here is what I did. I was able to take some material to protect the plate along with gripping the area of it that connects to the emergency release catch with vice-grips and bend it back a mm or two so the catch held the motor in place more firmly. Then I had to perform the part of the realignment procedure where I held the tonneau cover in the stop "lock" position with the allen key, and while holding, then reengaged the drive motor. It's tricky, but I did that a year ago after exactly what you describe happened to me and I've never heard another peep out of it.
    Last edited by Escaport; 10-06-2018, 11:08 AM.

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  • Dspill
    started a topic Automatic convertible realignment procedure

    Automatic convertible realignment procedure

    Hello.
    E30 1992 convertible in generally great condition.

    I had to resort to manually operating my automatic top due to a problem and am struggling to follow the system realignment procedure described on the E30ic website. When using the Allen wrench to try to secure the tonneau lid I'm putting a lot of torque on the Allen wrench (counterclockwise) and I can see the tonneau pull down but it's not locking. I'm hesitant to put more pressure on and fear breaking something.
    The top is in the "up" state so there should be nothing inside to interfere with the mechanisms.
    Does anyone have experience with this process? How hard should this be if things are working correctly?
    I have not tried to have someone push on the tonneau to help yet, but that's my next step.

    My original problem was that I heard a gear grinding sound or "ratcheting" sound while the tonneau cover was closing. If I helped the tonneau drop by supporting some of the weight it would help.
    Eventually the final step of the convertible top rear dropping down wouldn't occur, which suggests to me that the tonneau lid "lock" wasn't happening. The ratcheting noise would continue so I gave up and released all the motors/locks.

    I've done a lot of searching and learned a lot but it's still not apparent how to troubleshoot this one.
    Any suggestions on how to maintain this mechanism is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks
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