370z roof won't move warning light on

TopHydraulics

Some of the eight hydraulic cylinders in the 370Z roadster's convertible top have sensors on them. Those sensors are not actually switches, but "Hall Effect Sensors". They give the ECU (soft top controller) information about the cylinder status in a fancy manner. These detectors react to the change of magnetic field near the sensor, which has a magnet built in. When the steel shaft inside the hydraulic cylinder moves, the magnetic field around the magnet in the Hall Effect sensor changes. That results in different currents being read from a modulated signal that is sent through the sensor, and the controller can thus determine whether the cylinder's shaft is extended or not.

These sensors are fairly accurate and they have a low failure rate (because they are solid state sensors without moving parts in them). The sensor itself gets blamed far too often for a false reading, when it is actually a bad wire or a poor connection in a plug, or when the sensor has accidentally been slightly dislodged by someone working on the system.

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you are proposing. Let's put it this way: The sensor is mounted on this specific cylinder for a reason. You cannot bypass it. If the sensor was not needed, then it would not be there.

Sorry, I cannot see any photos attached.

Am I reading correctly between the lines that the sensor is sometimes telling the system the storage cover is open even though it is not? As opposed to not always signalling that the storage cover cylinder is fully extended when it actually isn't?

I will propose a fairly simple experiment once we know with reasonable certainty that the sensor is really the problem.

Klaus

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Top Hydraulics, Inc -- Upgrading/rebuilding convertible top hydraulic cylinders and pumps for Nissan 370Z roadsters and over 30 other brands. Manufacturing new, superior hydraulic hoses for convertible tops.

http://www.tophydraulicsinc.com/en/73-nissan-370z-09-13