370z roof won't move warning light on
 

2010 roadster 45k. Roof won't move. Warning light on dash is on. Hit the swith and nothing happens, I manually checked to make sure it is locked down.

I'm not familiar with the 370Z rag top but I'd check the limit switches at the top of the windshield first. Then the switches that tell the system the top is fully retracted (I have no idea where they are located).

Disconnect the battery for 10mins. Might just do it.

Tried the battery thing, left it over an hour with zero luck. Top hydraulics is helping me also. But still interested in any input!

May sound stupid but make sure your trunk is closed. Open it and close it again then try.

Mine would open about 1 ft and from there i would have to give it a slight bump to help it open all the way

Trunk is closed tight. Stull no idea

Same Issue
 

I have the same issue. 2010 370 with 33k. First event happened in June after coming home one cold evening with the roof open. Car was cold and then placed in warm garage for the night with the roof closed. Next morning when taking the car out I noticed that the roof open warning light was on, but had not been on the night before. No response from the open switch. Tried all of the forum suggestions of hard reset and trunk open/close using the key. A few days later after the car had been in the sun for a while, the problem seemed to resolve itself. Working fine until a few days ago. I have tried to limit temperature extremes but the same thing occurred; only now even sitting in the warm sun does not do the trick. I have read of others with this same symptom, and they eventually had to replace the hydraulics. Very Expensive!!! I am trying to figure out how to diagnose the issue. Have no warranty left from 2010. Would be happy to share any info on a solution that does not require replacing the roof.

Does anyone know how to disable the blasted warning buzzer? At least I will still be able to drive with the roof up!

Bring it to the dealer and let them fix it under warranty

No warranty left. I have seen numbers on this forum as high as US$15K to fix a similar problem. I will be having my local dealer look at the issue but would like to have some fall back options.

I traded mine after being in the shop 3 times for small tears from defect. Let them fix it and traded her in next day


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I have the same issue with my 2010, put the top down and the warning light never went out, and the buzzer won't shut off. Took it to the dealership and they made a failed attempt at fixing some wiring. Final result is they say I need to replace the entire top at a cost of approx 7k, and the car is not longer under warranty. So now I'm stuck with a car I can sell/trade because the top won't operate and is no longer a convertible. I've contacted Nissan consumer affairs, a 5yr old car with 30k that's always lived in a garage shouldn't require 7k in repairs, and shouldn't have to replace the entire top to fix some wiring. Don't know what will come of it be if anyone has some advice I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Most dealers are ill-equipped to handle vert problems and probably haven't work on many (if any). I'd try finding an independent shop with some expertise in verts. Should be more than one in a city as big as Atlanta. An auto upholstery shop may be able to give you some leads. A repair shop that specializes in classic cars may have more experience with verts.

I am slowly working on mine, will keep everyone posted.

Few things to check:
Do you hear the motor when you press the button to open or close it?
Are you sure the latches above the window and the latch near the trunk are all locked down?
Is the open/close button lit up?

It could be something as simple as the fuse. Check it to make sure it's not blown.

I checked all fuses, Zero motor noise when hitting the button, the top is locked down, I manually unlocked, and locked the front a few times just incase, and pushed down on the bank many times to be sure. I do not know if the open and close button is lit up, i will have to check. I know if I manually open my truck and hit the roof button it beeps as to something is wrong. Same as if you put the car in Reverse, as it did when it worked excellent.

No motor noise, fuses are all good, latches are solid, i unlatched and latched a few times manually just incase. No idea if light on switch is on? Should it be?

If you are getting a beep when pressing the button with the trunk open then you are getting power to the button. I wanted to rule out something simple and cheap first like a loose wire or bad fuse where the button had no power.

Next thing would be to try to check the motor for power. I'm guessing the motor is shot since you dont even hear it making noise but it would be a wire that fell out or got damaged and causing no power to the motor.

Trying to be optimistic and have you check the cheap fixes first lol

Picked mine up from the dealer this morning and they say it's fault(s) in the convertible top wiring harness. Unfortunately they're also telling me the harness isn't sold and is only available if you purchase the entire top. I've contacted Nissan, it seems crazy that you would need to replace and entire top that has nothing wrong with it because of a wiring harness fault.

If the connectors are still good, any decent weekend electrician should be able to get you fixed up.

Why can't you buy it from this site for $100?

Nissan 370Z (2010-2014). #240691ET0A: Convertible Top Wiring Harness. Harness.

Great find. Unless the weekend electrician I mentioned is willing to work for a six-pack, this would probably be the cheapest (and easiest) route.

I'd still get a competent "vert guy" to look at it before I started swapping out parts. Going by my own experience and what I have read on this site, very few dealers know how to troubleshoot/work on Zs and fewer still know anything about verts. It could be as simple as a relay that has come unplugged or gone bad.

I checked fuses in the drivers kick panel, and under the hood, zero had issues. My trouble is I am still working at it to get the top open to get into the motor for it. Top Hydraulics is giving me help which they are doing great. I will post photos and how to do it when I get done.

I just recently fixed mine couple weeks ago, very similar issue...

The issue with mine was it can open properly, but it cannot complete the closing, when I hit the close button, it starts the closing procedures, the rear-latch latches onto the storage lid and the two front hooks latch into the windshield frame, but then the motor doesn't stop and keep trying to lock until it gives up the process after some 10-15 secs, then the front hooks release, the rear one is locked but not the front.

Roof light is on because it's not closed, and if I try to open it with the button, it releases the rear latch then stop because the ECU thought the roof is stuck at the front, I have to push the front part of the roof backward until the rear window flip-up, then the ECU sense both side are up then it can complete the open process when I go back to press the button again.


But I still couldn't close the top.


Unless, when I try to close the roof, I release the close button when I heard the front latches are locked, but since I release the button myself, the ECU thinks the process is not completed and the roof-light will keep blinking and buzzing once the car starts moving.


I've looked at some thread in here, including this one, trying to figure out what's wrong, at first, I thought it's one or both of the sensor located at the top of the windshield for the front latches.


However, without any tools, I cannot pin-point the cause.

With the thought of believing it's caused by the front striker-sensor, I brought the car to the dealer.

Paid 2 hours for them to diagnose the problem, eventually they told me they are getting a code saying it's the rear latch. It's either it doesn't latch properly or the sensor is faulty.

Anyway, they order the part, it's the black color triangle metal part that screwed underneath the top-storage-lid. Basically it has 3 sensors and a hydraulic motor.

The actual part doesn't come with the motor, just the 3 sensors.

It's an 8.5 hours job according nissan, at the beginning I thought it's a rip off, but after the whole thing is completed, I believe 8.5h is about right.


What the Nissan tech can do in the dealer, is they can remove the faulty part, switch the motor from the old part to the new one, and screw it back in place. But removing the motor isn't an easy job though, should be an hour or two.

Then they have to give my car to an independent shop to look after the roof, which is a shop specialize on repairing roof. Nissan tech doesn't know how to do it.

What my service adviser told me was, after they put the part on, they have to have those roof-guy to align the latch and the roof, and that takes time, cause otherwise the roof won't close properly.

Eventually, took them 3 days to complete the job they charge me for 8.5 hours.

Of cos, I am not saying they spent 3 full days to work on my car, but it does take time.

The whole job cost me about $1700 including the 2 hours i paid for the diagnose.


I've read the top manual, there's about 9-10 sensors in the roof, any one of them fail can lead to the problem, I don't know do they use a regular OBDII scanner or some other tools to look for the problem, but I think you need to have them take a look.

Of cause they always try to ask you to replace the whole roof cos they make the most money and it's simple, I will suggest you still have them take a look and hopefully they can pin point which component(s) is giving the problem.

Otherwise, bring it to a local roof-shop, they should be able to diagnose the problem too, if you are in good term with the service adviser, he/she might even tell you which shop do they use and you might as well just bring to car to the shop directly.


To some of you who wants to get rid of that warning light and buzz, here's the solution:

open the battery cover under the hood, there's a small fuse box in front of the battery, on the cover there's the diagram telling you which fuse is for which component, there's two fuses for the roof, one is a big one with a 40A and there's another small one in 15A, I remember it's the 2nd one to the right on the top row.

You can remove that 15A fuse, the warning light will turn off and no more buzzing, so you can drive in peace.

HOWEVER, you won't be able to use the central-lock button on the driver's door, you can lock and unlock the car with the remote or manually press the locking knob, just the central-lock button inside the car doesn't work, and you won't be able to open the trunk, well, you won't be able to open it anyway even with the fuse in place since the top warning light is on.


My top is working normally now since it's fixed.


It's a long post but I hope it gives you some $0.02 on your issue.

Thanks for this detailed report ... and the Buzzer Alarm fuse tip :). You can see more of my problem in an earlier part of this thread. I have an appointment set up with my local dealer for next week. Believe it or not, we have a lot of verts running around this part of the east coast. We love our fresh air! So, I remain hopeful that I will have a fix soon. Will post when I do.

Do you have the old part alcheng? Top Hydraulics has the parts needed to replace this, he has been helping me out, i agree to spread the word! Plus..who wants to pay thousands of $$

I've checked Top Hydraulic too, but they mainly sell/repair the hydraulic motor, the problem on mine was the sensor.

they replaced the part#7 in the diagram
http://lghttp.26050.nexcesscdn.net/8...rt/3718525.png

not bad $189 for the part! Thank you for the information.

I paid CAD$585 at the dealer :crying:

Ok ... as promised, I have an update on my roof issue. Spent three hours with the local dealer today. They have a knowledgeable tech on the Z34 and knowing how many sensors and other things that can prevent a roof from opening, he was careful not to jump to any premature conclusions. Turns out I had a wire fault in the harness. The prognosis came with two choices, 1) replace the roof or 2) try to isolate the bad wires and effect a repair. I went with 2) despite the risk of not having anything to show after spending a bundle on labour. Good choice ... he found a chaffed pair of wires that were rubbing off the roof frame each time it opened and closed. They were exposed enough to short together from time to time but not consistently. The solution was to add a bit of wire to give the wires some extra slack and then good old tape. Problem solved ... Yay!! Only 3 hours of labour. Also had a clutch switch go this summer ... hopefully things will be better next season!
Anyway ... just spent the last few hours of daylight touring with 23 degree C and a lots of sun! Makes all the problems worth it!

Glad to hear they could correct the issue so easily. My dealership was not, and has also concluded the issue is with the wiring harness. They attempted to fix the harness but after a few open and closes same issue resulted. They're now saying I need a new roof because the harness isn't available as a separate part. I've been contact with Nissan over this since the car has less that 30k miles but it out warranty, best I can get it Nissan to pay 50% of the 7K repair price.

Sorry to hear that. So ... it makes me wonder just what this part is?

Got the car back, they did install the part mentioned above, though that part is not a complete harness. They found one or more sections of the harness that had chaffed, worn through the insulation and were shorting out and throwing a fault. The repaired those breaks in the harness, re-taped everything out of they way and replaced a couple of other suspect parts. The tech opened and closed 6-7 times successfully. Now I'm at a tipping point, not sure how long the fix will last before it happens again, it cost me about $450 to fix this time, and I'm sure if it happens again they'll be less likely to want to fix it, and will want to install the 7k replacement top.

Seems crazy that they can't install an entirely new, and hopefully improved harness and have to install a 7k part, the rest of the mechanical, hydraulics, etc are fine, so I'd just be throwing them away, or they'd scavenge mine for parts to fix others.

So do I sell/trade or see how long it lasts......?

As long as they have the wiring out of the way of the mechanical parts, you should be OK. I'd check it several times a year to make sure nothing has shifted.

The tech that repaired mine used standard electrical tape. I was able to add a layer of self 'vulcanizing' tape for extra protection while keeping the area flexible. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'll try to capture a few pics of the area and post later.

Would greatly appreciate the pics and may try to do the same with mine.

Much thanks

Yes please post pics of the wires that were rubbing so we can proactively protect ours!

As promised. here are a few pics of the repaired area. Unfortunately I was not able to capture the wires before they were taped. The problem area is circled in red, followed by a closer view.

I am also noticing that the hydraulic lines that go into the harness clamp are looking a bit worse for wear as well. I don't know if this routing has been modified on models after 2010. It would be good to compare with newer models.

Thanks for posting the pics.

I like to use spiral wrap* instead of electrical tape for applications like this. It provides more protection and has none of the mess that the tape's adhesive becomes after a short time. YMMV

*not a recommendation, just the first example I found.

Thanks ... agreed. If the wire cores are not exposed then this should do the job. I would probably still fusion tape the end edge of the wrap to prevent a new wear problem.

In my case I needed to recover (insulate) exposed (frayed) wires. A self vulcanizing (amalgamating or fusion) silicon tape gives a good weather resistance flexible seal without the mess of electrical tape. I am afraid to add anything else as this might make the wire bundle too stiff.