First, some general remarks.

If you are not putting the top up and down very often, you can expect trouble from the system. I will, sometimes, go as much as three weeks without driving the car. In such cases, I make it a point to start the car up and cycle the top down and back up at least every three weeks. I once had a Graphite Roadster as my daily driver for five years. I had to have put the top up and down AT LEAST 500 times and probably twice that, in those five years - never had a leak or ANY issue with the system.

As others have said, there is a switch above the passenger's head (the "top open" switch) and another in the trunk (the "divider switch"). These two MUST close, they are wired in series, and when they close, they put a ground on a wire that goes to the controller module. This tells the controller it is safe to start the pump and put the top down. (The idea here is that the TOP OPEN switch is there to verify you have released the top from the frame of the windshield, starting the pump without doing that will damage the system. The divider switch verifies you have put the divider up, so it is certain you have not left an item on the travel path of the top in the trunk - which would damage the top.) If the top is in the fully-down position, these two switches are ignored when putting the top up*. I doubt either of these switches is the issue.

If you did not complete the cycle, that is, get the beep at the end of the cycle (and the LED in the switch stayed on), and drove off, you may have confused the controller, in this case, the top will not move. The way around this is to watch my video and put the top up, all the way, manually. YOu need the top tool AND the 6mm hex key for this. In extreme cases, you may have to put the top up and down, fully, two or three times, to teach the controller where the top is. To do this, you perform the manual operation with the engine running, so the controller is powered up the entire time.

THere are a few things that will cause the top to refuse to go back up:
1) The system thinks you are moving over 9mph. (If your BAS/ESP light is on, your system may be confused about speed.)
2) The fluid level is REALLY low. (Not likely, take a look at the tank.)
3) The trunk latch switch is indicating that the trunk is not fully closed. (A rare failure but it does happen.)
4) The electric trunk lock is not moving to the fully locked position (a VERY rare failure).
5) The controller has been damaged by water some time in the past and corrosion has finally compromised the circuit board or the connectors on the module.
6) The sensors on the electric wing/spoiler indicate it is not either fully UP or fully DOWN. (Oddly, the top will move if the wing is all the way UP or DOWN, but not somewhere in the middle).
7) The Body Control module is screwed up.

One thing you can try, if the Top controller or body controller is confused is to:
1) Shut off engine.
2) Turn headlights on.
3) Yank battery cable off.
4) Wait 30 seconds.
5) Put cable back on (don't let spark scare you).
6) Turn off lights, start engine, try top again.

Let us know how it goes.


*In the eleven years I have owned Roadsters, I have never verified this statement, but I was told by a top expert that those switches are ignored when putting the top up. In all my years working with top issues, I have never once found one of those swtiches to be the cause of a top not going UP, but I have found it to be the case when a top won't go DOWN - DOZENS of times, in fact.