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Just wondering… what’s the best way to prevent water in the trunk? I remember reading about pushing out some rubber drain plugs from under the car with a screw driver so water would be able to escape better should it ever enter the car like for example through the deteriorated seals of an SRT wing?
A less extreme version is to 'cut' X's into the rubber plugs (2 of them, one on each side). This way it is less able to have other 'things' work itself into the bay area.
Just wondering… what’s the best way to prevent water in the trunk? I remember reading about pushing out some rubber drain plugs from under the car with a screw driver so water would be able to escape better should it ever enter the car like for example through the deteriorated seals of an SRT wing?
See the link below, when you open the link, go to these two PDFs:
I have been working on trying to get my top working on my 2005 Crossfire for over a year. I have purchased parts from Top Hydraulics and have installed them. The attached video shows you my problem. Can you offer any suggestion as to what is to what may be causing it? Is it a microswitch or a hydraulic lifter or something else? [img]images/satellite/attach/mov.gif[/img] My Movie 48 - SD 480p.mov
I will be on here this evening when I get home. Tha'ts the "latch retainer switch" in the windshield frame, is that right?
If so, it's missing it's "leaf" or "arm" that the top hook grabs to close the switch. WHen you turn the D ring, do the windows automatically go down? I suspect not.
Thanks for replying.after days of probing and checking. Finally disconnect the battery . The top working now for 3 days now.(touch wood). Beats me what I touched or moved but that was my fix
Thanks for replying.after days of probing and checking. Finally disconnect the battery . The top working now for 3 days now.(touch wood). Beats me what I touched or moved but that was my fix
THa'ts a loss of sync, the PTCM got confused, or the CLP/SSM got confused - either way, you 'rebooted' everything and cleared the error. Not all that rare of an occurrence.
Pizzaguy,
Great news. My top is functioning perfectly. The problem was, the mechanic at the Chevy dealership where I purchased the car, replace the left main lift cylinder and
when he installed it he reversed the wires going to the travel sensors. Klaus recommended that I check these wires and sure enough they were installed backwards.
I want to thank you also for all the advice you have provided for this and many other problems I have experienced.
Pizzaguy,
Great news. My top is functioning perfectly. The problem was, the mechanic at the Chevy dealership where I purchased the car, replace the left main lift cylinder and
when he installed it he reversed the wires going to the travel sensors. Klaus recommended that I check these wires and sure enough they were installed backwards.
I want to thank you also for all the advice you have provided for this and many other problems I have experienced.
MCPO
Another owner (Jeff in Greer, SC) had a similar experience. His problem was that the bottom sensor was not seated all the way (can't imagine how that could be). He "worked it in", cycled the top manually, then hit the button and it was fine.
He'd sent the cylinders in to Klaus as well.
After one and a half years of attempting to get the top on my Crossfire Roadster to function I finally solved the problem thanks to Klaus Witte at Top Hydraulics.
From a video I sent him he suggested that I check the two travel sensors on the left main hydraulic lifter. He suspected that someone had replaced the lifter and then installed the two travel sensors backwards.
Sure enough, I checked them and found that they had ben reversed. I switched them around and miraculously my top now works perfectly. In addition, the switch that controls my spoiler, which never function, now works great as well.
For those of us Crossfire owners there are two names we must be aware of: Top Hydraulics and our Forums own Pizzaguy.
I switched them around and miraculously my top now works perfectly. In addition, the switch that controls my spoiler, which never function, now works great as well.
MCPO
THis has happened before, Jeff in Greer, moved cylinders from one car (wrecked) to the car he wanted to fix cause it had leaking cylinders. But the top quit working when he changed that very cylinder.
The switch was not quite seated properly, he fixed it in five minutes, but he said he had to LOOK CLOSELY to see it.
The reason the wing did not work was because the bad info from that sensor was confusing the top controller, so it told the CLP/SSM: "Hey, I have lost track of where the top/lid is and trunk lid is - so dont move the wing right now."
QUOTE=JLeighs;981213]Thanks very much for your advice, once i get to the donor car i should have free range and will let you know the outcome.[/QUOTE
Well today I got to the donor car and swapped the hood module, the alarm control unit and the central locking pump/security module and.... nothing, the windows still do not go down when I pop the roof up... now a little lost as to what the problem could possibly be,
any ideas grestfully accepted.
QUOTE=JLeighs;981213]Thanks very much for your advice, once i get to the donor car i should have free range and will let you know the outcome.[/QUOTE
Well today I got to the donor car and swapped the hood module, the alarm control unit and the central locking pump/security module and.... nothing, the windows still do not go down when I pop the roof up... now a little lost as to what the problem could possibly be,
any ideas grestfully accepted.
Thanks SO much. I will store this information in case I need again.
Jinks
Originally Posted by pizzaguy
This thread will be a work in progress for the next few days, weeks or even months. The original idea was to have a place to send people when they asked basic questions about where various sensors are in the top system. That soon turned into a thread that discussed troubleshooting more than I intended - but I think it's a good idea.
The questions keep coming, and it's getting tiring answering the same questions over and over again. The purpose of this thread is to provide PHOTOGRAPHIC documentation of where the sensors are and some background on what they do and how you can troubleshoot things yourself. It is hoped this thread can serve as a place to send new owners (or those who have never had to address these issues before) so they have an idea of where to look when issues arise. This thread does not take the place of the (horribly complex, incomplete and sometimes inaccurate) service manual; instead, my intent here is to produce an easier-to-read guide to your convertible top. This thread won't answer all questions, but it is hoped it WILL give you enough information that you understand the system well enough that you can actually find and fix some of the issues we all have with our convertible tops. Many are surprised to find they they, themselves, can resolve some issues on their own, at home. Issues with the divider switch, loss of sync and a few others can be resolved by ANY owner.
You CAN NOT make use of this thread in most cases without reading thru the first ten posts thoroughly. And I'm sure no one can read it once and 'get it all', I tried to make this as concise as possible, but I"m also not writing a book here, so some effort on the reader's part is certainly necessary. If it is hard to read, well, you paid nothing for this, and I got paid the same!
I struggled with format here:
1) Do I simply explain where all the sensors are, then explain how they interact?
2) Or do I present each sensor as I explain the sequence of operations?
After a lot of thought, I went with option 2. When we get started (in post #2), we will assume the top is up and latched and you want to put the top down.
Some definitions before we proceed: BCM - Body Control Module PTCM - Power Top Control Module
These two modules will come up often in the following discussion.
The BCM handles a lot of functions with the car OTHER than running the engine, as running the engine is the chore of the ECU/PCM (engine control unit/powertrain control module). The PTCM interacts with the BCM a lot, as you will soon understand. The BCM is in that big box next to the battery, the "Control Module Box", under the hood on the passenger's side. If you open the box, you will see three large modules standing on edge, with many wires plugging into them. In the photo below, the battery is barely visible at the bottom of the photo, and the cover has been removed from the box.
The PTCM is hidden behind the trunk trim panel on the driver's side. It is bolted to the hydraulic pump/valve assembly which it controls in order to run the system that moves the top.
The yellow box gives you the approximate location of the PTCM, again, the pump/valve mechanism is right behind it.
Robert McCubbin offers this photo of the PTCM, with the trunk trim panels removed. The PTCM is the black module, item number 1.
Behind the PTCM is the Power Top Hydraulic Assembly, item 2, (which contains the pump motor, solenoids and valves that send pressurized fluid to the cylinders as needed).
Also shown is a very good photo of the divider switch (item 3, we will be talking a LOT about that switch).
Keep checking back here, to this FIRST post, as I will document revisions and contributions from others as the thread takes on a life of it's own. There is no way I can think of every detail that is involved here - YOU can post here to add stuff or send it to me via PM email or on Facebook and if possible, I will put it in the first ten posts - contributions will be credited below and inline.
PLEASE be PATIENT, this thread won't be "ready for use" until maybe the second week of August!
REVISION HISTORY
Contributor - Date - Changes/additions made - Post Number(s)
Mark/Pizza - 08022020 - Added photos of BCM and PTCM - Post 1
Bob/bmccubbin - 08022020 - Added photo of trunk items - Post 1
Mark-Pizza - 08232020 - Replaced photo of modules showing correct positions of the BCM and ECU. - Post 1
I spent a year and a half and $$$$. At dealers trying to determine why my top would not go up or down! By pure luck the owner of Top hydraulics, Klaus Witte, asked me to check the two travel sensors on the left main lift cylinder to see if they had inadvertently been switched around when someone replaced the cylinder.
sure enough, that was the problem! Now my top works perfectly! I find that Klaus and pizzaguy are the two best experts on the crossfire!
Re: Convertible Top Sensors
A less extreme version is to 'cut' X's into the rubber plugs (2 of them, one on each side). This way it is less able to have other 'things' work itself into the bay area. 
Re: Convertible Top Sensors
