Hello Everyone,
I took the forum’s advice and changed the brake light in my roadster by leaving the top halfway down. Unfortunately it took me 5 tries to get the bulb in correctly with the hydraulic pressure releasing each time after 10 minutes. I finally got the bulb replaced but now there is hardly any hydraulic pressure. The book says to reinitialize the pressure by pressing on the top button twice. Does it matter if the top is in the up or down position to get it to repressurize? The top is currently up and I can’t get it to repressurize. What is the actual procedure? Do I have to do it once I start the engine?

 

Starting the engine would have no effect ( unless your battery is low ).
Mine has gotten in that state a time or two, I fixed it by just being patient and trying again after an hour or two.
1. Is the top button flashing ?
2. Do the windows go down when you release the D handle ?
3. Did you maybe bump the divider and the divider switch is not made ?

 

Mine (in the first Red Roadster) got all confused and refused to move one time. ON a theory, I did this:

Start car.
Put top down manually.
Put top up manually.
Shut car off.

Start car again - now it works fine.

My theory:
The TCM got all confused about where the cylinders were, that is, where in the cycle things were when it depressurized. By going thru all of this WITH THE ENGINE/KEY ON, the TCM got a chance to synchronize.

Or, maybe, as George said, the time it took for me to do all of this was enough for it to come back to it's brains.

If you don't know how to put the top up and down manually, you sure as hell better learn - before you get caught in the rain with a dead battery or a top that wont move for some odd reason. See my most popular video for instructions:

 

Mark, you should get royalties on that video ......

 

38,000 views. That's about one view per roadster sold, isn't it?

 

I'll give this a shot and watch the video. The top hasn't worked in a while. Since it's winter in NY I figured I had some time. The other problem I have is with the electrical system. I hit a pothole with my front right tire and the car kept beeping upon startup for a week. It finally stopped beeping but the battery died soon after. I put a new battery in and the car was fine for a while until the spoiler went up for no reason. I think the lights might have went on when the car was completely turned off too. Needless to say the next day the car was completely dead. It's headed to the shop today.


Thanks for the advice,
Nick