With the help of my missus she spotted that there is a an issue in the area of the LH( nearside) motor, whilst I was operating the buttons.
The roof motors up & down, however the problems start when the rear cover deck needs to close, or open.
Will try to upload a video, however what we noted was some vibration in the area of the large visible cog. Almost as if some teeth were slipping when the rear cover deck tries to move and the whole motor/cog assembly visibly vibrates, before failing.
The sequence is as follows;
Unlock roof catch - OK
Press down button - âknockingâ noise from LH motor.
Deck raises.
Roof retracts
Deck tries to close, after knocking noise , then fails open. Flashing red light and beeps.
Reset Ignition switch, red light steady,
Press button, visible vibration at motor/big cog, like as if the drive cog teeth are not meshing properly, then it does go after a it of faff with the Ignition on/off.
I have managed to get the roof to open and close, however there is clearly a bigger problem brewing.
Are there any known problems in this area ? I am hoping that i will just need to tighten a screw or bolt or similar.
Pity the weather is so changeable at the mo.
Living in East Midlands near to Loughborough.
There is a silver coloured dome headed bolt on each side of the deck mechanism. These bolts hold the cogs in mess and must stay tight to work. It sounds like one or both of yours is loose.
You will require an Allen key to tighten these bolts.
Done a bit more invest this morning with my willing assistantâŚ
The silver dome headed screw was ever so slightly lose, but I only managed to get a little more Tq on it, physically it hardly rotated at all.
I note that when the deck gets to its fully up position, the RH (drivers) side motor stops, however the LH problem motor keeps turning a little, causing the teeth to jump. The cogs dont look to be particularly worn, so I am thinking that the drive motors, or limit switches have somehow got out of sync ??
Try stopping the deck lid part raised and checking the teeth position on both sides. It sounds like one of the cogs has jumped a tooth. The deck lid should also be level when raising and lowering across the car and on level ground.
Due to recently moving home my garage has been full of boxes until this weekend. Finally got my MX-5 in the garage to start and have have a proper look at this.
Findings so far;
The RH red roof closing switch indicator bulb is inop, could this be an issue ( CANBUS logic ?? )
The deck cover opens and closes but the roof doesnât move at all, however at the end of the deck open cycle I can feel the roof move ever so slightly, so i think it is trying to open.
I have disconnected both motor drive gears ( remove silver allen bolt, insert eye bolt/machine screw to disengage gears). both left and right drive motors operate.
I have disconnected the Micro-switch loom connector and âconâ checked both LH limit switches whilst gear drive is disconnected. Both micro-switches open and close circuit when their respective lever is operated. (hmm⌠just checked for a beep on my meter, will go back in and check resistances).
I can see the roof lock thing behind the windbreak operates at the end of the Open cycle. I checked the cable ends where connected in the plastic housing behind the LH seat cover (aware of service bulletin 09-035/07).
I canât understand why the LH motor keeps going after the RH motor has stopped and the limit switch has operated ?
I note there is a cable adjuster on the LH side for the roof lock cable - any ideaâs what the correct adjustment is ?
Hi,
I have read with interest various threads on this.
A good friend of mine also has a problem and has never got to the bottom of itâŚ
One of the recommendations was the link below who sorted out another chaps roof problem straight away. (Not expensive either).
He is a while away from where I live.
Depends where you live.
But do you know, I would just speak with them and just travel there and get them to fix it.
They seem to know what they are doing and you could literally spend âHours or Daysâ and still not get it sorted.
Just an opinion and suggestion. http://www.mx5expert.com/
Over in Suffolk so wouldnât have been too far away, however we have just moved from mid Norfolk to East Midlands area !
I do think that the fact that the RH red warning light has stopped working at the same time that the roof doesnât operate is more than coincidental.
I am going to do a bit more digging around, before I take it to somebody.
I have been operating the roof on my steep driveway, before noting that the roof should only be operated on a flat surface, maybe this has done something ?
.
Just thought i would update this thread for the record.
I have fixed my non moving roof !
The item that i changed was the LH deck motor unit.
I decided to to remove it and take a closer look at it. I found that one of the teeth was worn away on the lifting arm lever/quadrant. I can only assume that there is some kind of limit switch or mechanism inside the motor which sequences the roof to move once the deck is fully raised.
I donât know whether the worn tooth was the cause of the defect, or whether the tooth got worn as a result of some other problem. All I knew was that it wasnât correct and needed to be replaced before i could move on to any other suspect item.
I picked up a secondhand unit via e-bay, luckily the seller was only 10 miles away. (PM Sports cars near Derby).
I will attempt attach an image of the offending item.
It may look a bit daunting at first to some folk to take these mechanisms apart, but it really is straight forward and no special tools needed. I might even weld repair the worn tooth on my old unit just to see if it works again with a full tooth.
That wear on the quadrant gear happens when either of the âchrome boltsâ have worked loose (as they inevitably do, but why?) I used locktite on mine and they have remained done-up ever since then.
The first symptom of a loose chrome bolt is the gear mech becomes noisier - âmore of a grungle-grungle than a whirrâ - as Hon No.2 Daughter put it.
well it is working for now, all bolts nice and tight.
i would still call my mechanism noise a grungle rather than a whirr, however until I can do a direct noise comparison with a known good whirring roof iâll never know.
If a potential nutter comes up to you in a car park and cheekily asks if you wouldnât mind operating your roof so he can listen to it, donât be alarmed it is probably me, and I am really quite harmless and friendly
