I will sleep better tonight!!!
I would ask now, this afternoon, for all the parts back that they charge you for so you can ‘play’ with them.
I think this is a good idea, open it up, you know how we love your photos!
Think I read somewhere that there is a speed sensor in these motors so the roof module can make sure its pair is turning at the same speed so the roof or deck goes up square or did I dream this.
Richard.
Good call, excellent idea.
Will be interested if they agree to this.
Glad you’ve now got an outcome Barrie and a solution to fix it. Not cheap as you say but at least this should put an end to this issue. Sod’s law though that the weather looks decent for the weekend!
This thread will put the fear of God into owners of PRHT models and confirms all my fears about PRHTs . £650 to replace the motor on one side ,how long before one of the others fail? Presumably they have all had the same use . I remember when people said MX5’s were reliable and cheap to run.
Hi Barrie
Very pleased to hear that the problem appears to have been identified but don’t you just hate that kind of expense.
Make sure you get the old motor to have a look at and what went wrong and if it can be repaired.
Post up any part numbers and I will look around to see if anything around.
I imagine replacement of these motors is sensibly left to the dealer?
Are these the ones?
Trev45
This thread will put the fear of God into owners of PRHT models and confirms all my fears about PRHTs . £650 to replace the motor on one side ,how long before one of the others fail? Presumably they have all had the same use . I remember when people said MX5’s were reliable and cheap to run.
this sort of thing must be very rare , as barrie has struggled to find much info on the subject after many hours of searching
the soft tops are not without fault and they too require replacement at a great expense
each to their own
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They certainly look right from what I’ve been able to see.
I’m not able to get a good enough look to read the numbers on mine, that will need the endoscope… and then only if someone can point me at the correct place on the motor to aim for!
The deck lift motors are similar in design but a bit smaller and much weedier in construction with bits of plastic in places.
Both follow the same principle with the motor driving a big worm reduction gear (and a second reduction for the roof motor) down to a small cog with only a few teeth driving the quadrant gear attached to deck or roof. My worry with a second-hand unit would be worn teeth on the output gear. I expect it is just about impossible to replace just that final gear! First thing I did when I bought the car was to add more grease to those four pinion gears.
Having looked at them carefully (almost suspiciously and doubtfully) when I first bought the car, and compared them with what I read in Mellens at the time, I was eventually not too bothered about replacing one if it failed, but much more concerned about making sure all the electronics might be happy, simply because I didn’t have the right diagnostic tools to talk to the controller. The stripping out and refitting time for the interior behind the seat will be the main cost at the dealer. They will also have spare screws and nuts to replace those they drop down to the drains.
Thanks to everyone who posted up, appreciated
Good call on retrieving the old parts, I didnt think about that, I will get back in touch with Mazda. Looks like those motors linked to are the ones fitted to the car. I’m not convinced the PRHT models are ticking time bombs, it’s just one of those things, unexpected as it was, it’s not the end of the world. When I was chatting to one of the guys at SeatSurgeons, he has a BMW Z4, he also had roof problems, his had been in garage for a while waiting for parts and his bill was going to be in the thousands! In a way, this has been a bit of an anticlimax. Not a lot say really, just
" it’s been to Mazda, it’s been on the diagnostics equipment, drivers side roof motor found faulty, replaced at a cost of c.£700, end of"
Perhaps I might glean a bit more info from the workshop and also get the parts back to look at, this might be of use? Having owned both versions of mk3 ( soft top fitted with removable hardtop and PRHT model ) I like them both. The soft top for its simplicity but the removable hardtop being a faff, in so much as when fitted, it has to stay on regardless, if away from home. Also I didn’t have a great deal of storage room for it. Did look nice on though PRHT, doesn’t look quite the same when closed, as the removable hard top did, but far more practical to deal with, storage is within the car, no loss of boot space which is great! Being able to raise the roof without getting out of the car is great for me, I could never do that with my soft tops (any of them over the years) a lot neater finish to the car with roof lowered too! Easier to keep looking good as well, I replaced my soft top on the 1800GT, purely on its appearance but that was just me I suppose. Pro’s and con’s for both then
As said by another contributor, not masses of info out there to read, perhaps because they don’t fail all the time, just unlucky for me in this instance. Maybe, due to higher mileage on mine and it is 10 years old, it has cycled the roof more than average? Not looking forward to passenger side motor going next then
I will post up whatever info I get back from Mazda, with some pics of the motor, in due course.
Barrie
Barrie, I think you have just been very unlucky considering the numbers of PRHT on the road around the world and not much being posted on the forums about failure. In a month or two it will be a distant memory.
As they “onwards and upwards”
John
Just when I thought it was all sorted Rang Mazda this morning to make sure I got the old parts back when I pick the car up, alongside the diagnostics print out. All going according to plan at this point
Got a call a short while ago, they’ve now found that one of the micro switches is at fault too? Oh, don’t worry though, cars in bits so no labour costs, it’s just another £174.00!!!
Now, I paid initially for a full diagnostics (£108) although I did get that halved. I would have thought that should have thrown up the switch as well as the motor fault? Otherwise, no point in having diagnostics in the first place, eh? So, cars in bits, I told them to get it done but that I wasn’t happy. They’ve knocked a bit off the price but not much. I want those old parts even more now, as call me a cynic, but I wonder if the switch was causing the motor not to run and they’ve misdiagnosed the whole thing to start with? Could it just have been the switch all along which some very helpful folk on here suggested originalily? Not happy is an understatement they’ve ordered the part but not sure when I’ll get the car back
Barrie
Deleted, double post
I think you have every right to be cynical, also £174 for a micro switch seems a bit steep ( being polite here ) A motor and a switch going faulty at exactly the same time? Unlikely I would have thought ??
D
i would be thinking the exact same thing baz
I agree, very suspect!
Barrie,
If you DO get the parts back (and IIRC you have the right to insist upon their return…) then a quick flash of 12v across the motor brushes could reveal the truth (or otherwise) of their diagnosis.
Call me an old cynic, but that’s one helluva coincidence…switch and motor both go TU simultaneously.
I wonder if a faulty switch could burn out the motor? I don’t think so…
Good Luck.
Aldi
Sometimes, dealing with a Main Stealer is a bit like picking up a sTURDy by the clean end!
Cynic that I am I find it hard to believe two parts have failed at the same time. I would bet they replaced the motor then found it was the micro switch after…
What is the point of diagnostics if it did not diagnose Exactly what was wrong ? I would not be happy paying ANY of the diagnostic charges. Old Bert the proper mechanic sucking on s benson could have done better.
I have a good old fashioned soft top and am glad I have.
ATB Barrie I feel your pain mate ???
Thanks chaps it’s really difficult to call, as said very much an unusual coincidence! It’s almost, you putting your trust in the main dealer ( thinking that, yes expensive, but will get straight to the problem) then this happens
I could have replaced a motor based only their diagnosis, then it still wouldn’t work, back for another session, then the switch to replace
I just hope it’s the end of the problem.
Ive looked at the technical bulletin, and it’s the roof off to change a roof motor ( if I’ve read it correctly) so that was fine but to be hit again, well that’s not on.
Barrie
Sorry to hear about the latest development Barrie.
Like other posters on here, I’m quite cynical of the dealer’s story that both the motor & the microswitch have failed simultaneously - this seems to be too much of a coincidence.
I’m also quite surprised by Mazda’s high price for the switch!