Active top not opening

It cou

lt's a hydraulic system and it could be that it needs topping up, or better, the fluid replacing entirely, which may have absorbed moisture, or leaked.

 

Hi,

I am having the exact same issue with my 2005 Copen. Initially the mechanism wasn't working at all but that was because all the fluid had leaked out of the system. After topping up the hydraulic fluid everything worked perfectly until the roof section. Like yours it just doesn't go back.
I can pull the roof back manually a few cm but then there is too much resistance. So it clearly something to do with the hydraulics not operating correctly.

When i drained the system i could manually pull the roof back with no resistance at all

Are there any hydraulic fluid leaks On yours?

I have just replaced the whole pump mechanism in case it was a faulty pump or motor but still having the same issue. And now I am getting a lot of fluid leaking into the boot well so i am attempting to address this issue and see if that solves the problem.

Will let you know if I have any joy

 

Also, I have been informed by somebody on this forum that the roof operation is sensitive to battery charge. So if the car battery is a bit past its sell by date or not properly charged then this could affect the operation of the roof.
I always have the engine running when I operate the roof but might try fitting a bigger battery or something and sewing if this has any effect

 

Hi Richard

Catching up on your roof opening problems, I’ve done some research on Webasto 7700442 HB 70350-002 hydraulic pump which is fitted to your Copen. If you do a search on google under ‘Webasto hydraulic car roof pump’ and scroll down to the Copenworld site the answers are all there under the title ‘Need some help with your roof hydraulics’ dated 7 Sept 2018. This will take you to the correct threads.

Adding to this you can obtain the relevant copper spacers/seals for hydraulic banjos from a good quality engineering outlet used by industry. You will need to take a sample along on any replacement O rings and seals to be matched. They usually come in clear plastic boxes of various sizes as used by maintenance engineers to repair factory plant. It will be a lot cheaper than trying to buy the parts through car outlets. I know I’ve done it. When fitting copper seals, fit dry do not lubricate the mating surfaces. Tighten firmly but do not over tighten. You will need to get a feel for this from the tightness of the banjo you have removed. If you are unsure I would suggest you would use the same toque settings similar to brake banjo joints. The system must be absolutely leak tight and assembled exactly in the way you see it on the threads. Good luck.

 

Very, very occasionally and only in hot weather, the roof on ours won't drop back into the boot. The boot itself will open but then, nothing. If I leave the car running for a minute or two, the roof works as normal.

We have a brand new, high power battery fitted so I know it's not that.

 

I know you had a new battery but have you had any welding done to your car in the past?
If you have and they did not disconnect the alternator, the welding could well have damaged the diodes in the alternator which would make it undercharge or overcharge which would show up in the ECU and then would shut down to protect the system. You would need to do an alternator charging check.

 

No.
I have posted some pics of ‘Dennis the Menace’. On the pictures you will see side view were the pipes go into the block they should be numbered as follows. Left to right, bottom row, inner 11 outer 13, inner 21 outer 23 & inner 12 outer 14. Above those three, the single one, inner 22 outer 24. Please note banjo bolt colours.

Picture shows the reservoir level at the end of the pencil point. At the end of the reservoir is a little Allen screw 4mm which is access for refill up to this level. THE SYSTEM IS SELF BLEEDING and should be run a few times with the screw replaced and topped up as necessary until all air is removed.

Once this has been achieved and there are no leaks you will need to gain access to the ECU for the roof to check if there are any errors that need to be cleared. All the information can be downloaded from the resources section on this site and you will need to refer to section 15-42 to 15-101 regarding roof operations.

 

Hi Marcushnz

Yes, I can confirm that the level should be where the pencil mark is with the roof in its’ closed position. If it is at that mark it does not need topping up because it’s level with the drain hole. Usually the colour of the fluid indicates whether there are any contaminates in it, i.e. water. If all is good it should operate in a reasonable amount of time. We always have our car connected to a trickle charger when parked. To give you an example, we recently started up ‘Dennis the Menace’ having not run the car for around 8 months and it worked fine first time. Ours has a Bosh battery of the standard size with the same amp–hour as the original one. The slowness of operation could be due to the battery not being fully deep charged. It’s the amp-hour that is the important bit as well as the voltage. If the weather has been exceptionally cold it drastically reduces the power of the battery. If your battery is really up to scratch possibly there could be a continuity earth problem. Hope this may be of some help.

 

Currently investigating roof malfunction from a baseline of little knowledge regarding the particulars of Copens. So.....How does one interogate the roof ECU? Is this via the OBD port?

 

Yes it can be.

 

My DIY attempts to fix non-working roof were a dismal failure. But on the off chance I tried Quenbys in Baldock who were once a Daihatsu dealer. They had it diagnosed and fixed in two hours.

Picked up a couple of pointers from them. Firstly that the most common failure point on the roof mechanism is that the car gets wet inside and the damp gets in the roof control module for which the only remedy is replacement. In my case, however, the diagnoses were obstruction of the side latches due to ill fitting trim and the boot divider being fitted the wrong way up.

Secondly, they pointed out, that diagnosing roof problems without acess to the Daihastsu 'kit' (link leads and softaware) is never going to be easy.

Lastly, and new to me, was that Copen roofs were never watertight from new and warranty claims were commonplace.

Hopefully I can get my hands on a breaker at some point and get some proper understanding of how the whole Heath-Robinson affair works!