EnjoiPugs

I need help guys and I need it really quick. I put the top down. It always worked fine up until right now. It is stuck down. The button when used makes the beeping noise like it would go up.

I even tried to follow the step for emergency use of the top. I took out the trim piece for the spare tire and I think I am using the screw driver on the right bolt, but it's not doing anything. In the manual it says turn clock wise until you can't turn it anymore. I don't know what the **** to do. I've looked at all the threads I can find. I don't live in a good area and I need it fixed now.

I keep reading clean the switch, but I don't know what that means. Are they talking bout taking off the cluster trim piece and cleaning something? PLEASE HELP!!! S.O.S.

EnjoiPugs

The BRAKE light is not illuminating. I think that is the problem. Is there a switch for that I can look at? Or a fuse?

AUGieDogie

iTrader: (4)

If the parking brake is not engaged, the top wont move. You can
1. trip the switch manually, its at the base of the parking brake.
2. Manually move the motors
3. Jumper the connector in the engine compartment. This will raise or lower it (can't remember the jumpers though) depending on which you jumper.

EnjoiPugs

Thanks Augie. When you say at the base of the parking brake, where do you mean specifically? I had the trim off and was adjusting it to see if maybe it wasn't enough, but that didn't help. It is supposed to light up when the hand brake is pulled right? I can't remember, my high mount was out and the light was illuminated so long I forgot. The bulb is good, it lights up when the car is off.

2. Tried to use the stupid manufacturers manual to follow the steps to move the top in case of failure and it just did not work. Turn the bolts in the service holes clock wise until they cannot turn anymore. It didn't do ****.

3. I will go there in a last resort. I'm hoping to actually find what is causing the parking brake to not send signal to the bulb and fix it.

invinciblejets

I hope you know this is so you can operate the top manually by lifting it up and latching it.
It does not make the motors work.
Sorry if you knew that just the way you worded it I figured I'd mention it so you can it least put it up till you figure out the problem.

toplessFC3Sman

iTrader: (1)

If its the parking brake switch, then with the trim panel off you should be able to push the switch manually (maybe with a flat-head screwdriver) and get it to illuminate the dash light. Once it has, then you can use the **** to close the top.

If the parking brake light doesn't illuminate, then you need to go to the convertible top check terminal. Its on the pass side near the strut tower, and is a 2X3 connector with 5 wires going to it. Find it, and orient it so that it is 3 pins wide by 2 pins up & down, with the empty pin with no wire on the top. To bypass the parking brake switch if its not working, you need to stick a jumper (bent paperclip or anything conductive) from the middle pin below the empty spot to the pin down & to the left of the empty spot. See if the brake light in the cluster came on, and if you can raise the top with the switch. If the switch doesn't work, then jumper the pin down & to the right of the empty spot to the pin down & to the left (so the whole bottom row is connected to the bottom left pin). This should make the top start to move up.

If it doesn't move when trying the jumper, then you may have a problem with your limit switch. The limit switch for the top going up is on the driver's side motor, which will require removing the parcel shelf cover and driver's side plastic under the roof and looking for the switch (it's external to the motor, mounted on the output shaft with a screw-adjustable cam to actuate it). Click the switch a few times & then try to close the top with the regular switch.

Good Luck!

EnjoiPugs

Thank you guys. I will try again in the morning and let you know how it goes. I covered it with a car cover for the night and hopefully it doesnt rain.

The top will not go up manually. It doesn't move, it feels like it is blocked by something. It was pissing me off, because I thought I was following the directions right but nothing happened.

I'm guessing the switch is a little plastic piece that gets pushed in by the e brake lever? I'm not really sure what it looks like. Hopefully its not electrical or something crazy.

EnjoiPugs

Thanks once again to the rx7club crisis has been averted. I wanted to update the thread in case anyone else has this problem. It was kind of unique. I had replaced the carpets a few years back after coolant got on the old ones and I put a little cut out piece around the hand brake console.

So, I couldn't see the wiring for the switch. The switch looks like a little metal connector that gets pulled on my a spring, which is attached to the brake handle. When the lever is pulled the metal will contact the other metal and the light will go off. Well, the carpet I had created a lot of dust down there and it caked the connector in dust. All I had to do was clean the connector off and adjust it a little bit and now it's working again.

Still wish I could get the top to operate manually in case of emergency like that. If anyone has a link to how to do that let me know. Thanks again.

ThatGuyOnTheGas

Check the FSM. There's a page where it talks about operating it manually. I think it's in body. There's a ****, i think it is, behind the seats that disengages the motors, in case they fail with the top down