Cabriolet electric roof not working. Where do I start?

Can someone help me with a link or advice regarding an electric hood on a VW Golf Cabriolet Mk1 that refuses to work.

I have been searching in the Forum archives and You tube but no results.

Basically my problem is that, I have bought an insurance total loss Clipper which has all the electric window,s hood, tinted glass etc to upgrade my sons' Clipper and supply of all those little bits and bobs that cost so much individually.
The down side is that the owner has had it stored many years out in the open not garaged.

I have found that the electric roof will not open. When the switch is operated all I get is a click from one of the bank of 4 relays in the boot,(the second one from the front of the car), Swopping the relays around made no difference. The 4 relays all have the number 79 on the top. Before delving further any suggestions would be appreciated.

This may be a silly question but I usually make simple mistakes so I always start simple!

Have you got the key in the ignition but not moved in any way? The relays clicking is usually a sign of the car saying it won't do something.

the hood won't operate if the the engine is running or if the ignition is on or at the 'aux' position.

hopefully it's this simple.

Erm if not I'll bow out now!  

Thanks for the heads up Borednow.

Can I just confirm that you say the hood will not work if the engine is running this makes sense and is logical.  but I did have the ingnition in the on position and you say it should be off.
Is that right?
If so tomorrow I will try with the ignition off. If this still does not work I suspect the motor is stuck or just broken.

Yup. Just stick the key in but don't turn it at all.   

Makes absolutely no sense to me. I'd expect it to work with the engine running and the hand brake on.

But what do I know 

Adrian Dix-Dyer said

Thanks for the heads up Borednow.

Can I just confirm that you say the hood will not work if the engine is running this makes sense and is logical.  but I did have the ingnition in the on position and you say it should be off.
Is that right?
If so tomorrow I will try with the ignition off. If this still does not work I suspect the motor is stuck or just broken.

It is difficult when you do not have a handbook to explain the sequence of opening the hood. I suppose it would explain what you have suggested. I think the Golf is a bit early for sensors all over the car to prevent opening of the hood in inappropriate moments.
I have a BMW Z3. The hood on this only operates with the foot brake applied and the car stationary. It works through the brake light switch as I found out when the switch failed.
£38 for a poxy plastic switch from BMW daylight robbery!
Roll on tomorrow to try the hood again.
Many thanks, your help is appreciated.
 Adrian

Take boot trim off from passenger side, unplug pump (2pin connector) get 2 long bits of wire and strip both ends approx 10mm.
Poke 1 end of each wire into the pump plug and use the other end to run direct to spare battery. 
The motor should either run forwards or backwards (open/close) reverse as required. Once the pumps running ok plug the 2 pin connector back in an test the switch operation. 

funk-star said

Take boot trim off from passenger side, unplug pump (2pin connector) get 2 long bits of wire and strip both ends approx 10mm.
Poke 1 end of each wire into the pump plug and use the other end to run direct to spare battery. 
The motor should either run forwards or backwards (open/close) reverse as required. Once the pumps running ok plug the 2 pin connector back in an test the switch operation. 

Thanks Funk-Star good thinking.
I was thinking along the same line but wanted some feedback first.
Borednows' suggestion is first though as it may just be me not following the correct procedure to work the roof.
Thanks for your input.

Adrian Dix-Dyer said

Thanks Funk-Star good thinking.
I was thinking along the same line but wanted some feedback first.
Borednows' suggestion is first though as it may just be me not following the correct procedure to work the roof.
Thanks for your input.

Funk-Star,
Just had a thought the switch must be OK as the relay is clicking.  Am I right?

Yea, if the relay is clicking then your doing it right. 
It will be the pump stuck, you can also give the body a smack with a hammer (not the plastic) as they just need freeing off.  

funk-star said

Yea, if the relay is clicking then your doing it right. 
It will be the pump stuck, you can also give the body a smack with a hammer (not the plastic) as they just need freeing off.  

'Hit it with a hammer' now tht's my kind of precision engineering  

It's amazing how often this does the trick though  

the key must be inserted but not switch to on position, this is 'key' ()

did you fit the key-in'ignition live feed to the ignition switch pin S/SU? if not this will be why, there should be a brown/red wire that runs from ign switch all thru the dash loom to K/5, then from here to the roof electrics (you dont actually need to put a wire to K/5, just from switch to roof electrics is fine)

you may also want to run another wire from the ignition switch SU feed to the radio accessory live pin, this will make the radio switch on as soon as key is inserted to the ignition, and is how the late cabros are from the factory

Eventually I got around to taking the suggestions made. to resolve why the electric hood did not seem to work.

Bingo,
It was as simple as the correct sequence of operating the switch with the key in the right position,
a stuck motor sorted with a rubber mallet,
and binding hinges which loads of WD40 sorted out.

So many thanks to all who replied. It was much appreciated.

Amazing what info can be found is prepared to search… I've now a seized roof..will check this method…that's when I get car back.

Sorry for brining up that old topic. I just need a few pointers from more experienced people regarding the roof.

The mechanism works, the pump seems to be working as well. I never had a problem with it opening or closing. But today on the first hot day it just did not open. I heard the relais click in the back, but it would not move. I parked it inside the garage, after 1 hour it just opened as normal.
After my hour drive I wanted to close it again, and it did the same thing again. It just did not move. I left the car for about 10 minutes, after that it just worked normal….

Where can I check the connections? What would your ideas be?

You could check the valve is closed on the pump. If relays kicking in then could be just lack of pressure. Check oil level when roof is down. Top up and operate few times. Then grease all the pivot points. I noticed that mines leaking again..not from piston this time…from hose. 

Yes that sounds like a good idea in general! I never really checked the pump properly. What kind of oil does it need? Hydraulic oil?

Ign switch the live feed comes from there.

There is a self resetting fuse for the roof it's a thermal one located on a seperate holder above the fuse box.
There is also a 10 amp fuse nearby iirc.

If it's been hot where you are it could be heat related or a loose connection.

Roof oil needs checking with roof down.
If it's stuck just unscrew the Thumb bar on the body pump side. You can reach it via a hole in the boot card on passenger side.
I'd also pull each relay in turn from the block in the boot & clean each terminal up and re fit.  The relays are not all the same so make sure you put them back in the right place.

Only fill level so it sits between min and max.




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hpsg said

Yes that sounds like a good idea in general! I never really checked the pump properly. What kind of oil does it need? Hydraulic oil?

http://answers.halfords.com/answers/4028/product/575233/questions.htm or    http://www.cabriolet-roof-hoses.com  in short term any oil would do to prove system working. Then drain out the system…more messy.