2014 Convertible roof problem

G

Geminii

New member
Hi all I was wondering whether or not any of you with F Type convertibles have had this problem?

I have a 2014 V6S convertible which, on the whole, has been pretty good over the 3 + years I have owned it.

Yesterday as the sun was shining the roof was as usual lowered without issue.

When I arrived home I pressed the roof close button, the wings opened to the vertical position and then nothing.

The roof will not move up or down, apart from the wings it is in the down position.

Thinking that a fuse may have popped I found the passenger floor well fuse board without too much trouble and that fuse was OK.

I eventually found the passenger side wall fuse board, is that well hidden, and the 2 fuses in there were OK.

I looked at the manual and see that the roof can be raised using the toolkit but for the life of me I cannot locate the allen headed screw to unlock the roof. The manual picture seems to imply it is between the seat head rests at the front of the retracted roof! Anyone ever looked and found it?

If anyone has ever had a similar problem and found a way to restore motive power please post up. My local Jag dealer has said they will give it some priority when I get it to them but wondered if a bit of DIY was practical.

Thanks Dave
 
The only similar thing I have had is when the stop start has killed the engine when parked up at a standstill and it wouldn't fully close when I was trying to close the roof. I had to restart the car and it closed without problem. Not sure if that helps at all and at the risk of sounding like an IT support tech but have you tried cycling the ignition off and on?
 
Thanks for that Megatron and I did indeed try the 'IT' solution of ignition off/on, car start and run without any success. I know that in the past the roof would close, without the engine running, after a good run when the battery was well charged. Normally it would need the engine running to open/close.

I may take it for a gentle run tomorrow to see if a 'gentle' jarring may sort out a sensor/limit switch.

How you are supposed to close it manually is still baffling me as the tools supplied do not have an obvious place to use them. Not the sort of problem you want if it starts raining hard :)
 
Yes....That could be the nightmare that makes you say, sod it I've have enough of all this gadget cr@p and just sell the car and be done with it.

Fortunately, it hasn't happened to me yet but the thought does concern me.

I tried to look for a YouTube clip showing how the manual closure process works, but there doesn't seem to be anything out there.

Got me thinking...Mine is due to go in for it's third service in a few weeks time, so i'm going to make a point of being shown how to do the job before the car leaves the dealership this time. It's a point that I've been just burying under the sand ever since I bought the car, but when you need to eventually do it, you no doubt REALLY need to do it, so....time to find out properly, I think.

On the subject of driving the car with the top down.....There is an annoying design flaw with the roadster, as even the slightest bit of water on the front screen gets funneled up the right hand A-Pillar and along the upper edge of the side glass, where it is then constantly flicked up by the air turbulence and is deposited in the driver's face and right shoulder. Very annoying......and at best, quite distracting.
I've bought a length of 'clear' plastic edge trim which I will carry with me in the door pocket and fit it over the top edge of the side glass in order to try encourage the water to run a bit further backwards before doing it's 'flicking up'. Hopefully I will stay a bit drier and MUCH less annoyed when I get caught out on the motorway/duel-carriageway where I can't stop or slow down to close the roof.
I never had that particular problem in past roadsters. Anyone else experienced it ?
 
Hi Jagster it will take a little more than a 'stuck' roof to get me to sell the car, still grinning after 3.5 years.

I had another look at the 'problem' yesterday and even after some spirited bumps on our wonderful roads it refuses to budge. The jag dealership will start investigations after the Bank Holiday.

After the thunderstorm this morning I was glad it was in the garage as the amount of rain that fell, in a lot less time than it would have taken to raise the roof manually, would have flooded the cabin! I too will ask Jag for a demo of where the tools are supposed to go!

I am considering a sheet of polythene and a roll of Duct tape for emergency use as a fast and quick cover up. Not sure the beautiful lines of the car would be enhanced by that approach. ;)
The problem you mentioned with rain flying up I am not sure I have seen it in great amounts. The wipers have the jets attached so the water gets close to the screen. When it clears it does indeed run up the A pillar but runs along the face of the door glass to the rear. I reckon it is speed dependant as I dont spray windows at high speed with hood down normally, (50mph?) and if it is raining the hood will be up.
 
Having had a number of years running a Morgan 4/4 I know a fair bit about things like storm covers. I used to run my car mainly with a tonneau cover but always carried the hood with me in a pouch at the back of the car, just in case.
I treated driving the Morgan not too different to riding a motorbike so the attitude was very much get in the car and weather the elements rather that having the hood on the car as a first course of action.
Most of the time, I found that running with just the tonneau and having a rain coat and a hat of some sort was all that was really needed during the summer season, but I did get caught a few times in thunder storms......OMG.......when anyone tells you that story about 'just keep moving and the water passes over your head', don't believe them...LOL...

The aerodynamics in the Morgan was such that if it was raining hard enough, the wind turbulence over the windscreen used to effectively make it rain against the dashboard and as for the rest of the cockpit, a wetsuit would have been useful Lol.. But that said, I loved using the car. Miles and miles of smiles.

...so,,,they make a storm cover for the cockpit just in case of sudden storm situations and it's very quick to put on and off. It's a proper fit too and has attachments using bungee hooks for a tight-ish fit, but you don't drive with the storm cover on. It's just for protection when stationary.

It would be useful if Jaguar provided something like that for emergencies. They wouldn't have to cost much but the would save a lot of rain damage to the interior !
 
Whenever I clean the windscreen with the roof down it drips down the A-Pillar and onto the door handle and my knees. Pretty irritating design feature
 
Mine drips into the car, but only runs down the inside of the door window, not in my face. Only happens at high speed, stay under 50ish and its fine. Hope your problems get sorted gemini, id be scuppered if it happened to me - would have to beg the inlaws for garage use!
 
An update on my roof inaction.
The local dealship took on the task of rectification but none of the standard checks showed up any indications of fault codes. The drive motors, fuses and local connectors all passed inspection with nothing untoward. After consulting with Jaguar Technical they then carried out a point to point check on all sensors which discovered that an intermittent wire on the roof rear latch sensor was very intermittent. The terminal was retightened and all is now working. I did think that these days all wiring was push fit/crimped terminals and looms with very few if any screws but then I do not delve into the workings as I used to.
I spoke to a technician regarding the manual raising of roof and he explained that the main unlocking allen bolt which I could not find is indeed between the headrests but once the roof has started to unlatch, which mine had, the bolt starts moving and is no longer accessible. The reason I could not find it was the fact that the side 'wings' had started to raise and had therefore moved the bolt. It also seems that the other 2 bolts that are mentioned in the manual are beggars to undo as they are very tight.

I thought a progress report may be of interest.

Dave
 
That is interesting to read and have an understanding about.
The two points I pick up on is that:

A- It's the old electrical gremlins showing up in a poor connection.

I'm willing to bet that many of the niggles and problems being discussed on here are likely to be related to dodgy connections. They are the weak link in any electrical system. Difficult to completely eradicate, but could certainly be reduced by use of silicon grease on the production line and more rigorous quality testing, for example.

B- That the manual 'emergency' roof procedure is massively flawed.

Probably the reason why Jaguar haven't made a huge effort to train the dealership personnel how the procedure is done. When I was visiting my local dealer last week I made a point of asking the service manager on duty at that time how to carry out the procedure and he failed to explain it to me fully. He showed me where to get access to the tools, gave me an extremely rough idea about how the mechanicals of the roof locking procedure worked, but then admitted that he couldn't remember where to access the bits that the tools were supposed to adjust/move......He quickly side stepped the subject somehow and I left the dealership still unclear about how to carry out the procedure.......Pretty useless response to my question. He wasn't the only member of staff in the building, but for some reason decided not to ask anyone there if they could jog his memory and solve the mystery of where to use the cleverly hidden 'tools of salvation and emergency dryness'. I can only assume that he had a good idea that they would have even less of a clue than him, so he did the 'quick change the subject after giving a vague answer and hope the problem goes away, manoeuvre'

So.... My first conclusion after my experience last Saturday at the dealer and after reading your findings is that we had better invest in some sort of emergency storm cover. Lets just keep our fingers crossed that we don't need to use it.

My second conclusion is that all this tech and electrical complexity is just a complete pain in the a$$. I reckon It costs us far more than we benefit from it. I mean why the heck do we need to adjust the seat or steering column using an electric motor? Why do the manufacturers think we need all this unnecessary junk? A powered hood IS convenient but not if it's going to make every other option to close the damn thing an impossibility by the roadside in a freaking thunderstorm!!!!!

Time for my lie down I think....Lol...
 
I have a 2018 convertible with a similar issue. The roof when raising goes to within 4 inches of the windshield and stops dead, Won't go in either direction It's at the shop now and I honestly don't think Jaguar themselves know what's causing the problem or how to fix it
 
I know this is an old thread, but to add detail.

I can actually replicate the issue of the hood not latching when home...if the battery voltage falls to around 11V, the main latch motors will not function as they draw too much current. Only when the engine is up and running and the alternator is delivering around 14V and plenty of current will the motors do their stuff.

If it's not getting as far as the latched position (as in your case), then this is a proximity or limit switch fault on the Hood up motor positions.

It may or may not help your tech team?
 
In this thread it mentions a tool to use on the roof. Where are these tools. Mine is 2017 & not aware of any tools in the car, only a compressor & locking wheel nut tool.
 
steviegtr said:
In this thread it mentions a tool to use on the roof. Where are these tools. Mine is 2017 & not aware of any tools in the car, only a compressor & locking wheel nut tool.
Click to expand...

The manual says they are behind the fuse box cover in the passenger footwell.
 
Hi, have same issue with my convertible rooftop, and I assume it will be a electrical problem. Either a faulty connection or sensor.
The scanner says there is no communication with the rooftop module. Where is this located, so I can check the connectors?
 
Tools are on the back of the passenger footwell fuse box cover - just give it a good pull at the top edge.

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Edit:
Just realised I replied to a 2019 post 🙄
Hopefully may be of useful reference though.
 
Hi Lunar,

Thx for your reply. I know where the tools are located, but I want to know where the rooftop module is located that communicates with motors etc...
 
Yeah, hence my edit.
I think it’s somewhere on the passenger side, if I recall people who have added a remote roof operation - maybe search for that.
 
Very interesting read, I think a practicle demo in my case would be best.
Yes an emergency storm cover would be a good thing to carry......any ideas.
 
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