evagee

Bought this last month sight unseen..

Top will go up and down, but has trouble opening. I started to investigate. I opened the back tonneau cover where the top is stored and discovered a sheared off torx bolt on the main bow mount. This is the main pivot axis for the entire roof!

I've read countless forums and cannot get around the thought that I'm gonna have to pull the whole roof and some of the hydraulics to get to the steel mount, which has to come out to extract the sheared bolt.

No leaking hydraulics, just a sheared bolt. Car is low mileage (52k).

I'm open (and thankful) for any suggestions or ideas. I'm terrified that pulling the top will result on alignment issues, but I can't see a way around it.

dynamic500e

I had similar problem with my cabrio years ago, I ended up bringing it to the dealer. They charged me 2 hrs $125 and basically serviced it for me, operation hydraulics, the works. Haven't had a problem since.

vexed

Is this one of the Torx for the main cylinders. If it's the one in the cavity that's a hard one to access. Or is it somewhere else? I recognize the pictures but not where the Torx sheared off.

evagee

Nope, it's not the cylinder. The roof basically pivots on two points. This is the right side, behind and to the left of the rear seat. The sheared bolt connects the bows to a very heavy steel plate that's bolted deep down under the bows. Problem is, what is sheared is connected both to that plate and the outer bow.

I'll get some better pics at the next opportunity. Apologies if it's confusing.

Floobydust

You should just be able to remove the top pivot mounting plate and the cylinder attachment pin and lift the assembly up high enough to drill and use an Easy-Out (also use penetrating oil like Blaster or Yield) to remove the threaded section of the bolt. Be sure to mark the location of the base plate before you loosen is and this is an adjustment point. Pay attention to the location/number of any shims that may be under it as well.

Hope this helps.