Saab 93 Convertible - SOFT TOP FAILURE

[R300_PM]

Afternoon All,

A collegue of mine has just purchased a 1998'R' Saab 93 2.0i SE Convertible.

Unfortunatly, the roof seems to have developed an inability to open (it opened when the car was collected).

The windows go down to the set 20cm, the roof aperture within the boot compartment is not obstructed, nor is it hooked up. The handle at the front of the roof releases perfectly. The tailgate is also closed.

The problem arises when you press the button to fold the roof down. The back of the roof (rear window section) releases and comes up about 1-2 inches and goes no further, along with a warning display on the SID unit stating 'SOFT TOP FAILURE'.

I imagine its not going to be anything to serious!?!?!

Any suggestions???

Many thanks for your help in advance!

Regards

R300_PM

[Prof Beard]

Check the rear seat belts. They should be nicely hooked under the little hooks on the back of the seat. If they are not, it is possible they have become snagged in the mechanism within the area under the rear flap which lifts when you lower the roof. Check they are retracting/feeding smoothly. I had this problem when I first got my car and wasn't fully aware how easily they could get snagged if rear passengers got out without checking this.

Just a thought - it could be other things of course...

[fastcars_hardy]

there is sometimes a little sensor on 5 bow which can stop working if this happens then you will need to repair the sensor or get a new one

[luckyb]

On the 9-3 (not the new one) there is a small shear pin, which will shear to prevent damage in the event of an obstruction.

It can be checked by doing the following: -

Open the boot, and undo the bolts keeping the trim on the top edge (facing you, where the boot hinges are located. Under this there is a round bar. on the right hand end there is a sqaure bar connected to the round one with a universal joint, you will be able to see a small hole with the shear pin in it.

In the ski hatch, bottom of the hole, the is a rubber grommet, about 2 inchs across. remove this, below is a t-bar type key, turn this a couple of times to release the hydraulic pressure. This willallow you to operate the soft top manually.

back to the boot. On the right hand side, inside the rear wing, remove the carpeting, and you will see an arrangement that looks like a scissor jack. In the part that points down and backwards (towards the rer of the car) is a slot. take your jack handle and insert it into the slot, using gentle force, push down on the jack handle whilst watching the movement of the bars referred to above. The square bare should start to turn. IF THE ROUND BAR DOES NOT TURN AT THE SAME TIME AS THE SQUARE BAR, YOU WILL NEED TO REPLACE THE SHEAR PIN ONLY! this can be done as a DIY, but only cost me £60 including parts and labour (not the £650 they quoted me for the replacement of the hydraulic cylinders, which they diagnosed, and they are a SAAB main dealer FFS).

HTH, if you need any more info, email me

[Kaz7]

Following on from this, can anyone help me with a similar soft top problem.

I have an S reg, 93 saab convertible. The soft top has failed & on inspection by a local garage they said the fluid has run dry that runs to the motor & the ram has burst.

Has anyone heard of this happening before?

They said they will need to take the whole roof off to get to the ram,and will do it if it's not too complex- do you think this is something that is quite straight forward for someone who has not done it before (this is a local garage trying to help me out, but they have not worked on anything like this before)?? I'm trying to avoid the expense of going to Saab.

Also, is this likely to be expensive?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Kaz

[bulldog1]

i have exactly the same problem failure of the 5th bow the problem is the near side roof ram is leaqking.get the system bled and this will solve the problem failing that get a second hand nearside roof ram bit like rocking horse poo im afraid