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2G Spyder Top Problems

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jinscho

Proven Member
636
321
Jun 16, 2017
Bangor, Pennsylvania
I picked up a 99 Spyder GS about a month ago that needed some rehab as a project car. This is my first DSM, and a car I've been wanting for quite some time now. I've been lurking through the forums here since getting the car, picking up tidbits of information to help me through the necessary repairs but I couldn't find anything on my most recent issue. Hopefully you guys can help me out with this one...

I can not, for the life of me, figure out why the convertible top will not go down under power on this car. I've already replaced the switch in the trunk, replaced the control module behind the seats, removed and inspected the shear pins on both of the motors, tested both of the motors, checked ALL of the wiring, and everything so far checks out fine. I'm at my wits end with this. The windows go down with no issues when the button is pressed, however that's the end of it. The relays inside the module click, but there is no activity at the motors. Is there something I'm missing here??? It's great that I can manually lower and raise the top, but I want to be lazy and be able to just press a button.

Any help would be great!
 
You may have already done this, but make sure the trunk switch is set to auto, and make sure your battery is fully charged.

There is one pin on the convertible top module that will prevent the top from being lowered. Sorry, I don't have access to my wiring diagrams right now, but it is the pin that tells the module if the car is moving.

It's a "safety" feature that is supposed to prevent you from opening your top while rolling down the road.

We bypassed this feature by disconnecting (snipping and capping) the wire to the responsible pin, however we left enough lead out of the plug that it could be reversed someday.

We learned about it on one of the tech articles here on 'Tuners so I know the resources for you are here.

Can't say if this is the reason yours is not lowering, but if you have replaced all of those parts and done all the wire checks, this may be why the new module did not make a difference.

Report back when you solve it. It will help anyone having the same issue.
 
Yay, an electrical problem on a Spyder.
We are going to start with a process of elimination here.
First, if all four windows go down when you press the top switch, we know that the switch is good. The only job the switch does is tell the control module which way you want the top to go. The module handles the rest. This also tells us that the control module knows that the vehicle is not moving, as the power windows are dependent on that.
Next, step is going to be checking voltage coming out of the top module. The wires we are looking at here are the Black/Red (pin 13) and Red/Black (pin 11).
The Black/Red should lead directly to both top motors, and the Red/Black go through the manual bypass switch to the other side of the motor.
While selecting a direction on the convertible top switch, check for voltage coming out of control module pin 13. Note: the factory wiring diagram does not state which direction is which, so try both directions on the switch.
If you do not have power in either direction, replace the convertible top control module.
If you find power on pin 13, check for ground on pin 11. If you do not have ground, depin the the wire and ground it. Try the switch again. If convertible top motors activate. Replace the the convertible top control module.
If this the motors still do not activate, check voltage drop across both wires.
If there is no significant voltage drop across either wire, replace convertible top motors.
To double check motors, unplug connector and supply power and ground to the motor connectors. Note: A power probe works great for this. If you don't have one, you can use a some spare wire connected to the battery. An in-line fuse is recommended if you do this, as to not catch anything on fire if there is a short.
If none of the steps work, let me know. Sometimes I miss things.
Good luck!
 
Sorry for the lack of reply. I've been focusing on finishing up some of the body work needed before diving back into the top issues.

I'm going to do some more digging to try and find the info on bypassing the 'vehicle moving' safety feature as this is the only thing I can possibly think of at this point.

IHeartMyHonda those are pretty much all of the steps I ruled out prior to making this post. Was a very long and tedious process, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible before posting. Especially after so many posts were solved by flipping the auto/manual switch in the trunk.. I never like being THAT guy.. Lol

I'll follow up and let you know if the bypass works.
 
We bypassed this feature by disconnecting (snipping and capping) the wire to the responsible pin, however we left enough lead out of the plug that it could be reversed someday.

Nice. I've been looking into doing the same thing. The wiring diagram shows a black/blue line running from the ETACS ECU. I was going to check it with a scope and then maybe inline a NC momentary pushbutton switch on it. Is this what I want?
 
I'd have to look it up. I got the info from another thread on here about how to bypass this function. IIRC, mine was a white wire, but I'm not sure about the tracer color. I didn't use a meter to check mine, just trusted the 'How-To' on here.
 
First, if all four windows go down when you press the top switch, we know that the switch is good. The only job the switch does is tell the control module which way you want the top to go. The module handles the rest. This also tells us that the control module knows that the vehicle is not moving, as the power windows are dependent on that.

I have to take exception to this. I've got a '99 GST Spyder. My windows go down immediately upon pressing the top switch every time...but, about 30% of the time the top does not move, and sometimes I have to re-press the switch a couple times before the top moves! So, in my not so super educated opinion, this means that the windows can go down an yet the switch still be a little janky.

THAT SAID, anybody ever wire up an Auto Up / Auto Down setup back there? I'm sure it's just a couple of relays and proximity switches or sumthin'...but I'm not anything close to an electrical engineer. God, I'd love to just press the button and not have to hold it down while the top raises and lowers.
 
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