Firstly, excuse me for being a "lurker" but I have had little experience to contribute to the forum to date! I have, however, owned a 575 Superamerica for a number of years and love the car but for a persistent roof issue. My roof opens and closes perfectly in cool weather. If, however, I leave the car in the sun and heat for a while with the roof closed, when I try to open it the roof opens normally for most of the way then free falls for the last 30cms onto the trunk and the dashboard registers a roof error. I have been told that this is caused by (a) the heat overload protections in the circuit cutting in and killing the motor or (b) the struts in the roof mechanism failing. My Ferrari dealer has told me that I need to replace the entire roof at an exhorbitant cost but this seems excessive!! Has anyone else experienced the same symptoms and, if so, what is the solution? Thank you in advance, Mike
Sorry for the edit but I have already looked at the other strut failure threads and am not sure if the symptoms are the same as mine...
Own a SA from new. If top has same issue both on open and close it was my struts. Struts way under $100.00 a pair. Labor was under Two (2) hours.
Mike- I am a new owner, but am having this issue the last two times I drove the car. I'm gonna take my car in to have it looked at, but I was suspecting it was the struts. I've never heard of your circuit cutting/killing the motor, but I am by no means an expert on this. If I find out more before you, will share here, and please do the same. Best, Eric
Excuse me Sir Paul…. but There are 2 sets of struts in the roof carrier mechanism The small ones are the source of the problem and are not available for replacement Against the advice of a master Ferrari tech at Wide World Ferrari, and $1,000 in labor costs, I had them change out the larger struts in the carrier mechanism (which cost about $50 for the pair) and much to my dismay.. No change at all After about a year and half of dealing with this issue, I spent an afternoon and figured out the problem and a resolution. When the struts get hot, they loose their power and as the roof lowers, there is a sensor that cuts out the electronic clutch to prevent damage to the mechanism and the roof drops on to the tear deck. Resolution --- While sitting in the drivers, seat, press the roof switch with your left hand and as the roof begins to flip, with your right hand grab the smaller part of the roof and apply a small force to help equalize the weight of the larger part as it heads towards the trunk lid. Problem solved If you forget or do not apply enough force and the roof drops, follow these steps: 1) Turn off ignition 2) Get out of car and by hand manually rotate roof to the closed position 3) Get back in car and latch roof in the locked position 4) Start car and press the roof switch forward towards the closing position to close the latches on the trunk lid and to clear the fault code 5) Start process again No need to turn off battery switch etc. While reaching backward and grabbing the smaller part of the roof, try to look like you are just watching the process and not looking like a tool trying to overcome this design flaw. Good Luck
Thank you all for your help on this issue and for the suggestion on manually "helping" the roof mechanism down. Certainly more useful than my main dealer who suggested replacing the entire roof...! Given the issue arises from the smaller structs, is there no way of finding a replacement for these? I assume ferrari no longer stock them? Rgds, Mike
Sorry - I fear I was not clear. I meant the electric motor for the roof being cut, not the car engine...! Cheers, Mike
Been thru this before I have an extra roof and complete carrier so I have an extra pair of the smaller struts that I would be wiling to donate for the benefit of medical science. But in reality I feel that no matter what we do this problem shall again rear it's ugly head I vote for the reach back technique that has been serving me well for the last couple of years
As I said previously smaller struts were ordered, purchased and installed by a honest authorized FERRARI dealer struts were under $100.00 fot the pair labor was not more than Two (2) hours.
The smaller struts are available ... When you buy a new carrier for $!8,000 if they are stil available from Ferrari Trust me you cannot buy them from Ferrari, Riambi etc In a previous thread, Taz sugggested a strut manufacurer that might be able to fabricate a better replacement but noone seems to know the spec
Do you by any chance have the part number for the struts you ordered? It might help with my dealer... Cheers, Mike
Hi 2005575superamerica No "excuse me" necessary. I agree with most of what you say and agree on the heat/clutch issue and have used the reach bag and grab to help the roof for many years....and can do it with style! I also agree that the small strut (#69271600) is the cause of the problems, which also manifests itself again when you open the trunk with the roof open and lying on the trunk. The trunk gas struts (#69059300) are inadequate in that case without the small struts in the roof mechanism working too. In this case, a golf umbrella used to be a good additional trunk support...until it got fixed!! However, I still cannot see on the parts diagram, where the larger struts in the roof mechanism that you mention exist. When I had my roof struts "fixed" in 2011 they did change the small struts (clearly the local Ferrari agent was able to obtain them back then even if they are in short/zero supply now). Perhaps you can point the larger gas struts out on the diagram linked here.... http://www.eurospares.co.uk/partTable.asp?M=1&Mo=644&A=2&B=37067&S= and give me the part numbers? Thanks PAUL
Hi there, I don't mean to steal the thread but I feel like I also am running into the same issue. The video below shows the roof slamming during the last bit of closure. Do you guys also believe this is caused by the small shock? I would also like to know the part numbers on these notorious shocks. Any help would be appreciated!
Just wanted to give you an update on my car. I have been using the reachback technique for a while now and even on the hottest days it seems to work. I think that I will continue with this as it is such a simple "fix". Many thanks to all for your help and comments. Cheers, Mike
The small lift struts for the roof are readily available both in the aftermarket and Ferrari. we do several sets a year and while this requires removal of the top and the mechanical top carriage it should be easily fixed for well under $2000
You have an extra roof and struts but still use the reach back, manual technique to close the SA roof? Why?
