Some on in an XLR top thread mentioned he had read the owners manual "emergency" top procedure and it looked "daunting". For me it was worse that "daunting'. I actually tried to do it. What a mess I made!!
I have a 2008 XLR with 20,300 miles. The manual top up (closed) is given as an "emergency" procedure my owner's manual. The reality is it's more of an afterthought that probably only works when the battery or something external from the top mechanical system is the reason it can't be lowered. I found that when the top has even a minor mechanical problem the procedure is worthless and can make it worse. I found out the hard way when I had the "Top Not Secure" error message in the DIC and my GM scan tool showed the top to have a position sensor error, that I could not put the friggen top up. Following the top up "emergency" procedure verbatim, I got about 1/2 way through the "emergency" top closing procedure and could go no farther as after releasing the top catch with the 8mm hex wrench with lots of fiddling, I could not get the top to move out of it's stored position. In fact I find that I now can not get the top back down because, as the top manual instructions dictated, I had manually moved the trunk tonneau cover under the trunk lid to the closed position and now it will not move back to the top open position. The trunk lid now will not close with the lids stuck tonneau resting on the top leaving about a 3" gap between the trunk lid and the closed position. And there she sits.
I've owned other convertibles and all there is to manually closing them is to open a hydraulic valve conveniently located in the trunk. The GM procedure to manually put the XLR top up seems to be added as an afterthought to the convertible tops ability to open and close. It's a rube Goldberg procedure that most certainly can't be a procedure that was ever purposely designed to aid an owner with manually opening and closing the top. If you don't have slender hands and can't feel and find the latches 8mm hex head you won't even get started. Like I said, it's an abortion from beginning to end.
There is nothing in the users or in GM 4 volume shop manual that shows any kind of detailed drawings or photos that show much at all about the quite complex components of the top system.
There are others who have talked about the XLR manual closing and opening system but as far as I've been able to find in any of there conferences, I'm the only one who has been witless enough to actually try it.
Using my smartphone I took photos of the top latching system the 8mm hex wrench is used in, location of the hydraulic pump (Under the mat in Driver side rear corner-start at the corner-I used a plastic tool with a 30-45 deg bend to lift the carpet and hydraulic system lid to get access. Valve is at bottom of hydraulic cyclinder/pump assy)). I am going to write about what I did with photos, so that when I take it in to get repaired, the Tech will know how it got there and what didn't work and the positions the top latch (8mm hex) and hydraulic valves were left it. When I get my fiasco with the top documented, I will post a link or if possible, cut and paste it into this an other XLR Effed up threads. Maybe having a photograph or two and a detailed description of what was actually done and accomplished will be better than all the next to meaningless woulda cudda shoulda babble that runs on and on in most tech conferences.
Of course when we post to this conference, we always hope that someone out there will say "hey! I had -exacty- this problem and here is how you fix it!!!"
I
'll get the photos and detailed story here ASAP but it may be a week or three [...sigh...]
Gotta run. Sorry for the bad grammer and writing style. Thanks for your patience.
