"Topless" I wish!
Discussion
Bought my Vantage Roadster SportShift, last November with the idea of only driving it with the hood down. This summer has meant that I haven’t had much opportunity to use it!
So came up with a plan. A September 2011-mile trip to the south of France clockwise and back.
Calais
Grenoble,
Route Napoléon
Grasse
Marseillan.
Millau Viaduct
Le Mans
Calais
All was going soo well, got down to Grenoble straight down the toll roads so hood up all the way. Arrived early on a sunny blue sky Sunday morning and found the route Napoleon. Pulled over to refuel and drop the top!
Yes you guessed it the famous hood module failed, so no hood down, also took out the whole dashboard display, indicators, radio, fuel gauge, locking system, but had a full set of warnings chiming every minute of every day
. Loved the one saying "Total Brake failure, Stop safely" !!
However everything was actually working on the engine side, just made it a little stressful to say the least!! Not knowing how much petrol you have left meant a lot of stops to refill, not knowing which gear it's in or what speed/revs your doing, does make for an more interesting drive!
Garmin satnav and cruise control saved me from French plod and speeding fines, I think!
Had a stressfull time, nearly all hot sunny blue-sky days, glad the A/C was still working. Just a shame that I had to be the only plonker driving a convertible sports car on some great roads which was not "Topless" in whole of the south of France last week!
So came up with a plan. A September 2011-mile trip to the south of France clockwise and back.
Calais
Grenoble,
Route Napoléon
Grasse
Marseillan.
Millau Viaduct
Le Mans
Calais
All was going soo well, got down to Grenoble straight down the toll roads so hood up all the way. Arrived early on a sunny blue sky Sunday morning and found the route Napoleon. Pulled over to refuel and drop the top!
Yes you guessed it the famous hood module failed, so no hood down, also took out the whole dashboard display, indicators, radio, fuel gauge, locking system, but had a full set of warnings chiming every minute of every day
. Loved the one saying "Total Brake failure, Stop safely" !! However everything was actually working on the engine side, just made it a little stressful to say the least!! Not knowing how much petrol you have left meant a lot of stops to refill, not knowing which gear it's in or what speed/revs your doing, does make for an more interesting drive!
Garmin satnav and cruise control saved me from French plod and speeding fines, I think!
Had a stressfull time, nearly all hot sunny blue-sky days, glad the A/C was still working. Just a shame that I had to be the only plonker driving a convertible sports car on some great roads which was not "Topless" in whole of the south of France last week!
Is this common on Astons?
A real shame, you have my sympathy.
Re French Police, if they don't stop you at the time then you have nothing to worry about. No cross border prosecution now or any time soon.
Speed cameras in France are not a threat for a UK registered car. HOWEVER a Garmin Sat Nav with speed camera alerts is a serious offence in France. Confiscation and heavy heavy fines are routinely imposed.
A real shame, you have my sympathy.
Re French Police, if they don't stop you at the time then you have nothing to worry about. No cross border prosecution now or any time soon.
Speed cameras in France are not a threat for a UK registered car. HOWEVER a Garmin Sat Nav with speed camera alerts is a serious offence in France. Confiscation and heavy heavy fines are routinely imposed.
Mine went in Spain last year and caused a very stressful return trip through France - although made that much easier by the 7 escorting Astons who made sure we got home safely. Each night the car had a 'good sleep' and got to lunchtime and then all the problems started again. By the end we had none of the following working - speedo, rev counter, indicators, kept on saying the brakes had failed, power steering became heavy, no petrol gauge. Sometimes the headlights flashed - the car had a mind of it's own. However, it was quickly fixed when we got her home!
I have had 'ROOF FAILURE' twice on my car now, it unlateches, moves up 3-4 inches and then stops. Realised it was always after having the car jump started, some ECU somewhere got confused and it needed a few cycles of stopping and starting the engine to get the ECU back-on-track.
Quite why or how that happens... who knows, but has resolved itself both times.
Your trip sounds like it was properly ruined, feel for you
Quite why or how that happens... who knows, but has resolved itself both times.
Your trip sounds like it was properly ruined, feel for you
After a 'good sleep' my roof would go up and down but the only problem was that I wasn't sure when it would or when it wouldn't. Two nights that it wouldn't go back up on the trip. One I was lucky that we were parked in a secure underground car park and the second occasion at a hotel in the middle of nowhere where the orner kindly found some covered parking for me. After that I left it up and just as well because it never worked properly after that.
Mac355 said:
You have just described my worst nightmare!
I think of this every time I press the roof button (particularly if there is a crowd around the car!!!)
Is there no way to fix this "en route"???
Alan
It wasn't the roof button that caused it to go AWOL. I didn't get that far, just switched the ignition back on after the stop was when it all went TI think of this every time I press the roof button (particularly if there is a crowd around the car!!!)
Is there no way to fix this "en route"???
Alan
Ts up! (The system check) The roof was just one of the many items I then had no control. It was lucky that I was playing music through a UBS stick, cause I couldn't switch it off or turn the sound up or down but could pull the stick!
Seems the module is always live and when it fails it messes with everything on that circuit.
It's not a cheap fix either, as you would expect from AM. Currently have the module disconnected awaiting new part, so everything other than the roof is up and running again.
DAMIT said:
Mac355 said:
You have just described my worst nightmare!
I think of this every time I press the roof button (particularly if there is a crowd around the car!!!)
Is there no way to fix this "en route"???
Alan
It wasn't the roof button that caused it to go AWOL. I didn't get that far, just switched the ignition back on after the stop was when it all went TI think of this every time I press the roof button (particularly if there is a crowd around the car!!!)
Is there no way to fix this "en route"???
Alan
Ts up! (The system check) The roof was just one of the many items I then had no control. It was lucky that I was playing music through a UBS stick, cause I couldn't switch it off or turn the sound up or down but could pull the stick!
Seems the module is always live and when it fails it messes with everything on that circuit.
It's not a cheap fix either, as you would expect from AM. Currently have the module disconnected awaiting new part, so everything other than the roof is up and running again.
silverspeed said:
Could you pull the fuse then for the roof module if this happens to protect the other items from failing?
I would guess not, as Adrian at BR had to unplug something in the boot to take it off line. I would think if it was as simple as pulling a fuse he would have done that instead.But I will check to see which bit he's unplugged although it wasn't that easy. At least I will have some idea for the next time it goes! (As I'm sure it will!
)Lunablack said:
I would be totally pissed off at this...... Why oh why does it have to be so complicated??? What's wrong with a simple switch, and if it goes wrong, a manual override, where you can at least get the hood up or down with a handle and cables...
There is a manual override - well there was on my old V8R. Its all the other electrical issues that result from the module failure that creates the main issues I would think.silverspeed said:
There is a manual override - well there was on my old V8R. Its all the other electrical issues that result from the module failure that creates the main issues I would think.
Exactly..... There is not much out there, simpler than an electric motor, and a switch..... Why does it need to be so integrated with every other unrelated function on the car...I accept there have to be fail safes to stop idiots trying to put the roof up or down at 100 mph..... And that should be pretty straightforward...
But for indicators, wipers, hi-fi, brakes, and all other warning systems to be affected, seems completely OTT and unessassarily complicated, for what should be a simple up or down operation...
Gosh Damit - that sounds the worst side of owning such a beautiful car. When it plays naughty it goes really naughty. I agree with Luna to have the roof system linked with the electronics for fuel and speed is just madness and very poor software designing (and I have to say I am surprised that went through the health and safety red tape for the legal requirements of a car!)
RIB27 said:
Yes - roof module goes wrong then confuses pretty much everything else non-essential on the car. Simple fix for the dealer but not if you're miles from home!
I've never had a problem with roof modules in my 2 roadsters over 25k ( you watch now 
)OP I presume you mean Sept 2012?
We were down that way last week luckily roof down all the way (until we got back to ferry)
mikey k said:
I've never had a problem with roof modules in my 2 roadsters over 25k ( you watch now )
OP I presume you mean Sept 2012?
We were down that way last week luckily roof down all the way (until we got back to ferry)
Yes it was last week, but it just happened to be 2011 miles as recorded by my Garmin SatNav. (used the garmin as my speedo for whole trip) )OP I presume you mean Sept 2012?
We were down that way last week luckily roof down all the way (until we got back to ferry)
Interestingly, only 600 miles of them registered on the car mileage reading. I expect it might update once the new module gets fitted or not.
Edited by DAMIT on Friday 28th September 17:30
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