Tonneau solenoid question

KHummel66 · Post by **KHummel66** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:07 am

The tonneau latching solenoid on my 85 has stopped working. It worked when I looked at the car. It worked when I first got it home. Now, nothing. The first thing I want to check is the fuse, but the top operator's manual doesn't specify which fuse it is wired into, nor if it has it's own somewhere. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? And if there are other suggestions on what may have happened, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,

Keith

DaytonaTim · Post by **DaytonaTim** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:38 am

I am not sure, someone chime in if I am wrong, but isn't the tonneu cover powered off of the rear window defroster power system.

I seem to remember reading that somewhere.

tfs2121 · Post by **tfs2121** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:10 pm

i beleave hank has some diagrams posted on www.ascmclaren.com

mustang marty · Post by **mustang marty** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:04 pm

On my 85, the main power comes from the rear window defroster. That would be the first place to look. If the car had Recaro Seats installed, there is also a black relay box behind the heater controls in the dash. My heated seats had gone bad and shorted out this relay box. If this box is bad, the top mechanism will not get power.

There is another relay in the trunk (mine was green) that controls the interlock so you can't open the trunk w/ the tonneau open or vice versa. This could also prevent the solenoid from opening the tonneau if it's not working.

You can get the schematic and a b/w photo of the wireing herehttp://www.ascmclaren.com/general.htm This is for a later than 85 car that does not have the relay box in the trunk but you can get an idea how the system works.

KHummel66 · Post by **KHummel66** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:18 am

Thank you all for your input. I printed the wiring info from Hank's site, but that raised another question. It shows two limit swtchs, one triggered off a deck lid hinge, and the second associated with the tonneau cover or tonneau release. Scowering my car, I can see the one related to the deck lid hinge, but I can't find the one related to the tonneau.

I know the wiring diagrams are not from an 85, so do the 85's only have the one by the deck lid hinge? If they do have two, can someone give me some specifics on where the second one can be found?

Thanks!

Keith

mustang marty · Post by **mustang marty** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:23 am

The other limit switch is on the pull down motor. They use it both for stopping the motor when the tonneau is closed and to prevent the trunk from opening if the tonneau is open. This is the function of the green relay box in the trunk. The 87-up had a slightly different system which deleted the relay.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:23 pm

I had no clue on this, but I seriously doubted any rear defroster involvement, as the rear electric defroster was deleted on ALL D32 McLaren orders. No working part thereof was ever on-board these 'Verts.

Post by **negusm** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:42 pm

Sandy wrote:I had no clue on this, but I seriously doubted any rear defroster involvement, as the rear electric defroster was deleted on ALL D32 McLaren orders. No working part thereof was ever on-board these 'Verts.

Sandy, on Fox cars there is a huge yellow wire coming pretty much straight from the battery through the firewall and into the dash where on hatchback cars it connects to the defroster switch. On verts they reused this wire/circuit but used it for the vert top motor instead.

I am not sure if this is what Mustang Marty is referring to.

-Mike

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:17 pm

Oh. My mind was switched to the Mustangs, where I knew that the defroster was deleted. I guess all Capris could not have had the defroster deleted. Probably no delete code........

Post by **negusm** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:13 am

Sandy wrote:Oh. My mind was switched to the Mustangs, where I knew that the defroster was deleted. I guess all Capris could not have had the defroster deleted. Probably no delete code........

I was talking about the Mustang verts....but now that you mention it...the Capri verts probbaly do still have the defroster switch...unless they swapped out the HVAC controls to one without...which would have been possible but maybe had to be done at asc and not at Ford.

Can anyone verify they have or do not have the defroster switch on their capri vert?

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 2:51 am

Why would the Mustangs have this yellow wire you speak of, if the Elec. Rr. Defroster was deleted ? Was this like the stereo? Delete stereo, add Radio Prep. Pkg ? Weird.

Post by **negusm** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:46 am

Sandy wrote:Why would the Mustangs have this yellow wire you speak of, if the Elec. Rr. Defroster was deleted ? Was this like the stereo? Delete stereo, add Radio Prep. Pkg ? Weird.

No no. Mustang AND Capris go this yellow wire. NORMALLY it is used for the defroster switch and powers the defrosting circuit.

When the Mustang vert came around, they DELETED the defroster (obviously)...but then they had a motorized top that needed power. So they just reused that yellow wire to power the top motor.

-Mike

mandra · Post by **mandra** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:59 am

On the 85 verts the switch is not there but the slot for it is in the controls and it looks like they put some kind of felt behind it so dirt didn't get in.

svo413 · Post by **svo413** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:33 pm

The 85 verts. did not come with a panel that had a defroster switch provision. The rear defrost was still an option. Later it became manditory, I think it was 86 or later. The cars are built with common wiring so all the options just plug in. The harness should be there behind the panel and would make an ideal point to connect a new power option for ASC since it would be a rather large wire.

That would make at least six different heater control panels (non a/c-no defrost, a/c- no defrost, non a/c- defrost, non a/c- defrost, dealer add a/c-defrost, dealer add a/c- no defrost). I saw one for that last one on ebay recently.

mustang marty · Post by **mustang marty** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:55 am

negusm wrote:
Sandy wrote:I had no clue on this, but I seriously doubted any rear defroster involvement, as the rear electric defroster was deleted on ALL D32 McLaren orders. No working part thereof was ever on-board these 'Verts.
Sandy, on Fox cars there is a huge yellow wire coming pretty much straight from the battery through the firewall and into the dash where on hatchback cars it connects to the defroster switch. On verts they reused this wire/circuit but used it for the vert top motor instead.

I am not sure if this is what Mustang Marty is referring to.

-Mike

Mike, yes that is what I am talking about. They yellow wire would normally go to the defrost switch and a gray/yellow wire comes from the defrost switch to the heated backlight. It's a 10-12 ga wire - pretty stout. ASC just used this circuit (with an added relay box in the dash) for the power top & the Recaro heated seats on the Capri. This why when the heated seats fail, the top release stops working. The wire that went from the relay box to my Recaros was melted. I'm surprised that the car didn't catch fire.

I can take some pics to show how it all goes together...

What I would like to see is the behind the dash setup from 86 w/o Recaros. I want to wire mine that way. When the Recaros go back in my car, the heated seat option will be removed. It will also save me from buying a replacement black relay box from Hank for $100. Right now, I have it rigged to the tonneau will work but the seat circuit is diabled

ascMcLaren Enthusiasts

Tonneau solenoid question

Tonneau solenoid question

Limit switches

Defrost switch