Adjusting tension in the top?

[Motivated]

My Sky Redline has about 3700 miles on it. It has this problem on the passenger side that when I close the door with the window up, about a 1 foot long section of the top gets closed in the window. You can see the window flex out as it happens, and I literally either have to roll the window down a little first or hold the side of the top up a little with my hand while almost closing my hand in between the window and the top.

Does anyone else have this problem? If you did and got it fixed, how did you do it? Thanks in advance!

-Chris

[RedSkyWV]

My B-pillar was slightly off on the driver's side when I first got it, it liked to miss the hole behind the door. Just a little bit of pushing and it will bend, which also fixed the window-bulge issue.

[dengel]

This could be an alignment issue with your window glass or the convertible top.

Your best bet is to take it back to the dealer, they have procedures to diagnose exactly what is out of alignment and how to adjust it.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer who wants to attempt to adjust it yourself, here is a link to the repair bulletin, which was posted over on the solsticeforum.

Door Glass Comes in Contact with Convertible Top - Pontiac Solstice Forum

[WishfulThinking]

When I test drove a Mustang a couple of years ago, I noticed that the windows drop ~1/2" when you open the door, and roll themselves up when you shut the door. I had mixed feelings about the idea when I first saw it, but after reading about people having to get their Sky's top replaced from the glass rubbing on it, it sounds like an idea the Sky would benefit from.

[dengel]

Originally Posted by WishfulThinking

When I test drove a Mustang a couple of years ago, I noticed that the windows drop ~1/2" when you open the door, and roll themselves up when you shut the door. I had mixed feelings about the idea when I first saw it, but after reading about people having to get their Sky's top replaced from the glass rubbing on it, it sounds like an idea the Sky would benefit from.

That Mustang probably had a power top, so the power window operation was programmed into the top operation sequence in the computer programming.

The Sky has a manual top. So in the same way you manually put up the top, you can "manually" lower your window an inch and then raise it the rest of the way to seat against the top weather stripping after the top is up. This is what I do anyway when I raise my top.

Plus, even if we had this type of power top, it wouldn't alleviate the problem of the glass hitting the top as you open and close a door in a top up/windows up situation.

The problem causing the damage is really an issue of the window glass or the top being out of alignment, causing rubbing as you open and close the doors. It's not an issue of contact between the roof and a raised window when you put up your convertible top.

[WishfulThinking]

Originally Posted by dengel

That Mustang probably had a power top, so the power window operation was programmed into the top operation sequence in the computer programming.

Actually, it was a hard-top. The glass would slide up into the weather stripping, rather than just rest against it.

The current system on the Sky seems to depend on precision, which will vary with assembly and age. I'm not a fan of unnecessary complexity (e.g. magic windows), but I'm also not a fan of things that quietly cause destruction when they aren't perfectly adjusted (e.g. replacing top because of bad door/glass alignment).

[Motivated]

Yes, most new cars have this auto down feature. Whether they're convertible or not. It would be nice to have this feature, but our seals have too much tension at the top to make this possible.

And I still haven't found the issue. I will try that idea posted on the Solstice forums.

[SR819]

Same thing happened to my 2.4l, I just cracked the windows to put the top up and no more problem. Then when I went in for an oil change the dealer adjusted the top in 2 seconds. Never had another issue

[Motivated]

Got it adjusted and worked like a charm!

Thanks dengel!


-Chris