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Several people have asked me for the 'trick' to bypassing the speed sensor and/or e-brake lockouts on the convertible top module, so I thought I'd make this post as a reference. If you've ever been stuck in a sudden rain storm, you quickly realize how stuipd it is to have to come to a complete stop to put the top up. DO NOT operate your top at speed -- you WILL break something. Do this mod at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for any damages you may cause by doing this mod or by operating your top while not completely stopped. That said, here goes:
Pull the bottom dash panel on the passenger's side. Be careful, as this panel is sometimes a pain take off with out breaking a clip or the panel itself. Here's a pic of the back side of the panel. The yellow circles indicate the location of the 6 clips that hold it in place:
The box in the attached picture is the convertable top module:
The connector on the right has one of the wires you are interested in. The white w/ black stripe wire is the speed sensor. If you cut or remove that wire, you can put the top down while moving with the e-brake pulled up 'one click' -- just enough to activate the 'brake' light on the instrument console. You can actually unplug and pry open the connector and remove the wire and pin from the connector -- that way if you want to put it back to stock you can just re-insert the pin instead of pulling out the soldering iron. If you have Modifry's DCI and are using the speed-sensitive volume function, you will need to make the cut BETWEEN your splice to the DCI and the pictured connector. Removing the pin from the connector without cutting the wire will also work with the DCI.
If you want to eliminate the e-brake 'one click trick', you will need to tap a switched ground into the GREEN/WHITE wire on the left-hand connector. It is not visible in the above pic, because it is covered by the green/red wire. DO NOT CUT the green/white -- just tap into it with a switched ground. Grounding the green/white wire will cause the 'BRAKE' light on your gauge cluster to come on, and your top will operate, assuming you have also bypassed the VSS or are stopped.
EDIT: I have edited this post and the above picture to correct errors posted below as of 6/9/2005.
I met up with w1ngman this past weekend and he did it for me. Thanks again
Let me say that this mod falls under the "Big Pimpin" category. When you drive away from your parking spot, and the top is going down as you move, let just say your "Big Pimpin" . Oh yeah, and its also good if it starts raining (as Bryan said).
NE1 know what happens if I cut the speed sensor wire, but I have the Sony dash controller hooked up? Will I lose my hard-earned speed sensitive volume control?
The wire in question carries the signal from the speed sensor to the convertible top module. If you cut it between your connection to the DCI and the top module, you will be fine.
Originally posted by SC_Highlander The wire in question carries the signal from the speed sensor to the convertible top module. If you cut it between your connection to the DCI and the top module, you will be fine.
Hmmm...I hate electronics. Never understand the "flow of electrons". Lookie here at my rudimentary diagram. Should be self-explanatory...but if I were to ever encounter someone's "under-dash" area with the speed sensor wire (ohh, like I did with Reignman Sunday and didn't-want-to-screw-anything-up-so-I left-it-alone ), would I cut where the red "X" is in the future?
[EDIT: "Speed Sensitive Wire" labeled as wire coming out from left of frame towards splice is MEANT to represent the wire coming from DJ Cube's volume/speed mod]
No, the red X would go to the other side of the splice. If you cut it at the red X, the DCI and top would know nothing about how fast you're going...
Think of it this way. You know that the plug is going into the convertible top module. So, to keep the convertible top from knowing how fast you're going, you cut the wire from going to that module. If you want your DCI to work, you need to get the hot wire, which is coming from the speed sensor. Since you cut the wire from the top module, the end that is still connected to the module is essentially dead now! That's why you need to connect your DCI wire to the other end of the wire... Does that make any sense?
It depends on what that box in Dave's drawing is! If it's the dash, then the red X is in the correct place. If it's the convertible top module, then it's not. The top module will be bypassed, but the DCI won't get the speed signal. Here's an updated diagram to eliminate any confusion:
07-25-2003, 07:12 AM
. Oh yeah, and its also good if it starts raining (as Bryan said).
