Greetings from Flint Michigan

[Goal10r]

Hoping the headlights can be re-Furbed.

 

[Goal10r]

Back at it this am, just trying to familiarize myself with the entire car. I’ve pulled the seats forward and found the owners manual and a rubber trim piece which I’ll have to figure out where it goes.
I do have the small square filler piece that covers the exterior bumper release hole, I believe Michael shared that you can not get them so I got lucky there. It is slightly broken so I’ll have to see what I can do to salvage it. I did send away for the shop manual on CD until I can get a set of hard copy books. I’ll spend the rest of my time today trying to get in the trunk, at least I have the owners manual now to help me out.

 

[Goal10r]

Well after about 20 mins of fiddling with it I finally got it open. The modual is disconnected and super corroded. I pulled back the trunk carpet it it’s wet. Where ever the water is coming from it clearly caused the corrosion to the modual. The connectors unfortunately do not look too good. I also noticed the cylinders on each side of the trunk have been disconnected. It seems the previous owner had them disconnected so they could get in the trunk? To lower the top manually?

 

[Goal10r]

Both sides have the cylinders released.

 

[mickeytee]

Unknown why he would disconnect the cylinders they dont hurtvthe opening of the trunk if the pump valve is released. The aluminum boxed module is the suspension. There should be a black plastic box that controls the top. A lot of money damage in that corner. The pump looks to also be bad. The repair for the water leak in the left corner of the trunk lid is well written up. That much water looks to be multiple leaks. the rubber lip seal in the bottom of that cubby needs to be removed.

 

[Goal10r]

Thank you Michael. I’ll look for the “black box”. I’m assuming the aluminum module is bad. I would assume the pump is also but who knows so I guess it’s best to do the shot gun procedure and start with the electronics, test, move to hydraulics, test, then mechanical. The plug has been removed from the left cubby which probably didn’t help with moisture I’d driven on wet roads. At this point I’m not going to focus on the moisture, the car will be kept inside and I can do some diagnostics once everything is clean and dry. For now I’ll focus on the top.

 

[justdennis]

Welcome Goal10r, good luck with your project. We have some things in common, I just purchased my XLR V about 5 months ago and spent the next 2 months making repairs. I'm still getting it dialed in but loving every minute of it. Also up until about 6 months ago I lived in Grosse Ile, Mi so we were almost neighbors, I probably seen you at the Dream Cruise. It sure sounds like you have a good plan and the right attitude. You're on your way!

 

[Goal10r]

Thank you J Dennis, actually never been to the dream cruise but we do the Back to the Bricks in Flint every year, many of them in our former Allante. As a young buck I used to race on Woodward but moved to the north a bit and wound up in Grand Blanc. Over the winter we sent the Allante to a good home and last week replaced it with an XLR. Car is super sexy, I think 4-6 months should be enough time to get it straightened out. I’m retired from education and now have a remodeling business with 18 employees. The XLR brings peace to my busy mind, I enjoy the challenge without hurry but maintaining a tempo is important to keep the project moving forward.

 

[Goal10r]

So the pump is out along with the fried top module, the suspension module is also toast. I’ve pulled it all out and cleaned the cubby completely. I have a new trunk harness coming (eBay) along with a top module and pump c/o Mickeytee. My car had a “jumper set up to by-pass the suspension module but it must have gotten bumped and the wires loosened because I have a no start situation. I also ordered a new headlight from eBay that doesn’t have the burns on it (I hope). I’ll report on that when it shows up.

 

[Goal10r]

So it’s been a a month since I started this project, time for an update. My car is an 04 with 09 body parts so I refer to it as a V-tribute car. Didn’t know any of this as a newbie but great help from a few forum helpers. Thank you!
After driving the car to my shop and beginning to break down how to go about getting the top working I ran into several problems, namely once I pulled it in and started rattling around in the trunk I discovered a couple of nasty items which need to be addressed. The fold top control module is literally fried and the suspension control module was disconnected and sitting in the middle of the trunk with some burn marks on it. The trunk area is was wet and the left cubbie had hydraulic fluid in the bottom and the suspension control module had been removed and jumped to divert the suspension module. As I tried to sort all of that out I probably managed to wiggle some of the jumpers loose and had a no crank situation on my hands with no manuals, no scanner, and minimum brain diagnostic power that usually gets me in more trouble than it helps. But I’m determined… I have a new pump thanks to (cont)

 

[Goal10r]

MickeyT and what I think is a suspension by-pass module? I think? More on that later-. So I’ve ordered and received the scanner, about 150 bucks but I have some programming downloads to do on it first. Ugh. My 500. set of manuals showed up a couple days ago and I’m starting to see some light. Maybe? The new pump is in, I’ve ordered the cadillac recommended fluid for it, should be in this week. It wasn’t terrible to change, the mini hydraulic lines gave me a bit of guff but with patience I got er done, need to fill with fluid. I also needed a connector that goes to my top module which was completed cooked from heat from God knows what…after ordering the wrong convertible top harness I was stumped on how to get the connector. So I hit the books to find a pic of my connector and sure enough I got the number from the shop manual then googled it and my connector popped up, I’ll have this week for 13 bucks. I’m leaning.

Back to the No crank- I asked my buddy Lambert to help me out and he brought his scanner and got me to the point where the car starts and runs but I need to push the solenoid at the fuse block under the hood to get the car running. I have the scanner and the books, I should be able to handle this…we think it’s the ECM keeping it from cranking at the ignition button. I have a new one on the way.

I did change out the hood shocks and was able to dump the little stick that has been holding up the hood…

Carpet has been completely cleaned and the seats, door pads, console, new XLR floor mats are ready for install. I purchased a really nice right front headlight, clear and pretty for 1100. No one said this was going to be cheap… more later…

 

[justdennis]

You are sure right about that, nothing about these cars is cheap. Thanks for sharing, misery loves company.

 

[MR Roadster]

MickeyT and what I think is a suspension by-pass module? I think? More on that later-. So I’ve ordered and received the scanner, about 150 bucks but I have some programming downloads to do on it first. Ugh. My 500. set of manuals showed up a couple days ago and I’m starting to see some light. Maybe? The new pump is in, I’ve ordered the cadillac recommended fluid for it, should be in this week. It wasn’t terrible to change, the mini hydraulic lines gave me a bit of guff but with patience I got er done, need to fill with fluid. I also needed a connector that goes to my top module which was completed cooked from heat from God knows what…after ordering the wrong convertible top harness I was stumped on how to get the connector. So I hit the books to find a pic of my connector and sure enough I got the number from the shop manual then googled it and my connector popped up, I’ll have this week for 13 bucks. I’m leaning.

Back to the No crank- I asked my buddy Lambert to help me out and he brought his scanner and got me to the point where the car starts and runs but I need to push the solenoid at the fuse block under the hood to get the car running. I have the scanner and the books, I should be able to handle this…we think it’s the ECM keeping it from cranking at the ignition button. I have a new one on the way.

I did change out the hood shocks and was able to dump the little stick that has been holding up the hood…

Carpet has been completely cleaned and the seats, door pads, console, new XLR floor mats are ready for install. I purchased a really nice right front headlight, clear and pretty for 1100. No one said this was going to be cheap… more later…

I can fill you in on a suspension bypass module to eliminate the error messages.
843-543-5253 Steve.

 

[mickeytee]

His had bern running with no suspension module. The previous owner had removed it and jumped the plug so it would run without it. A working module plugged in did not fix it. Something got crossed up and caused a failure. Typical problem when you start jumping and splicing into the system

 

[MR Roadster]

Normally they just jump the wries on the plug itself. I didn't have a problem splicing into the suspension harness. My bypass only removes the error messages and allow the car to drive faster that 80mph. I guy told me his car would hesitate around 73mph and my bypass fixed the problem.

 

[Goal10r]

So I’ve got the old girl running from the ignition switch now, thankfully. I got to thinking about my situation, the seller told me the key fobs needed new batteries and I would need to insert the fob into the glove box. So I replaced the batteries last month and it was around the time of my no start. Long story short, the cubby is clean and dry, the new pump is in, the “jumper module” is in, the new top module is in. The key fob is new and programmed, and she fired up at the ignition switch. So finally I can move on with the top.
I can not get it to fold up manually. As I said before Ingot to be a wiz with my Allante top but this thing is a whole different animal. I have the top module in, but the 2 wires that run to it are fried. I located one, they sent it but it was the male side, I need the female side. I could just run a jumper but those 2 wires don’t look great to me and something fried the hell out of the top module which I believe took out the suspension module. So I want to be careful about the hookup rather than a jumper. I have scrubbed the interior and replaced trim pieces as I go, the car is beautiful. If I can get through this top thing we’ll be rolling and I think I’m close. Then I can make some decisions about the suspension module vs the conversion.

 

[mickeytee]

SSoSoons

So I’ve got the old girl running from the ignition switch now, thankfully. I got to thinking about my situation, the seller told me the key fobs needed new batteries and I would need to insert the fob into the glove box. So I replaced the batteries last month and it was around the time of my no start. Long story short, the cubby is clean and dry, the new pump is in, the “jumper module” is in, the new top module is in. The key fob is new and programmed, and she fired up at the ignition switch. So finally I can move on with the top.
I can not get it to fold up manually. As I said before Ingot to be a wiz with my Allante top but this thing is a whole different animal. I have the top module in, but the 2 wires that run to it are fried. I located one, they sent it but it was the male side, I need the female side. I could just run a jumper but those 2 wires don’t look great to me and something fried the hell out of the top module which I believe took out the suspension module. So I want to be careful about the hookup rather than a jumper. I have scrubbed the interior and replaced trim pieces as I go, the car is beautiful. If I can get through this top thing we’ll be rolling and I think I’m close. Then I can make some decisions about the suspension module vs the conversion.

Sounds good. You are getting there. So are you talking about the plug with the two wieres that go to the top module. It looks to me from the old suspension module it reallybshorted out and most likey melted the top module plug with it. I would want to chevk that the ground side is not hot with any power and that the positive side dkes not ohm to any ground. I have a plug but i think its a pretty common one on gm. Ldt me check and if it is i can get one with extra wire to splice it in properly.

 

[Goal10r]

SSoSoons

Sounds good. You are getting there. So are you talking about the plug with the two wieres that go to the top module. It looks to me from the old suspension module it reallybshorted out and most likey melted the top module plug with it. I would want to chevk that the ground side is not hot with any power and that the positive side dkes not ohm to any ground. I have a plug but i think its a pretty common one on gm. Ldt me check and if it is i can get one with extra wire to splice it in properly.

Thank you Michael. I should have the plug issue resolved this week. Does it matter which wire goes to which plug? I have 2 wires, does it matter if they are inverted? Will it blow out my new module? Also, I’m not getting a response to the ECM through the scanner. Have replaced ECM, not sure if it needed to be programmed?

 

[mickeytee]

Thank you Michael. I should have the plug issue resolved this week. Does it matter which wire goes to which plug? I have 2 wires, does it matter if they are inverted? Will it blow out my new module? Also, I’m not getting a response to the ECM through the scanner. Have replaced ECM, not sure if it needed to be programmed?

 

[mickeytee]

Are you talking about the main control module undervthe right fender? If so yes it has to be progammed to the vin of the car. Yes the plug if we are talking about the middle one on the top module is specific .the red positive wire goes on the black plug sade the ground is on the left or white plug side. You really need a short piece of harness and i have one i can send you . the plug locks in place in the module