Christian Zabbal

Hello kelvin
Did u ever tried to check if the bar behind the back seats are even ???? ... tske a look and if yes try to make it even gently
It worked with me and everything went back to normal ... if not there must be other issue to look after
Regards

Kelvin Uche

I did the bars and discovered that they were not even. I gently make them even but after that the roof could not work again. The light at the dash is constantly blinking and it says soft top cannot be used any time I try to operate it.

pandalock

Hi, I'd noticed the bar was uneven on mine (although the top is operating ok) but couldn't readily see how to level it. Did you simply force the cogs over a few teeth or dismantle part of it?

I'd noticed it when trying to clean the rubber which the first cover was "sticking" to and making a "bang" when opening. I was worried it would ultimately split the rubber.

Zhurdii

Mine had gotten stuck a few weeks back, I followed all of the steps to manually close it and now I get the same “sort top
cannot..” error. I used to hear the motor when I’d press the button, now I don’t. I believe this is the issue and I’ve been able to find replacement motors. However, where is the soft top motor located on an 2011 Audi A5? Several YouTube videos show it in the trunk up under the carpet, but they are different models and years. Is it the same for my year?

Pat Dolan

Same for me the bar was uneven...didn’t do much but moved it up and down manually a couple of times. Started the car and everything worked...it was that bar with the gears just behind the seats.

Thanks

rcgray001

1. What is the "normal" position of the variable storage box support bar from the photo?
   • mine is about an inch from where it bottoms out. If I push it down it rolls back up.
2. Where is the sensor or switch that is causing the problem? Seems like this is a fragile device. It must cause the sensor or switch to close and assume that there is a problem.
   • I am thinking that there are two switches: left and right side of the box or support bar.
3. Can we as a group solve the root cause of the problem?
4. I have a 2013 B8.5. Do we have a diagram of the problem area?

sharpblade81

I found this thread as one addressing the "soft top storage box not lowered please remove obstacle" error message. I am posting now to explain the actual the problem is here, and WHY adjusting the roller bar might solve it for some people. Partial response to @rcgray001

The soft box storage box has essentially three switch triggers as part of the 20+ signal responses going to the cars computer when opening and closing the soft top. The first one many already know - the motor that flips down the hard metal rear-most top box wall. If there is anything in there and the motor is unable to throw the top back down, it will trigger the error message. However, much more likely to cause the problem, are the other two triggers - Two identical Hall effect and magnet based switches affixed towards the rear of the trunk carpeting trim sides. Two steel plates fastened to the edges of the vinyl top box underside serve as the switches response trigger. If even one of these switches are reading an "implausible signal" (copied from VCDS error message below), the error message will appear. So, the position of the underside fabric is indeed critical to the soft top's operation, but it is very finnicky and perhaps a design flaw. When cramming luggage into the trunk, you may perhaps raise the bar by making it skip teeth on one or both sides. If this happens, the next time you try opening the top, the fabric might not fall in the right place as part of the sequence, hence not triggering the switch and sitting out the error message. The metal roller rod in fact is simply a mechanical alignment item, it has no electronic signals directly tied to it. Hopefully this explanation helps people struggling with this error message to idintify the position of these items and do what you can to reposition their resting condition. If that still does not work I would suggest purchasing a new sensor part (pic attached of part #) and replace them inside the side carpeting.

I also want to mention that there are a couple of other non hardware type triggers for the top open sequence (if you watch you can see all of them from live updates on VCDS). I was finding that a pretty dead battery could spit out faults like "signal failure - low end voltage" or "signal voltage low threshold", This would be another potential reason for the soft top refusing to open.

Lastly, I want to mention that a manual operation of the roof to fix roof problems SHOULD not be required if you own the ross tech VCDS tool. If you are using the tool you need only to clear faults and test again.

For my Audi A5 cab repair project, it turned out that i was needing to remove the roller bar completely up at the very top. Then I was inserting it up with the vinyl rolled up in different ways and evenly until my VCDS never spit out the implausible signal code and the top opened and closed without fail repeatedly. I am unsure what "normal" position this makes the roller.




Cheers, PLEASE message me if you are technically certified in this area for correctness

smurkenstein

Thats a great post. Thanks for sharing. Confirms my finding that when I had the storage box error, putting the metal door up and down a few times fixed the problem - must have been the fabric position.

rcgray001

This information is so helpful to me. I'll check out the link to Ross Tech. I found the diagram to the soft top system after tracing your controller part number: https://parts.audiusa.com/a/Audi__/4...S/1345635.html.

The video is also informative and explains the sequence of the switch polling. I think that the problem with my roof is the magnetic roof storage box switches ("Convertible Top Compartment Enclosure Switch") from your photo, F402 and F403. I am not sure when in the sequence F402 and F403 are checked. Without a tool, I am going to try this:

1. Flip the variable storage top bar up from the trunk.
2. Flick the magnetic metal tabs from your photo above F402 and F403.
3. Make sure the material around the storage box is straight.
4. Close the trunk.
5. I am going to assume that when I try to open the top, the F402 and F403 switches are checked before the variable top compartment bar is slammed down - or - the variable top compartment bar is slammed down and the two switches are checked.
6. The fault should be cleared if there is one.

If that doesn't work, I am wondering if we should try to put two decent magnets over the F402 and F403 switches and try again. I would like to find that Self Study guide as well.

Thank you. It feels like we are much closer to understanding the problem - thanks to you.

darcap33

I have the same issues, Audi A5 2010