How can I get my 2008 Sebring Convertible trunk to close after the top has been put up?

My mechanic is disconnecting the battery to reset the computer. What if that doesn't work? He didn't see to sure that it would work...

the dealer can use the starscan scanner to close the truck. Ive had to do this before.

What ever happened with your convertible top? Did you need to replace any parts?

I am having the same problem. The top will go up and down, however the trunk lid will not close after it does. What did anyone do to solve the problem? Naturaly, the dealer wants me to spend 1,200 dollars to replace the cover table motor.

Hey Adam did you ever get that top fixed?

Or Glenda how about you,did you ever find out how to fix you convertible top?

Go to the each side there is a locking pin. You will find it by wiggling the trunk it is the only area holding the trunk. You must pull both pins to unlock . Takes some wiggle. Then the trunk should alow you to open the normal way. You must push the pins back up so it re locks or it won't close. I currently don't have pictures but it's simply a locking pin on both sides.

If i send you a picture could u tell me. Like the truck is closing but the top wont latch on...like it went dead or something

Did anyone figure this out ? I refilled my 2008 sebring hydraulic fluid now the trunk on both sides where it is connected to the car won’t latch. I can pull the trunk up it’s not attached what happened . It worked before. All I can think of is when we released the value on the hydraulic pump something happened , we done that because the trunk was stuck open before we refilled the hydraulic fluid .....

Did you ever get it fix?

My daugther has a 2008 sebring convertible and had this problem. Drove it to dealer with rear hatch open. Dealer quated an estimate of $3000 to fix. We couldn't afford, and wouldn't pay that price to the dealer so we drove car back to my storage with hatch still open. Dealer did remove hatch panel so top would not get damaged. After looking up what infomation I could find I figured my repairing it to be a lost cause as this top is computer controled and there are numerous micro switchs, and without scan tool and reprograming computor there was nothing I could do. The best I could do was try to get hatch closed with trunk working but not have top working. I reinstalled panel dealer removed. I was going to bleed out hydrulic pump to close hatch but I did not want panel to damage top when hatch closed. I found panel had a 12v motor with cable to retrack and extend panel. There are two switches one for retract and one for extend. Panel was stuck in the middle of of its operation. I disconnected the harness located by hydrulic pump in spare tire area. I traced down the wires for the 12v motor. This motor works like a window motor and is controled by reversing polarity of Hot and Neg wires. I retracked the panel all the way to the switch using a battery charger. I reconnected harness then checked top fuction from inside vehicle with key on and to my surprise the malfunction light was off Note; I had the neg disconnected from the battery and reconnected it prior to trying top. Although malfunction light was out top still did not work. I remembered I released trunk latch to gain access to rear compartment I relocked trunk lid when tried top again and everything is working fine now. I didn't need to reprogram computor or bleed hydrulic system. Thanks for nothing dealer!!!

Roland, would you be willing to post some pictures showing how you did this? My trunk is having this issue.

Today is the 1st time it happened to me! Removed item from under 'top area guards' and got it to close. Retried operation n happened again. I remembered yesterday I closed the trunk hood using only one hand (which is usually nearly impossible for me due to weight of it) so I opened and reclosed trunk hood using two hands. Top operated normally twice so I'm hoping that was the issue. Please give a try and let me know if it works for you.

I've ben riding with my top down ...it won't go up what do I. So????? It's Ben a week u don't have shop money????

I’m having the same issue with my 2008 Sebring Convertible. Over two months ago I retracted the roof which suddenly froze about midway. On the dash window it read “Convertable Top in Operation” and it wouldn’t budge. My local mechanic told me it needed a new hydraulic motor (($800) for it to function. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to install it because he still couldn’t get the roof to retract due the onboard computer not working correctly. Of course only the Chrysler dealership had access to the computer code to release the locked position of the roof, so we had my car towed there. They first quoted us $1,500 and my mechachic was able to get them to “$900 explaining our financial hardship. They had the car for almost two weeks before it was finally “fixed”. After my mechanic installed the new motor it worked fine. For almost a month after we tested it I never used it once (due to the searing heat here in the South) and just today, I attempted to retract the roof. What happened next still baffles me: The trunk opened up and suddenly just froze. The roof didn’t retract at all and, lo and behold, the dash read “Convertible Top in Operation “. Back to square one and having paid upwards of $2,000. The kicker is the dealership declined to look at it again claiming they didn’t know how to fix it.

Hi Kevin. So if the trunk is up like that, un-latch it from the back, so it will just sort of 'float' up in the air. If you clear out the trunk and remove the spare tire underneath the floor of the trunk, you'll expose that hydraulic motor. There is a pin on the front that you can spin that will release the pressure holding the trunk up. BEFORE YOU DO THIS - make sure the trunk is re-latched all the way in the back, and BE CAREFUL. When I did it, the trunk dropped pretty fast and squished me a bit. It wasn't that heavy, but still unpleasant. This obviously doesn't FIX your top, but at least you can drive it again and pretend it's a sedan for a little.

Hi Eddie , Thanks for the long, thorough answer. I will search for the pin you mentioned, but am not certain which direction to turn it. Also I will share your message with my mechanic. Thanks!

I'm not sure which way i turned it, but it probably will only go one way. It would take a lot of strength to add more tension to the trunk being up and not much to release the pressure. Again, careful you don't get squished!

Okay Eddie, I’ll update you on any progress. Thanks again!

Eddie! I had to do this in order to get my trunk cover to go back down (hydronic was holding it up after top malfunctioned) but after releasing the pressure to get my trunk cover to close NOW it will not latch and neither will the two front patches that attaches my room (the front part near the windshield) so now my roof is closed BUT NOT LATCHED and neither is the trunk cover on each side. They all stopped working after I released pressure from hydronic pump. Help!!!!

Latches***. That attach my ROOF ***

On the right side on the underside of the trunk there is a Lil switch black switch with a very Lil arm sticking out,the arm gets stuck an dont spring back like it's suppose too,pop trunk if ya can an move switch with your finger an it clears malfunction,happen to me I knew it was something dumb an found it,there is 2 plugs there one plug goes to that switch if ya need to trace ware to switch,,no tools needed just your finger

Mine does the same thing. I watched a youtube video of the guys replacing the latching motor in the top of the windshield. Solved the problem.

I used bypass code press up 5 time fast then hold up for 2 minutes if don't work first time repeat

I have same problem. Top stops in mid retraction. Pressing the ‘down’ switch will let the top continue to fully retract but the trunk lid won’t close. Annunciation light says ‘top in operation’. It’s happened several times but I’ve found that after waiting about 20 minutes, the trunk lid will close normally. Makes me think there’s air or froth in the hydraulic fluid that eventually works it’s way out. Or, because it seems to happen when the car has been parked in the sun, could it be that the hydraulic fluid is overheating in the resevoir and changing viscosity?

I found the bypass procedure in the 2010 owners manual and it has worked for me twice now. It also sad one might have to wait up to 30 for the bypass to work. My first attempted I waited 5 minutes and the top closed. Today it closed right after I hit the up switch 5X's very quickly. My top stopped working altogether a month ago. Dealer wanted $2k to repair it. They basically told me the entire mechanical portion needed to be replaced. I bought a new up/down switch and added fluid to the pump located in the front part of the trunk. Top goes up and down fine but the deck lid won't fully close. If the bypass works every time I can have a convertible again buy I'm not sure I can trust it. Also, it seems very difficult to find an independent repair shop that works on convertible tops.

2010 soft top convertible. Top would stop mid cycle with the cover fully extended.Like mentioned before the two switches mounted underneath the trunk deck were the problem. These switches are the opposite of what you think. When they are actuated the switches are open and when they are de-actuated they are closed. So on my car the lower one when de-actuated should have been closed but was stuck actuated therefore being open.stopping the cycle. Hope this helps.

MY truck goes up and down at will............auto trunk does not work; need to use key. I was told to get a new up and down switch.........any ideas.

did anyone have an answer

Eddie - your idea of the releasing the pin by the spare tire worked like a charm after hours of trying everything!!! I wish I knew you so I could bake you a cherry pie!! Seriously - THANKYOU!

So on my 2010 Sebring convertible, when the top was up or closed the trunk would not come back down into place. I proceeded to open the roof all the way so that it was in the trunk and the trunk was closed. Then I did the five times up push “code” and held it until the roof went into place and then the trunk paused for about 15 seconds, but then to my surprise eventually closed. I have not tried to reopen it yet.

On the problem where you are putting the top up and the cycle stops after the top is up and the cover section has retracted to underneath the truck and stops. This is what I found to be the problem. There is a down limit switch for the cover (underside of the truck) if this switch or wiring are not correct the system will stop. On my 2010 soft top the down limit switch was o.k. One of the two wires for that switch is green and red. It comes from the switch and enters a wire harness going up the arm that lifts the truck on the right (pass. side) side. Follow the harness till it makes a sharp bent in front of the right gas spring. Open up that harness and you will find a near broken or broken wire that comes from the down limit switch. The wire is green and red. Repair this wire and your problems are over. The cover will come down and hit the switch and the truck will close.

The best thing to do is let the dealer put a scan tool on it and by and install the parts yourself. The biggest problem with all of these is, 1. They were manufactured by VW for DaimlerChrysler(Chrysler LLC, Fiat Chrysler) right up to the last 200 convertibles left the line in 2014. Always a problematic system. 2. They went cheap on the wiring length and material, the biggest problem is broken wires in the harness were the deck lid lifts up on the passenger side. 3. The biggest problem is the header latch motor. It fails often and the only way to lock it is to use a 1/4 inch extension and ratchet and break the plastic gear and open or close the latches. After you do this, then you can not get the motor rebuilt. 4. No one knows where the hydraulic fluid goes, but it will leak out and cause all kinds of slow and start-stop operations of the top. 5. The aftermarket has shown ZERO interest in this car other than head and tail light assemblies. If all else fails you can manually reset the top. It requires two people or one industrious individual. With the deck lip in the up or semi up/down position, you will notice two wires coming from tow cylinders on each side in the trunk area. This is the pull cables for the deck lid lock. What you do is take a needle nose pliers or screwdriver and pull that wire up slowly and evenly until it stops then pull/push the lid up and brace something between the lock and the cath to prevent it from relocking and let it down and do the same with the other side. Now, this part is tricky if by yourself as the entire deck lid is heavy, however, you can pull it back and forth till it stops and it should stay there, remove the pieces you used to prevent it from relocking and hit the switch the top should cycle up or down and complete the top sequence. Like I said earlier a dealer or competent shop with a scan tool can actuate everything on the top to find the problem either repair it or tell you what it needs. You can guess and throw money at it till your blue in the face, have it done correctly the first time.

OK I purchased a 2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible it is a cloth top here is my problem when I push the button to open the top up or down it makes a sound like something is trying to work but then it stops before I actually move up or down the top doesn’t really move and this is problematic because the top can’t be put down and it is not latching at the top of the window to secure the top shut. When pushing the trunk button nothing happens ? I’m not a mechanic but I cannot afford to pay $2000 to get it fixed any suggestions also is there anyway to manually take the top down and close the trunk lid?

My top stopped working in mid lowering. I fooled with it and I got it back up now I locked it by hand some one told me about the override gear, but with no knob or handle I used vice grips. Now I hear a motor run when I try to put it down but the top does nothing, dealer wants 2000. Or more and admitted he may not be successful. 2008 Sebring

I had the car scanned and found out the motor in bar over the windshield is bad. I found one on ebay for $150+ dollars. I went to Youtube and watched the video on how to fix it. Took one half hour to fix with two of us, easier with two to get panel back in place. The motor apparently has a limit switch in it that goes bad. I know it sounds funny that the switch over the windshield is the problem but it worked for me.

Find the motor that makes it move, where is the spare tire, hit it with an armor 2 times (not to strong or you may damage it) try to close it like you where doing it before( pressing the bottom) . Some times this little motor get stock because we don’t use it to often. Should be fine with that. If doesn’t work bring it to a place.

@GuruBYQ7W what is the part number or part name for the motor in the windshield bar. I keep coming up with wiper motors.

It is the Sebring Convertible Soft Top Latch Assembly motor. The part number probably depends on the year. I just went to ebay and typed ii in. Glad I could help. Pretty helpless when not at home and no tools and the top won't go down.

How do I release the pressure with the trunk latched? I am only 5'4" and cannot reach.