Recommendations For Targa Roof/ Hatch Electrics Glitch

The switch to release the hatchback on my Targa stopped working today and I suspected it may just be a fuse. On the way to buy some spares this afternoon I had a brainwave/ failure... I tried the sliding glass roof panel to see if that was also affected. Well, it started to initiate the move backwards and I immediately pushed the switch to close it. This only resulted in a click from the motor at the back of the hatch but no movement in the roof panel. I could continue to open it, but not move it the other way. The car manual states that you can manually close the roof using two large allen keys however, having tried, it seems to me that the allen keys will break before any movement will occur in the glass panel - seems completely immovable (there may be a special knack to initiating the movement). So now I have a very slightly open - secure but not watertight - roof and no electric control over either the hatch or roof panel either by means of the sill mounted switches or the key. I normally use Machtech at Kings Langley to service my car but I thought it would be prudent to ask here if there are other companies better suited to fiddling with electrics - rightly or wrongly I associate Machtech with the mechanical side of things. I'm based in north London, so it would be great if anyone can provide me with a strong recommendation of someone not too far away - even if this is to return to Machtech!! Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Peter

I haven't come across anyone other than an OPC that will play with the Targa roofs and ended up getting to know it pretty well myself, cheaper! Sounds like your roof may have still been slightly open when you tried to open the hatch and as a result the interlock wouldn't allow it to open. Basically only 1 or the other can be open at the same time so focus on getting the roof closed first as the hatch isn't going to work regardless until then. I've never used the allen keys so can't comment on them I'm afraid. Fuse sounds ok so it might well be nothing more than a good lube session is required to give the motor more of a chance of closing the roof. As a thought it's also worth checking the roof motor assembly hasn't in some way come loose, ie therefore not performing properly. Make sure your battery is fully charged and the engine running when you try closing the roof, takes a lot of power and runs slower when you don't have the engine running. Once you get the roof shut make sure the hatch release button hasn't got stuck down, mine did this and didn't work before. Really easy to remedy. J

Thanks for your comments J. The roof was definitely fully closed when the hatch release switch failed. It was only when I tried the roof panel switch to see if that was on the same fuse (now realise this was not the issue!) that I discovered it would only work one way - to open the roof. This was while the engine was running. Definitely not something that I will be fiddling with! Peter