Hydraulic pump automatic roof

I've just performed this operation and hope my experience may be of use to others:

Audi Cabriolet 1998 2.6e

Symptom: Roof operation noisy - much whining and mechanical noise from pump. initially 3 attempts or more to open and close with slow operation. Laterly manual assistance required to move hood and cover.

Cause: Hydraulic leak on N/S upper roof ram.

1. Removing the boot trim was a pain, looks like an exercise in using as many different fixing methods as possible. Found that removing the boot sill trim, floor (over spare wheel, and removing all the fixings gave enough leverage to pull the boot lining away far enough from the cavity surrounding the hydraulic pump unit. I cannot believe how inconvenient this is just to get to the light clusters.

2. The hydraulic unit is incredibly awkward to work in situ. I initially removed the wedge shaped cover over on top (requires a star headed driver T30, also the 2 side bolts don't need to come off completely as the wedge shaped cover has slots at the side rather than bolt holes), but failed to see the big 13mm access bolt for replacing the hydraulic fluid. Doh!

3. I found the 13mm side access port - this is astoundingly difficult to work, and I found impossible to replace without removing the rubber doorstop which acts to prevent the whole hydraulic unit knocking into it's support frame. (It's sort of on gimbals for some reason). The doorstop thing is itself a complete pig to remove and replace afterwards. My advice - use the top port!

4. Push a tea towel or something absobant under the whole assembly as there will be hydraulic fuid everywhere and you will drop the nuts, bolts or tools which are then infuriatingly difficult to fish out from underneath.

5. I adapted a calpol syringe and length of tubing from inside a spray dispenser to transfer fresh hydraulic fluid. The port on the side only allows you to fill to the minimum reservoir level before dribbling back out again.

6. I finally discovered the top port, it is a strange looking bolt with quite a long head, it sits in front of the 6 hydraulic cylinders, but is at least easy to access with a 13mm socket.

7. Using my calpol syringe I filled the reservoir whilst the roof was fully down and stowed, it took about 150ml, although this includes all the stuff I lost trying to fill via the side port.

8. The roof now operates perfectly and in silence.#

I have a replacement ram (£30 from the breakers) but will hold off fitting as I can live with the small leak currently and only use the roof on special occassions, plus my second hand replacement may be no better and again it looks like a bit of a tricky job. I've just performed this operation and hope my experience may be of use to others: Audi Cabriolet 1998 2.6e Symptom: Roof operation noisy - much whining and mechanical noise from pump. initially 3 attempts or more to open and close with slow operation. Laterly manual assistance required to move hood and cover. Cause: Hydraulic leak on N/S upper roof ram. 1. Removing the boot trim was a pain, looks like an exercise in using as many different fixing methods as possible. Found that removing the boot sill trim, floor (over spare wheel, and removing all the fixings gave enough leverage to pull the boot lining away far enough from the cavity surrounding the hydraulic pump unit. I cannot believe how inconvenient this is just to get to the light clusters. 2. The hydraulic unit is incredibly awkward to work in situ. I initially removed the wedge shaped cover over on top (requires a star headed driver T30, also the 2 side bolts don't need to come off completely as the wedge shaped cover has slots at the side rather than bolt holes), but failed to see the big 13mm access bolt for replacing the hydraulic fluid. Doh! 3. I found the 13mm side access port - this is astoundingly difficult to work, and I found impossible to replace without removing the rubber doorstop which acts to prevent the whole hydraulic unit knocking into it's support frame. (It's sort of on gimbals for some reason). The doorstop thing is itself a complete pig to remove and replace afterwards. My advice - use the top port! 4. Push a tea towel or something absobant under the whole assembly as there will be hydraulic fuid everywhere and you will drop the nuts, bolts or tools which are then infuriatingly difficult to fish out from underneath. 5. I adapted a calpol syringe and length of tubing from inside a spray dispenser to transfer fresh hydraulic fluid. The port on the side only allows you to fill to the minimum reservoir level before dribbling back out again. 6. I finally discovered the top port, it is a strange looking bolt with quite a long head, it sits in front of the 6 hydraulic cylinders, but is at least easy to access with a 13mm socket. 7. Using my calpol syringe I filled the reservoir whilst the roof was fully down and stowed, it took about 150ml, although this includes all the stuff I lost trying to fill via the side port. 8. The roof now operates perfectly and in silence.# I have a replacement ram (£30 from the breakers) but will hold off fitting as I can live with the small leak currently and only use the roof on special occassions, plus my second hand replacement may be no better and again it looks like a bit of a tricky job.