NHTSA Complaint #10234442 — 2007 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE SPYDER

WHEN VEHICLE IS LEFT IN AMBIENT TEMPERATURES ABOVE 85 DEGREES, ATTEMPTING TO RAISE OR LOWER THE CONVERTIBLE TOP IS SOMETIMES INTERRUPTED WHEN THE POWER TONNEAU COVER DOOR REACHES THE OPEN POSITION, RESULTING IN COMPLETE INABILITY TO COMPLETE THE OPERATION. TONNEAU COVER DOOR REMAINS LOCKED IN THE RAISED POSITION MAKING DRIVING VEHICLE IMPOSSIBLE. WHEN PULLING OVER TO RAISE TOP WITH RAIN APPROACHING, THIS BECOMES DANGEROUS, AS RAISING THE TOP TO UP AND LOCKED POSITION MUST BE DONE MANUALLY, A PROCESS THAT TAKES UPWARDS TO ABOUT 20 MINUTES. THE SENSOR SWITCH LOCATED ON THE PISTON FOR THE TONNEAU COVER DOOR IS THE PROBLEM, IT SOMETIMES SHOWS THE DOOR PARTIALLY OPENED IN WARM TEMPERATURES, GIVING A FALSE READING, STOPPING THE MOVEMENT OF THE TOP. MY CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP TWICE WITH THIS PROBLEM. IT IS HARD TO RECREATE, UNLESS THE CAR IS LEFT OUTSIDE IN HIGH TEMPERATURES. THE PISTON HAS BEEN REPLACED. THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO TSB'S FOR THIS PROBLEM, YET I AM AWARE OF AT LEAST ONE OTHER CAR, SAME MODEL AND YEAR WITH THE IDENTICAL PROBLEM THAT WAS AT THE SAME DEALERSHIP AS MINE AT THE SAME TIME. *TR