Volvo C70, Mk1, convertible tips and trix

I own a 2003 C70 Volvo softtop convertible but at the age of 20 she got some problems with the softtop/cab. 

So this post will be some problem solving and links to information which could be handy. 

There is a private Facebook group which is active and helpful.

Our problem
When raising, open, the top it stopped after just some seconds leaving a 5 cm opening at the windshield and at the back. Here it was stuck and didn't react using the top button to close it again. With the tools, which came along with the car, I could close it again, manually, and go home. Here is a link with additional info on "how to".

At home I manually opened the top until the cover for the top apartment was fully opened and after some checking I saw that the holders for the microswitches(MS), rear lock arms, was broken. Check picture, pos 7 and at the right. Unfortunately these are not available anymore but check for used with the facebook group mentioned above.

Together with a friend, with a milling machine, we made two new ones in POM and put it all together. It worked better but the rear of the top was not pulled down by the lock arms. There was still an opening of 30 mm.

We ran out of ideas so it was time to contact some with Volvos diagnostic tool Vida. Using the tool there was a lot of error codes but all except one could be reset. Error CAB-217, which indicates that the the microswitch for the tension arm wasn't OK. Check picture pos 5 above.

There is a small lever, with a spring, which transfers the cab position to the microswitch and this spring was broken. My friend had a similar spring in "stock" so after a hour of work it was replaced.(Very fiddly due to very small space) 

Have done som quick tests an all seems to work again. Little to cold to do some extended tests.

It could be that, after the manual process of opening and closing the top, the cab button don't work at all but just use the reset procedure below and it will come to live again. 

Reset

After working with the cab you should contact a service point, with the Vida tool, but if you position the cab according to the picture, manually, it would work again when you push the cab button to finalize the closing.

Links
American owners manual.

Remark(2025-06)

For the holder we even did a redesign and a 3D print sample. The solution used a standard micro switch but was never used and now the car is sold.