Convertible Question

oneshot0kills · Jan 14, 2010

Has anyone disconnected the safety feature on the convertible switch where you have to pull the e brake? I have looked through my repair manual and have found nothing on the switch or e brake. I want to disconnect it so I can quickly put the top down at a stop light.

CC'S95GT · Jan 14, 2010

Does the e brake handle have to be all the way up or just up 1 click? IDK I don't have a vert.

oneshot0kills · Jan 15, 2010

I am not sure. I just yank it up real quick to put the top up or down. Is a little agrivating sometimes.

joekd · Jan 15, 2010

You just need to click enough for the light to come one, I would be worried about hitting the switch if you disconnected the safety

CanaryGT · Jan 16, 2010

Its possible. But keep in mind that if something ever happens and you go to claim damages your insurance company doesn't have to cover you. If you illegally modify your car you run the risk of not being covered.

ttocs · Jan 16, 2010

I don't think you will find anything in your manual, or in any ford manuals on how to bypass the safety points the engineers installed. Google might be yer friend her but.......

eliyarbrough · Jan 17, 2010

I put my top up or down @ the red light a lot. I just lift up my E-brake maybe 1/2 an inch? Just to engage it.

Drivesfords · Jan 29, 2010

joekd said:
You just need to click enough for the light to come one, I would be worried about hitting the switch if you disconnected the safety

correct... all it takes is the light to come and it will operate

Echo · Dec 21, 2012

I'm interested in this one too. You don't need to lift the E-brake far, but it can be annoying. I have a faulty switch that can be finicky about when ti wants to work, and I find myself stabbing at the button infrustration thinking ti's the switch again, only to realize I forgot to lift the E-brake. Anyone know how to bypass this?

rz5.0 · Dec 21, 2012

When you pull your center console. Its a small switch on the back side of it. Mine gets stuck all the time.. You will see it.. It was a long time but If remember when I tried to bypass mine the brake light stayed on.. It was like 4 years ago when I messed with mine so I want to say that's what happened.

joekd · Dec 21, 2012

Get out the multimeter, pull out the vert top switch, there should be one wire that only gets power when your brake light is on, switch that one with one getting 12V power anytime the car is running, done

I can't help you with actual wire colors since I wouldn't want to do this mod at all on my own car. Maybe it would be easier just to replace the switch?

ttocs · Dec 21, 2012

I have my consol out now and I think its a black wire that goes to it. The wire will show ground on it when it is pulled up all you really need to do is to install a small switch with one side to ground, the other side to that wire and it should work as normal when both are pushed. Could even wire up a relay to do it when you normally push the top button if you wanted too.

carbuff · Dec 26, 2012

This seems like something I might do in the spring. Ive owned lots of convertibles and this car is the first one with that feature. My fox didnt have it either. Is it the ground or the power that gets cut from the top switch when the ebrake is off? If ground, it would be easy to just cut the ground wire to the switch and screw it down to permanent ground.

Echo · Jan 9, 2013

ttocs said:
I have my consol out now and I think its a black wire that goes to it. The wire will show ground on it when it is pulled up all you really need to do is to install a small switch with one side to ground, the other side to that wire and it should work as normal when both are pushed. Could even wire up a relay to do it when you normally push the top button if you wanted too.

So for the layman(me), find out which wire gets power only when the e-brake is up, then run that wire from the switch, to metal anywhere on the car frame? Or am I way off target on my understanding of this?

carbuff · Jan 10, 2013

Echo said:
So for the layman(me), find out which wire gets power only when the e-brake is up, then run that wire from the switch, to metal anywhere on the car frame? Or am I way off target on my understanding of this?

Thats why I asked the question I did. If its power that gets cut then. no you dont want to ground that circuit. But if its the ground that gets cut, then yes that would be how you would bypass the ebrake,by grounding that wire from the switch after cutting it. I still have not looked into this yet as my car is still under cover for the winter. I have to track down a power top circuit diagram for this car.

belber095 · Jan 10, 2013

seems like a risky thing to do because of insurance. I just use two hands at a stop light and have the hooks undone as I come to a stop. I can get it down in like 10 seconds total

Slykin · Jan 10, 2013

Just pull the console off. In there is a button/switch that either needs to be pressed/depressed in order for the e-brake light to come on. If you can, wrap it in duct tape or unhook the switch where it's not being touched depending on if it needs pressed or depressed. This will leave your e-brake light on all the time though.. which, if you don't mind being ghetto you can remove the bulb from your cluster in under 15 min. That's the redneck way to do it. I just used to pull it down at a stoplight real quick.

Echo · Jan 10, 2013

carbuff said:
Thats why I asked the question I did. If its power that gets cut then. no you dont want to ground that circuit. But if its the ground that gets cut, then yes that would be how you would bypass the ebrake,by grounding that wire from the switch after cutting it. I still have not looked into this yet as my car is still under cover for the winter. I have to track down a power top circuit diagram for this car.

Ah, I see. Guess I'll keep lurking until someone can find that one out. How can you differentiate between a ground wire and power wire? I could take my console out later today and look into it if a multimeter isn't needed. If it is, that's on my list of things to buy so I'd have to wait if I need one.

Slykin said:
Just pull the console off. In there is a button/switch that either needs to be pressed/depressed in order for the e-brake light to come on. If you can, wrap it in duct tape or unhook the switch where it's not being touched depending on if it needs pressed or depressed. This will leave your e-brake light on all the time though.. which, if you don't mind being ghetto you can remove the bulb from your cluster in under 15 min. That's the redneck way to do it. I just used to pull it down at a stoplight real quick.

That may be a decent temporary work around in my case. My e-brake light is always on anyway, so I might just go pull the bulb out reguardless. (Pretty sure it's a faulty sensor.)

Belb, not really worried about the insurance issue. I don't think they would bother to go checking if the e-brake has to be up to put the top down. When I got insured they just walked around the car once and were happy.