I have a higher-mileage Aston Martin DB9. It’s close to 70,000 miles now, and I’ve personally put about 10,000 miles on it. The car has been super solid overall with no major issues.



Recently, though, I started having a problem with the convertible top. When I try to put the roof down, it goes through almost the entire cycle normally. But right at the very end, as soon as the roof starts lowering into the storage area and the clamshell/tonneau cover begins to close, it seems like the hydraulics suddenly shut off. The clamshell then slowly drops down onto the roof without latching, and the dash displays “Roof Failure.”



At that point, it won’t let me continue the cycle or put the roof back up electronically. The only way I can recover it is by manually opening the clamshell, pulling the roof back out of the storage area, then restarting the car. After that, I can press the button and the roof will close fully.



What’s strange is that all of the hydraulics seem to function properly up until that exact moment, which makes me think it may be an electrical or sensor-related issue causing the system to abort the cycle at the last second.



I found some old service records from before I bought the car that mention:

- “Diagnosed stalled roof action and rewired tonneau lock relays due to water intrusion”

- “Diagnosed incomplete function of roof ECU due to electrical surges”



Sounds very similar to what I’m experiencing now, so I’m wondering if I may be dealing with the same issue again.



I checked the relays, and they don’t appear to be factory-original. One of the prongs also has this white cable that leads to nothing. I also tried swapping them out to see if anything changed, but I’m still having the same issue.



I’d really appreciate any input on:

- common things to check,

- whether this sounds like the same ECU/relay issue,

- or whether this is something realistically DIY-able.



Thanks in advance. Here are some photos, and a sped up video of what’s happening.