*Pop! Pop!* went my top...

[Mark_T]

I think the fuse would have tripped because of the load on the motor trying to close against a blockage.

[Overdrive]

Insite, I'll work on doing that this weekend.

In the meantime, I went out again tonight to see if the top would move. Sadly, it did not budge, and neither did the clamshell. When I hit the button, top unlatched, and e-brake up, I get a momentary noise like the mechanism is trying to operate, just a very abrupt "Tunk" but no movement. If I held down the button, every two seconds or so I'd get that 'tunk' again and again so long as I held the button down, but no movement.

[Steve Tinker]

Just be carefull - if you keep depressing the button and the fuse does not blow, you may find that the motor can strip the gears in the transmission.
Big dollars.......

[Jaxonalden]

OD,

If you do have convertible top transmission problems, a forum member, Brinks, is selling all his top stuff at reasonable prices. Here's the link to the classified section with what he has;

FS: 986 Convertible Top Parts

[insite]

and if that doesn't work out, i have a lot of that stuff lying around as well.

[Overdrive]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the offers, and I really hope I won't have to take you up on them.

So I wonder if this is something any of you have experienced or heard of before? I've heard of people saying they get motor noise but no movement when hitting the button or nasty grinding noises when hitting the button, but I'm not getting any motor noise at all, just that very abrupt noise I described above (that was the best sound effect I could come up with on a sleep deprived brain), but no movement from the top or clamshell. The windows roll down after a few seconds of the button press as they normally do when the top is in motion, so it seems like everything else is working right.

I'm going to try to get that clamshell open tonight so I can finally get a look inside the car. They'll have to be camera phone pics, as my digi cam's battery's aren't charged, but so far my camera phone pictures have shown up well on the forum.

[Spinnaker]

Overdrive, whas'up, or maybe down?
Did you figure this out yet?

[Overdrive]

Sorry I left this thread kind of abandoned, been super busy lately and haven't had time to troubleshoot.

A funny thing that happened a few days ago, Tuesday night I believe. I noticed I had one fewer light yelling at me on the dash, and it was the top warning light. I thought maybe the bulb had burned out more than the car fixing itself (fat chance of that). So to check I tried pulling my door handle on the passenger side to see if the window would do its drop for the seal, which it still did not. So, brake up, pulled the top release, windows dropped, pushed the top cycle button. Got lights dimming in the car for an instant, so power was getting drawn by the button press, but no sort of motor noise or movement of any parts. I did check the fuse, which is completely fine. Of course as soon as I unlatched the top the light came back and has stayed on, so I at least know the bulb hasn't burned out, but I did find it strange that the light turned itself off between my last drive, almost a few weeks ago, and that point earlier this week.

I have to ask again, what way, if any, is ther for me to manually raise the clamshell? I really want to get under there and look around.

As for the window, I dunno if it has to do with the car thinking the top is out of position (it is completely closed and locked, no leaking), or if the regulator decided to go at the same time as this issue. My window still works normally as far as moving up, down, and auto down, though it seems to slow a little as it reaches the top when it didn't noticeably do that before. It will not lower like it is supposed to for the seal when either door handle is pulled. I can feel the glass move a fraction of a fraction of an inch when I pull the door handles, but it will not lower at all on its own. I have to drop the window with the switch or the key trick in order to have it not rub the seal upon opening and closing. Driver's side window is without issues.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

Sorry I left this thread kind of abandoned, been super busy lately and haven't had time to troubleshoot.
.....
I have to ask again, what way, if any, is ther for me to manually raise the clamshell? I really want to get under there and look around....

...As for the window, I dunno if it has to do with the car thinking the top is out of position (it is completely closed and locked, no leaking), or if the regulator decided to go at the same time as this issue. ....

...I can feel the glass move a fraction of a fraction of an inch when I pull the door handles, but it will not lower at all on its own....

If, as you say, you can feel the glass move slightly, but not enough to clear the top frame, your window regulator is the culprit. The cable is either stretched or frayed, or one of the plastic bits through which it is routed has broken off (thereby allowing some slack). If the cable has stretched or there is some slack, the normal window drop will not occur because its motion will be "wasted" taking up the slack.

As to getting access to the convertible top's "works", here is a procedure:

First, unlatch the latch of the convertible top at the top center of the windshield frame.

To get the top to open manually, you must disconnect the white (or red if yours are original and have never been replaced) plastic cups at the base of the B-Pillar and the black hydraulic pushrods where they connect to the V-levers.

Disconnecting the white plastic cups will allow you to operate the convertible top manually.

Disconnecting the black hydraulic pushrods will allow you to operate the clamshell manually.

To have a better chance to see the parts that must be disconnected, you will have to pull aside the (vinyl) rain curtain which is all the way at the back of the convertible top well, below the rear of the frame. That curtain is loosely held in place by yet another cable that is located at the rearmost corners of the (carpet-covered) engine compartment lid (on the car body, not on the lid). That cable is held on to a small metal ball and you must pry it apart from that metal ball.

That particular connection is easy to separate, unlike the black hydraulic pushrod.

Once you have the curtain's cable separated, you may also have to remove the black plastic cosmetic covers that are simply clipped onto the arms that support the clamshell.

To access the white plastic cups, sit sideways in the driver's seat with the door open and your feet on the ground. Look down from above the side of the car (just behind where the rear quarter panel meets the rear of the door if the door were closed) and you should be able to see the white (or red) plastic cup. Pry that cup off by levering it outboard. You will nee a fat screwdriver or pry bar.

Then you will have to reach between the roll bar hoops, or possibly reach through them, to get at the connection of the hydraulic push rod to the V-lever. That connection is a real bear, so you will have to apply a great deal of pressure to separate it. Be careful not to hurt yourself there, but you just have to get the connection apart, again with the red plastic capped tool in the tool kit, a fat screwdriver or, preferably an angled screwdriver-type pry bar. I have also had success using a non-automotive tool called a cat's claw, which is usually used to pull nails.

If you absolutely cannot get the push rod disconnected from its steel ball, you can try reaching further back to locate the other end of the push rod. At that connection, the push rod has a small rod which runs perpendicular to the push rod and goes through the clamshell support arm, where is is fastened by means of a clip. If you can reach through there and press off the clip, you can pull the push rod away from the support arm. If you do that on both sides, you can pull the clamshell up manually and have access to "the works".

Once you have the various parts disconnected, DO NOT press the dashboard switch without CAREFULLY marking (and photographing) the position of the V-levers relative to the sides of the body that they are mounted on. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult to re-sychronize the V-levers.

Also, be very careful if you decide to operate your top because the push rod arms that are normally connected to the steel balls at the base of the B-pillars will be dangling from the V-levers. When they are dangling and you move the convertible top V-levers, those push rod arms can dig into the foam liner and tear it, which will cause leaks into the cabin later on. Those push rod arms can also dig in and prevent the V-levers from turning.

Regards, Maurice.

[Overdrive]

Wow, thanks for the write-up Maurice. I'll probably have to read through that a few times just to make sure I've got it all, but hopefully that will work. So am I working all from inside the car to get things disconnected and accessible? So I'll have to pull out the leather storage compartment to do so, right? I don't believe I saw that explicity mentioned, so I wanted to make sure.

As for the window, it sounds like what you're saying makes sense. I can definitely hear the window regulator trying to do what it's supposed to do, but the motion simply isn't there. Funny that the less frequently used door seems to be the one with the stretched connection. Is this something that would require replacement or can I trim off this slack in some way and reconnect it?

[schoir]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

Wow, thanks for the write-up Maurice. I'll probably have to read through that a few times just to make sure I've got it all, but hopefully that will work. So am I working all from inside the car to get things disconnected and accessible? So I'll have to pull out the leather storage compartment to do so, right? I don't believe I saw that explicity mentioned, so I wanted to make sure.

As for the window, it sounds like what you're saying makes sense. I can definitely hear the window regulator trying to do what it's supposed to do, but the motion simply isn't there. Funny that the less frequently used door seems to be the one with the stretched connection. Is this something that would require replacement or can I trim off this slack in some way and reconnect it?

You are working from inside the car, reaching through or around the roll bar hoops. If you have a leather storage compartment, removing it will give you better access.

The window regulator fix is by replacement. There is one guy on this forum who figured out a way to install a bicycle brake cable adjuster in line with the window regulator cable and that apparently worked. I could not find the post, but he posted it about 1 1/2 years ago, IIRC. He posted a photo of his fix also, and it looked like the only way to rescue a stretched cable. If your cable is frayed, that would not work. You will have to remove the door panel to verify the condition of the cable.

Regards, Maurice.

[jporter1966]

I recently had to do a slight overhaul on my top as well. I would be happy to help you if you wanna email me direct. My email is jporter1966@gmail.com.

I had an idiot light on on the dash and no movement whatsoever.. just a clicking. I have always been fairly mechanical and was able to determine what I needed and ordered parts and fixed my top. I can tell you that I was misinformed by a guy at Pelican parts and ended up ordering more than I needed. A $642 mistake.

I am certainly happy to help if I can.

jporter1966

[Overdrive]

Thanks, jporter1966! I'll be in touch.