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

[Overdrive]

Well, I had a genius (read, EXTREME sarcasm) moment this past Friday. I was leaving work, lunch bag in one hand, phone in the other. When I reached my car I did something I never do and placed my lunch bag on the roof while I finished fiddling with my phone (so you can pretty much see where this is going). I won't kill your eyes with a novel, short version of it is that my lunch bag fell (without making a sound) under the clamshell and stopped the clamshell from fully closing. Figuring I'd raise the top back up and see what was up, the bag still there, the top came back up fully but the clamshell still did not close all the way (not known to me yet) and I heard a *POP! POP* and all movement and noise stopped, the idiot light (quite relevant ) on the dash still lit.

For those who care for any details: Again, me being the genius that I am, didn't bother to get out of the car and look to see what was up immediately, I just figured "ok, at least the top came all the way forward before that happened", so I closed the top and started my drive home. I look in my mirror about 2 miles from home and see the slightest bit of body color in my window. Look in the driver's side mirror, and see the clamshell is not down. So I figure "ok, something came out of adjustment and the safety pieces I've heard about broke to spare the top frame...joy." Then I happen to look in my passenger footwell and notice my lunch bag isn't there like it always is. So I start thinking "crap, did I drive off and it's sitting in the parking lot at work or on the edge of the highw.....aw, hell". Light bulb. Pulled off on a side road, got out, and saw the lunch bag (containing two plastic bottles and a sammich) trapped under my clamshell. I had to pry the clamshell up a bit to be able to muscle out the bag since the button on the dash now did nothing, but I did get it out and the clamshell edge went right down. Drove the rest of the way home and she's been in the driveway and braved the leftovers of the hurricane that came my way.

So, 3 things, I guess, that I need to know:

1. With the top broken in some unknown way at this point, what do I do to get it into the service position manually to observe what damage, if any, I've done?

2. Is the car driveable as is? I did drive it home with the top up and latched, but the light on the dash was still lit. Also, I've noticed that the passenger window no longer lowers when the handle is pulled, unsure if it just decided to go at the same time or has to do with the car thinking the top is out of position.

3. Most importantly, what & where exactly are the parts that I've heard about that break to protect the top from damage? And if those are indeed all that I broke, what sort of cost and work am I lookin at to make those repairs?

I figure I'm likely to answer my first question when I fish out the manual from the car, but any and all information and further questions members on here can provide will be greatly appreciated. No need to bust my chops, though, I've been doing that to myself since Friday afternoon, just looking for help. And for those who might be curious, the sandwich was still quite good, just kinda flattened out on one half. Thank you in advance for the guidance!

[Jaxonalden]

Your top is balanced very well. Unlocking the latch will allow it to go down so be careful. Right behind the seats, outboard on both sides are 10" arms that have plastic cups on each end. These cups breaking is what you heard "POP'!, and they are now NOT hooked to your top. They're easy to replace ($100 a pair used) and you should be on your way. I've broke mine twice. Once my wife was dropping the top on the move and reversed it mid-way through the sequence...POP went the top.

[Steve Tinker]

Ooops - Jaxonalden just pipped me.....But here goes anyway.

Sounds like you have had an intersting weekend....I hope the sanger didn't have a soft filling
The popping was the plastic ball joints on the control rods breaking off. The originals (white coloured) are weak & have been superceded by updated (red) ones.
I thinke there are a couple of "how to" install new ball joints if you use the search function.

June this year I was opening my roof, about halfway down I heard one pop (not two like you) and noticed the roof opening skewed over. I tried closing the roof with the dash switch but only one side closed - the drivers side (RHS here in Oz) just sat there.
Long story short, looked in the manual and it describes that to get the roof safely stowed, you have to prize off the ball joint on each side with the special tool in the toolkit.
The downside is that there is a possibility to damage the clamshell paintwork when popping off the ball joints as the clam is in tension - you really need 2 pairs of hands to do it safely I think. My wife wasn't up to having trapped pinkies so I rang the OPC and asked for guidance - they recommended 2 people to reinstall and re-align everything up.
But it was possible to drive the car (~75 miles to the OPC) if I wanted to for them to replace the ball joints/rods etc and to realign & tension the roof.

So I folded (call me weak, but possible repainting the clamshell + roof repairs = wifes skinned knuckles were staring me in the face) & took it to the OPC for the repairs.
I won't scare you with the bill because $$ costs in Australia are about 2 - 3 times what you guys pay....

But I will say that the car is a lot quieter at high speed since the roof was retensioned.

[Paul]

Sometimes the locking clips pop off the arms and immediately fall into the drains.

[Overdrive]

Ok, I think I know what parts you guys are referring to, but I better ask just to make sure. When I changed out a few items in the engine bay last month I had to pop off these two ball joints caps connected to a couple of tension cables as I was working on getting the top in service position. Are these what you guys are referring to? Mine looked & felt like they were made of metal though, silver-ish in color rather than white or red.

Or am I mistaken there and there's a different component in the same area that has these white ball joint caps?

[Jaxonalden]

No bro, Those are just cables that hold the back of the top down. The arms we're talking about are connected to the convertable top transmission and the top itself. If your standing next to the car just behind the drivers/passengers seat and facing the car you can put your hand down inside the pocket that the top folds into. Down there you'll find your rods, make sure to get all the pieces out because they can clog your water drain holes. Replacing is easy, you just need a 10mm wrench.

Wish you lived closer, I'd come over and swap them out for you.

[Mark_T]

" The originals (white coloured) are weak & have been superceded by updated (red) ones."

Other way around actually - the originals are red. You don't have to buy the whole arm. I have a contact to just get the plastic cups, about $40 for the pair if I remember correctly. Pm me if you want the contact info. I'll look it up when I get home from work.

next pic: Boxster with some guy's lunch jammed under the clamshell

[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.