Slow Top
 

My top started closing and opening slowly, all of a sudden. Never had a problem before. It's not making and binding noises, or struggling at all. Is this just the motor running down, or is there some kind of maintenace i should do?

Put the stopwatch on it. Should be 12 seconds.

I will when I get a chance, but it is definitely slower all of a sudden. Thanks.

A slow top can mean a voltage reduction @ the motor (low battery voltage or high resistance switch contact), a dying motor or a transmission fault.
If its a transmission going west, its big dollars.....

Transmission?

the top has 2 transmissions - one on each side. parts are around $600/ea.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/986M/POR_986M_BDYcon_pg1.htm

oh ok, thanks for the clarification.

Well now the top doesnt open at all. The passenger side of the rear clamshell doesn't rise at all. The driver side goes up normally, but the otherside stays down.

don't mess with it!
 

You have a broken cable on the side that isn't moving.

You need to get your convertible top and clam shell disconnected from the top mechanism and then replace the cable. Each cable is about $30 and not that difficult to replace.

There are lots of threads with instructions for fixing top mechanisms.

What year is your car?

Is the top currently up or down? It is much easier to disconnect if it is down.

You can use your top manually while you assess your repair.

1999 and the top is up. It seems hard to get to anything with the top up. Thanks.

Whatever you do, DON'T TRY TO POWER THE TOP DOWN. You will damage the linkages and possibly bend the tracks.

You need to disconnect the transmission links. First you need to be able to get at them. If you look between the outboard side of the seats and the body, you will see either red (original) or white (newer) ball sockets. You can pop these off with a screw driver. Next, you need to reach in by the fabric and find the plastic coated wire cables (one on each side) that hold the bottom edge of the convertible top in place. Follow them down and you will come to another small ball socket which you can pop off by hand. Now you should be able to move the top out of the way and get to the transmission links that hold the clamshell.

Whatever you do, DO NOT remove the screw that holds the metal link together on the slotted hole. This length is set at the factory and is a PITA to adjust correctly. Just remove it at the ends where it attaches to the transmission.

Once you've done this you should be able to raise the clamshell by hand and gain access to the motor.

I've read DIYs where you can fix the cable without replacing if it has broken at the motor end. It involves cutting the sheath shorter and exposing the un-unraveled end of the wire cable ( you will know what I mean when you see it ).

Thanks, I really appreciate the help. I got the small ball socket disconnected, however I don't see any red or white larger ball socket. I see a black one connected
to something on a wheel. It is the only other socket I see, is this the one to disconnect? It is very hard to see anything in there? thanks.

Top is up and clamshell is stuck down, so the red/white ball socket is not accessible. Don't see how I could get to it. I will try the other push rod.

The large black ball joint won't come loose with the Porsche tool. I'll have to try a crowbar if I can get it in there. They don't make it easy do they?