Yeah, the gear ratio in the transmission is astronomical. Running the cable with a cordless drill is sloooowwwww - makes you realize that the top motor is really whizzing right along. Save yourself a lot of hassle and just remove the boomerangs and covers on both sides, put the boomerangs back, and then line them up to the timing marks with the drill.

I have seen one mark on the transmission.

Mine had 4 hash marks on the aluminum case, corresponding to the outline of the boomerang.

Looks like i have one mark on the one i removed. I probably wont get to putting it back together until the weekend. Thanks a lot, i appreciate the help!

at least it will give you a reference. Having both levers in the same position is critical, not which position they happen to be. The links are long and even small misalignments make the top/cover come down crooked.

The level works. Don't make this difficult!
 

Honestly...use the level to get the two arms in the same position (or very close) and then connect the clamshell, lower the thing and check your alignment. You'll see once you start this that it is not magic. Just play with it a bit and you'll see.

I've done two boxsters this way and have not spent more than 15 minutes getting things lined up after starting with the level.

Well, i had it fixed. The top went up and down twice and seemed to close perfectly,
Then the otherside got stuck closed. I had to disconnect the other side to get the top
To close. I may have something else going on, i dont know. Next weekend Im going to take both sides apart and start over...

describe exactly how it happens when it gets stuck.

i had a similar issue to this. what would happen is this:

1) open the top (all is well)

2) try to close the top, but it would seem like the motor was trying to close it more instead of open it

3) stuck.

the culprit? there is a microswitch behind the driver's door that tells the convertible top motor to switch directions after the clamshell cycles. if it goes bad, the motor won't switch directions & the clamshell will get stuck.

Yeah, but he is saying it is one side stuck, not a failure to move at all.... Since it is a common motor driving the cables, it shouldn't be the microswitch.

I am wondering if the other side cable broke now because it had to work extra hard the last few times I tried to opened it when the passenger side cable was broken. I guess I'll buy another cable anyway and install a new one on that side too sync them up and try again. If that doesn't work, I'll look into everything else. Weird. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Insite may have a point though - if the microswitch is failing then perhaps it tried to drive the top in the wrong direction and broke your cable...

Well the cable was broken on the otherside. And it turns out the original side i was having trouble with was off the track. I took both sides off, lined up the marks on the transmissions, installed the new cable, adjusted the microswitch so it matched the other side and now it works perfectly. Kind of an adventure, but Im glad it's working.

Thanks a lot! I couldn't have done it without help from you guys.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1467061492.jpg
Is this the clip you are talking about? I'm having the same problem just new to the Porsche world and not a gearhead

Yes,that would be the clip

Reconnecting Conv. Top Strut
 

I was able to disconnect the top strut to release the tension to get my top down finally. Can anyone tell me now how to reconnect it? It seems impossible to stretch out to reconnect. Thanks for your help.

It doesn't stretch out. The other parts move to line things up.

Thanks Bfeller,
Does that mean that I need to disconnect parts such as the boomerang, fit it to the strut and then find a way to then fit the boomerang? Is there some where I can find out diagram, or step by step process?
Thanks for your help

You should find the attached useful to set up the transmissions properly.

Porsche Boxster Convertible Top Repair - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article

And another set of pages with good instructions:

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/thetop-itsmaintaince%26replacement

it has not been said here for a while - but the 101 projects for your Boxster Box is a great reference.

+1 on 101 Projects, saved me tons of time and $$$$.