Soft Tops not working - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

surfer33 · 04-03-2006, 05:39 PM

I drove my 97 Boxster with the top down home today, but the top failed to operate to close after I arrived home.

Any clue? If there it is a mechanical failure, any experience how expensive to fix?

Thanks!

RandallNeighbour · 04-03-2006, 07:03 PM

Did you have the parking brake on? It requires that to be on to operate. The brake light must illuminate on the dash too or the microswitch might be out if it's engaged and the light on the dash is out.

Where in Texas do you live, anyway? There are forum members in Texas that might be able to help you if you live close to them.

Perfectlap · 04-04-2006, 06:34 AM

my top wouldn't come down. Checked the fuse (2nd row #6 I think) fuse was fine. Then I checked the big relay block (next to the fuse box) and pushed on it to make sure it wasn't coming loose. That did the trick.
Last year I had to replace the parking brake switch a $4 part. Unfortunately the dealership charged me $90 to diagnose it

Finallygottaporsche · 04-04-2006, 07:01 AM

My 99 wouldnt go back up sometimes. after checking the parking brake i got it up by helping it with one finger. it just needed a little encouragement. i called my service advisor and he said he had never heard of that. i quickly traded for a newer boxster before it got worse.

deliriousga · 04-04-2006, 09:11 AM

Go with the simple things like Randall and PerfectLap said. Check the parking brake then fuse(s) then the relay before going to the big stuff. If you pull your relay and put it back in and it still does not work, see if you can find someone nearby with a Boxster who will let you swap the relays to test before you buy a new one.

Good luck!

surfer33 · 04-04-2006, 05:03 PM

Thanks to all your valuable inputs, it was indeed the hand brake! I have to pull up and down on the hand brake until the parking like is lit. After that, the top works as usual.

Thanks!

deliriousga · 04-04-2006, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfer33

Thanks to all your valuable inputs, it was indeed the hand brake! I have to pull up and down on the hand brake until the parking like is lit. After that, the top works as usual.

Thanks!

Sounds like your safety switch is going out. You'll need to fix that or do the hack to the relay so the brake does not have to be on to operate the top.