1999 986 - top issue

[mach_y]

Hello! I am having an issue with my version A soft top, hoping for some help. My issue is that if I put the top completely up, it then won’t go change direction to be able to close it. The motor sounds like it is trying, but almost like it has a harder and harder time. What seems really odd is the sound seems the same regardless of which direction I push the switch to open or close. So far I have tried the following:
- remove the cables from the drive motor, and using a drill, get it to slowly close each side.
- once I have manually closed it part way, I took off the drive bolts on each transmission, and used the drill to align each transmission on the alignment marks.
- then reinstall the levers and drive bolt, and reinstall the drive cables in the motor.
- at that point, I can use the switch to make the top go in either direction.
- but, if I close the top completely, it does not automatically stop once it gets to the fully closed position, and at that point it is now stuck and won’t open (back to the start of this issue).

So since when the top is not fully opened or closed, the top works as it should, I am guessing that all of these parts are working:
Double relay, transmissions, drive cables, motors, fuses, dash switch, parking brake microswitch.

Could this be caused by one or more of the microswitches on top of the drive motor, in the b pillar, or up front where the latch closes being bad?

Thanks!

[986andmx5]

I wish I could help you there, but I am unsure. FWIW, I converted my top to manual after I ran into different issues and would not go back.

[alexc0814]

I also changed mine to manual after my transmission shredded its gears. I wouldn't do it to a fully functioning top, but imo it is not worth putting any money or time into the top mechanism when it's so easy to operate the top manually.

[LoneWolfGal]

It's true that the top is easy to raise and lower manually, and that's nice in a pinch, but if the mechanism was malfunctioning it would bug me no end until I fixed it. Ditto everything else on my 986. A friend of mine laughingly calls that an obsessive-compulsive disorder. If so, I channel it into constructive pursuits. And my friend's car could use some attention.