Roof stuck down :(
 

I have a 1999 986, black.

The roof won't go back up after putting it down today. The motor won't engage, as if one of the cut-out switches isn't allowing the circuit to comeplete (in my humble opinion).

This happened before, except it got stuck halfway (!). I fiddled with everything I thought might be related, and I *think* I narrowed it down to a lever/switch mounted on the rearmost section of the void that holds the folded down roof, the 'bay' that the cover in front of the boot/trunk covers. This switch has some kind of lever on it that registers the roof is up or down....maybe....?

Anyhow the previous time I'd fiddled with that a bit and it the circuit seemed to be live again and the dashboard switch, once depressed, started the roof closing again.

So back to today.....the first nice day in ages, I decide to dare to open the roof again and spray some moisture repellant spray in the switch to see if it's just got damp.

The roof closed and opened a few times today but now back at home after driving about for maybe an hour, the roof now won't budge and the red light on the dash is on saying there is an error with the....'something to do with the roof'. I have a convertible fully open and live in the UK. Not good.

I can't get to the switch now the roof is fully down....or can I?

HELP! Ideas?

roof probs
 

Happened to me this last summer and my problem was the micro switch in the parking brake - mine is a 2004. When I took it in to get fixed the tech showed me that it was possible sometimes to "jiggle" the parking brake handle around to get it to work. Another source of problems he said was the switch in the centre clasp where the roof grabs the window frame when latching.He said if you were stuck somewhere sometimes puching a pencil in there would cause the switch to work. There is a way to manually get it up.....it's in the owners manual but he suggested avoiding that if possible as sometimes things get broken. Good luck. For me my car is under a cpo warranty so Porsche picked up the tab.

Thanks.......although that's what I've had to do. I decided I had no choice but to manually dis-engage everything. The porsche manual makes it look vaguely easy to get those gas-strut-arms (whatever they are) off, but one of mine I had to use a full-size crow-bar. I don't think I've damaged anything, but I really didn't have much choice, it was stuck on fast. God knows how I'm going to get it back on!!

Anyway my roof is up, and I guess until I locate a Porsche specialist in my area (South Essex, UK) I can at least get it up and down manually.

I'll just finish this by saying to anyone who it happens to - I was ultra cautious about prising those bars off, but you have to give it some welly*. Lord alone know how some people do it from inside the car when the roof is stuck inthe UP position.

I'll be purchasing a mini-crow-bar I think to carry around with me......you gotta laugh, but it's going to be part of my Boxster toolkit now!

I formally welcome myself back into the world of proper sports-car ownership. I'm just hoping it's not going to be as painful or as costly as when I had the TVR Chimaera....surely it can't be....right? :D

*'A lot of effort'. British slang :)

roof
 

My tech said the problem was not that common but it's still a pain in the caboose. Glad it worked out for you to get the roof up.
Dave

Check the top relay located in the footwell near your fuses. This happened once to me and I simply unplugged the relay, gave it a shake, plugged it back in and it worked again.

Ok will take a look. Thanks for the tip. :)

Update...

Ok, so today I replaced the microswitch in the catch unit at the top of the windscreen - the windows were dropping when I went over bumps.

Replaced the part - and now I can get the roof motors to engage once again!

If only.......I had just replace that switch assembly in the first place, and done nothing else..... So, unfortunately, whilst trying to fix the problem, I think I've put the roof back together wrong. Or something.

Scenario: I unlatch the roof catch/lever, the windows (correctly) drop. I press the 'down' button, and the motor engages, the clam starts to open, gets about 6 inches up, then the motor starts to 'clank' like it's missing a tooth on a cog. The clam then wobbles up and down. The roof itself, doesn't move at all....
Now the interesting thing is, if you get that far, you can then manually push the roof back 3/4 of the way (like it's disconnected from the arms/motor?). At that point you need to press the button again, and the roof lowers all the way, but the clam still stays 6 inches up in the air.

When I had previously been working on the car, I loosened the 'V' arms. I can't remember why, but I did. I *suspect* that I've knocked osmething out of alignment, or left something off.....forgotten to put something back on properly....

I'm really not sure, and its impossible to see what's going on from inside the car when you're pushing the button.

Any ideas? I'm learning loads about the car, which is a good thing, at least.
I feel like I'm just inches away from having the car fully working again.......