Top stuck closed, no motor noise, p-brake light on

[eli cash]

Second update:

Put this on hold for a while because I was occupied with other things. Yesterday, though, I was waiting at the longest traffic light of my life. About 4 minutes in I decide to try to drop it and it works (of course the light turns green right when I do it). The only difference from the other times is that I had been driving the car around for most of the day.

This morning when I start it, the top will not drop. However, about 30 seconds later at the first stop sign, it does work and the top comes down. What

Anybody have any clue as to why it's working intermittently or seemingly only after the car has moved? Btw, thanks for all the responses so far.

[stateofidleness]

Just went through this recently (minus the "no motor noise"). Replaced console sensor, did the fuse and relay tap thing, replaced top latch assembly and switch, etc. Ended up buying a driver's side top transmission from a salvage car (ebay) and replaced it. Working again.

The issue is caused by a little plastic gear inside the top transmission that cracks and breaks with age. From what I read, and the way it looks physically, is that this is by design so that it acts as a first failsafe if something expensive breaks or binds. It prevents costly damage to other top parts by sacrificing a "cheap" plastic gear. The irony is that they don't sell just the plastic gear, so you have to buy the whole transmission assembly... this is why I got a salvaged unit as the new ones are $$$. Mine came with a new cable attached as well so it was a fairly straight-forward swap. Not a hard project at all.

If you're lucky, maybe your transmission and gears are just fine and it could be the cable is slipping or is no longer "catching" by the transmission. I had this issue with the new one I put in because the cable wasn't seated all the way in on both ends and therefore the transmission wasn't able to "grab" it to drive the top.

If you disconnect the cables (both sides!) from the motor in the middle (not sure what year you have, but it's different here), you can operate the top with the button and you should be able to hear the motor spin freely. Listen for inconsistent "whine" from the motor as this may indicate a failing motor.

[dghii]

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

Just went through this recently (minus the "no motor noise"). Replaced console sensor, did the fuse and relay tap thing, replaced top latch assembly and switch, etc. Ended up buying a driver's side top transmission from a salvage car (ebay) and replaced it. Working again.

The issue is caused by a little plastic gear inside the top transmission that cracks and breaks with age. From what I read, and the way it looks physically, is that this is by design so that it acts as a first failsafe if something expensive breaks or binds. It prevents costly damage to other top parts by sacrificing a "cheap" plastic gear. The irony is that they don't sell just the plastic gear, so you have to buy the whole transmission assembly... this is why I got a salvaged unit as the new ones are $$$. Mine came with a new cable attached as well so it was a fairly straight-forward swap. Not a hard project at all.

If you're lucky, maybe your transmission and gears are just fine and it could be the cable is slipping or is no longer "catching" by the transmission. I had this issue with the new one I put in because the cable wasn't seated all the way in on both ends and therefore the transmission wasn't able to "grab" it to drive the top.

If you disconnect the cables (both sides!) from the motor in the middle (not sure what year you have, but it's different here), you can operate the top with the button and you should be able to hear the motor spin freely. Listen for inconsistent "whine" from the motor as this may indicate a failing motor.

Not a transmission problem...he has no motor noise, hence nothing driving transmissions.
Pull you top control module, clean with contact cleaner and reseat firmly into fuse panel.

[eli cash]

Originally Posted by dghii

Not a transmission problem...he has no motor noise, hence nothing driving transmissions.
Pull you top control module, clean with contact cleaner and reseat firmly into fuse panel.

Can you elaborate? I think I know what you are talking about, but I'm unsure where to clean. And contact cleaner?