Convertible top transmission grease
 

Hi all,

I'm in the process of fixing my broken convertible top. It's my first DIY mechanical project ever. I searched the forum for quite some time, but couldn't find an answer so I could use some help.

After a lot of reading online, I managed to identify the top transmission gear as the culprit. After removing the transmission, I confirmed that the left-side plastic gear was completely broken, and the right-side one was heavily cracked. I'm going to replace both.

This leads me to my question - I noticed the transmission is greased, thus I'll be cleaning the old grease and applying a new one. Does it matter which grease is used? I see so many types in stores and am not sure if there's a difference between them.

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone who's done it before would share what they used.

Additionally, while everything is dissembled, are there any other common issues I should look for? I'd like to avoid the situation in which I build it back up just to discover there's something else wrong with it.

Thanks!

Here is a "how to". They used wheel bearing grease but I'm sure white lithium grease could be used too. I believe there is someone that makes metal replacement gears too.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/BODY_Convertible_Top_Gear_Replacement/BODY_Convertible_Top_Gear_Replacement.htm

Thank you! Very useful information! :cheers:

Don't buy the metal replacemebt gears, they grind. There are plastic aftermarket gears that fits on the steel hub of the original gear for lik $30. Those work pretty well. I used the Lucas "Red tacky", the first one I took off the shelf. Been working fine ever since.

Yea, I heard that about metal gears. I was actually explained by an engineer friend that this is a typical fail point design, in which Porsche almost forces the plastic gear to fail in order to protect the rest of the mechanism. Pretty clever.