Convertible Top Struts
 

Good afternoon,

The gears in my convertible top transmission went out and I am trying to figure out what may have caused it. None of the linkage is jammed, but the dampers/struts are oily and suspect. I popped one off and tried to pull it apart, but it won't budge and looks as thought it hasn't been apart in ages. How hard should they be to pull apart?

Also, has anyone tried the hamburg tech replacement ones? OEM ones are pretty expensive.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/98756158001SETHBT.htm?pn=987-561-580-01-SET-HBT&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22208005432&gbraid =0AAAAAD_tz53cLLkaZ0FTABEBoc9y5FpkM&gclid=CjwKCAjw nN3OBhA8EiwAfpTYeoyBtegWgZRRVddGyyOYvwkzAVFW7e83Tw 4gep0XABfC7dEU4Ah9YRoC77oQAvD_BwE

Thanks!

The gears -and the red plastic pushrod ends- break because they are under excessive load by the motor as it tries to move the top. The motor encounters excessive resistance because the slider tracks are dirty. They are dirty because their lubricant grease traps and holds abrasive dirt carried in by rain water. Because their lubricant grease slider tracks are out of sight they are neglected. They get dirty, won’t slide easily, causing excessive resistance to the movement of the top mechanism, and eventually something breaks, either the plastic gears in the top transmissions or the pushrod plastic end. Solution: periodically clean and regrease the slider track and plastic slider. Broken gears and pushrods are not design failures, they are maintenance failures.

I know this (maybe) not what you want, but I was confronted with several issues with my top. I sorted everyting, opened and closed it a few times and yes, decided to opt for manual operation. I do have a plastic window, so I need to go outside anyway to help it folding right.
I did everything exactly as shown in the vid.