Soft top failure - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

paultither · 04-09-2008, 02:22 AM

Hi guys,

I've had my hardtop of over winter and now the weather is getting a little better I decided to take it off. When I tried the soft top it seized up and wouldnt move.

I took it to my local mechanic who told me that its likely the relay switch needs replacing. Does anyone know what sort of work this involves? Is it a DIY job?

Tool Pants · 04-09-2008, 02:27 AM

Start the car and pull up on your emergency brake lever. Does the warning light come on?

paultither · 04-09-2008, 02:41 AM

Yes it does. I've heard this is a common problem, but unfortunatly doesn't seem to be the solution!

Tool Pants · 04-09-2008, 03:12 AM

I assume when you say seized up you cannot hear the top electrical motor working, so no power is getting to the motor or the motor is bad.

Remove the relay for the top motor, give it a tap, and put it back in. The relay tray is under the dash below the steering wheel. The relay is black and twice the size of the other relays, so it is easy to spot. Bettery yet, find a 1997-1999 and swap relays.

paultither · 04-09-2008, 03:21 AM

Will do, I'll post back with updates.

Lil bastard · 04-09-2008, 05:32 AM

Also a likely culprit is the microswitch located in the hole for the Top latch on the windshield header (which is what I'm betting on). This switch gets stuck and disables the motor drive for the Top.

Take a small, non-conductable rod or stick and push it in and out of the opening for the Top Latch to work the switch free. It could take several goes to be sure it's loose. You may also be able to hear it click. See if that doesn't get you going.

paultither · 04-09-2008, 10:48 AM

I cleaned the relay and made sure the microswitch above the wind shield was working then gave it a try.

I pressed and held the switch as usual and the roof cover (the rear hatch) opened but the roof didn't move. I could hear the motor working.

The roof stopped, as though it had completed the cycle and I heard a loud clunkin and clicking noise, from the left side of the car coming from behind me.

I pressed and held the open button but the clunk could be heard again and neither the roof or roof cover moved.

I have tried to open the roof cover manually but can only get it half way. Not giving me enough room to pull the roof up manually.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Tool Pants · 04-10-2008, 07:12 AM

Now that you have power to the roof motor you have a mechanical problem. In a prior message you said you have a 1997, and 1997-1999 have problems with the roof operation.

Renntech has a special section just for this. Check out the 10 pages for the problem areas.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showforum=46

paultither · 04-11-2008, 12:14 AM

Thanks for the info guys. I've managed to get the roof up manually. The thing is, I did all that work with the windows down. I went to start up the car this morning and tried the windows (in order to put them up) and they did nothing!

If you press the up switch there is no noise, if I press down I can hear the clicking noise you get when you reach the windows extents. What going on?!