Timing off on Convertible top
 

I went to put my top down today and when i did one side went down faster then the other. It twisted the top and Jamed it. When i tried to put it back up, it would only go part way. I called the Porsche deals ship and they said that the timing is off between the motors. Anyone else had this happen?

You are the first person this has ever happened to. :rolleyes:

Exact same thing happened to me, and the problem was a snapped cable. The dealership repaired it, but even thought I only had the car 2 months at the time, I was told it was not covered under warranty. I screamed and shouted (well, not quite, but I kicked up a fuss) and they agreed to repair as a goodwill gesture free of charge.

Not sure why it wasn't covered under warranty - a snapped cable is hardly wear and tear is it?

What was the cost to fix it?

An hour drive and $270 later it's fixed

WoBoxster, my friend what you have is a messed up cable....In summary what happened is that one of the cables either snapped or got loose from the housing on the to motor...It is located inside the top cavity at the rear center, you'll see two covered cables running into it from both sides....another consequence from this action is that you may have a snapped guide arm from the same side is less retracted...What happens is when the top gets un-synchronized one of the sides pull more then the other causing more stress in one side and usually that's the side that snaps....Very important to notice if this is the extent of the damage then you are ok...all you need is the cable (you can get it from any porsche recycler like Oklahoma Foreign) and maybe the broken guide, if you can get the plastic cap (some are red) even better....the procedure is rather simple to get it synchronized again...If you need help with this I can give you a step-by-step.

However if one of the sides instead of the plastic cap it's the metal ball where the cap goes that got broken. :eek: ..then my friend it's a different ball game. you will need to replace the central bar segment of the side which, for lack of a better word, It's a ******************** to replace (yes you guessed it happed to me too) because it's much more difficult to come accross this part although not impossible.... :cool:

Hi There

I think I've got the same problem, it first occurred yesterday evening, it may be a coincidence but I hit a pigeon on the way to work, it clipped the front of the roof just above the release clasp. Does the cable run across here?

It was fine the day before however when I tried to put the roof down last night the rear cover only lifted on 1 side. typically this happened just before a Bank holiday weekend and a minor heat wave. Grrrrrrrrr

Can anyone help?

Thanks
Car1tb

The wire doesn't run accros the tops where you un-hook the top. The are two cables that run down both sides of the top and go down to the transmission. It's a complicated procces to replace a wire. You have to Dismantle the transmission to attach a new wire. The wire is about $66 and it's about $140 in labor.

I was advised by a Porsche sales person that you need to watch the dash light and not the top when opening and closing the roof. When the light goes out you should remove your finger from the button immediatly otherwise the cables will continue to tighten. The newer cars have a protective stop mechanism built in but the older Boxsters will keep on winding as long as the button is pressed leading to damage. I'm not sure when that problem was fixed but it may not have been addressed until the current model year.
Of course you have to stop midway to do the "chop" so the plastic window is not damaged.

What the salesperson told you is not true, and it is not your falult for repeating what was said to you.

The top control unit makes the top motor run a second or so, to crank down the rods for the clamshell.

The switch lever was under the clamshell 1997-1999 then in 2000 with the new style top tansmissions that switch was eliminated.

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

I apoligize for passing on incorrect information. It sounded reasonable to me.

No need. At our local work on cars days we sometimes fix tops and I have taken apart the old and new style top transmissions. Then we started a special section just for this issue since the dealer can want up to $2,000 to fix a top.

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