convertable push rods

[hangout]

Hi All,

It's a nice day today, after I washed my baby, I opened half way the top and trying to clean up the rear window. after that the top couldn't come back. I've tried few times then I heard a crack sound. The top come down and the cover panel stayed in the air like a big spoiler till now. I found the driver side runs good but the passenager side stays. I looked through that area, I found a broken part in there; it's a red color half ball shape plastic part. I think it called push rod. maybe it's the reason the right side doesn't work.
Is there any one who can tell me where I can order this push rod asap? how much will it cost? is it hard to fix? Please let me know.

Thank you
Richard

p.s I copied a picture from other member, try to show where the part is.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/xviigurl66/arm-right.jpg

[Grizzly]

Dude, do yourself one favor and stop running that thing or messing with it until you put it back together correctly. You're going to bend any number of expensive parts. Trust me!!!

You can get the part you want from the dealer, or you can get a metal version from Paragon. www.********************************************************************.com. I bought the metal ones hoping they would never break again. There is another argument though, that they were made out of plastic on purpose so that they would fail first and keep other expensive stuff from failing instead. Your call.

Now that you've had problems, it's not just as simple as replacing the push rod end and everything is O.K. By running the top while one end has been disconnected, the two transmissions are now out of time and must be retimed (is that a word?).

I wrote about how to do it once after mine got really screwed up. Let me find the thread and I'll get right back to you.

[Grizzly]

O.K., I'm far too much of a computer illiterate to direct you to the correct thread, so I copied it instead. Here it is. Good luck!


I actually got my car back together last night so I thought I'd get back to you. The idea to tape around the threads on the pushrods and install the new ones at the same place didn't work with the metal ends because they don't screw down as far as the plastic ones did. What I did was screw them down until they bottomed and then backed them off about a quarter turn until the sockets were facing in the right direction (about eight threads were showing). Then I stood the pushrods up and measured them to make certain they were exactly the same height (they're adjustable).

Now let me try to explain what I did next, because I think it may be your problem...


I timed the transmissions to be at the exact same place at the exact same time. To do this, you'll have to disconnect all of the pushrods from the transmissions, both the top pushers and the boot pushers. REMEMBER WHAT POSITIONS THE Vs (legs on the transmission that operate the pushers) WERE IN AND WHAT POSITION THE TOP AND BOOT WERE IN WHEN YOU STARTED!!! If you get it back together upside down, the top will cycle backwards. Don't ask me how I know this.

With everything disconnected, run the top motor until one of the the legs of the V is parallel to the floor. Get it exactly level using a ball level. Keep bumping the top motor until you have it perfect. Now go to the other side of the car and check the other side. If the leg on the other side is perfectly level also, you're good to go. If not, disconnect the cable from the motor and use an electric drill to spin the cable until that leg is perfectly level as well.

Once both sides are parallel, the transmissions are perfectly timed. Run the top motor until the transmissions are back where you started and re-assemble everything.

This procedure is a little hard to explain, but it wasn't hard to do.

[Grizzly]

Hey, I sent you a PM, but here's the other post about the cables. You definitely want to check these out to ensure that they're not your problem.


What happens is that over the years, the heat from the engine actually causes the plastic cable sheathing to lengthen. When it does, it pulls the steel cable out of the top motor.

You can fix this two ways:

1) You can buy the new and improved cables from Porsche and pop them in ($30.00 I think).

2) You can remove the ends of the cables from the motor and then remove the bright metal ends from the cables (you'll need two pair of pliers to pull the ends off). Then, with a pair of wire strippers or a razor blade, whatever, trim the plastic sheathing back so that 3/4" of metal cable will protrude once you reinstall the bright metal cable end. Stick the cable back into the motor and you're done (for free). By the way, it won't happen again. Your cables have expanded all they're gonna expand.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

Hey, I sent you a PM, but here's the other post about the cables. You definitely want to check these out to ensure that they're not you problem.


What happens is that over the years, the heat from the engine actually causes the plastic cable sheathing to lengthen. When it does, it pulls the steel cable out of the top motor.

You can fix this two ways:

1) You can buy the new and improved cables from Porsche and pop them in ($30.00 I think).

2) You can remove the ends of the cables from the motor and then remove the bright metal ends from the cables (you'll need two pair of pliers to pull the ends off). Then, with a pair of wire strippers or a razor blade, whatever, trim the plastic sheathing back so that 3/4" of metal cable will protrude once you reinstall the bright metal cable end. Stick the cable back into the motor and you're done (for free). By the way, it won't happen again. Your cables have expanded all they're gonna expand.

Hi,

Uh this is good information, but it refers to the transmission cables for the power top operation, not the tension cables with the ball-sockets. Still, good info...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Grizzly]

Thanks Jim,

You're right, the second response is about the cables. I'm talking about two different things because we're also exchanging PMs. It's a little confusing if you can't see all of the messages. Sorry about that.