shojitsu

Chris, Thanks your thorough suggestions. sorry about late reply - my computer fritzed on me and i had to replace hard drive and load everything up... It happens on any music source (radio/am/fm/cd) and i will check if it affects door speaker, but as they're subs, i mostly notice it on the deck speaker as its a high end whine. I suspect its wires not grounded propertly and i had a go checking the speaker wire and wires coming out of the deck. (i'll let you know the deck model). The problem with this is that it's not always whining so It's hard to get a workable time when the whine is there to check and jiggle specific wires. (when it happens i would have to pull over and have a look). I will at least swap the speakers which would narrow whether this is a matter affecting speaker connections. If its the grounding, do you know a way to safely ground the speaker or deck seperately and additionally (from what may be there already)? Meantime, would you know how i can find out the wire layout between the amp and left speakers? (and how to get access to them?) regards.

i have a 1998 boxster with original stereo and speakers. i have recently been getting a static 'noise' coming from my left speaker only and after a while the music cuts well out (not completely but 'dims' volume on this speaker) and you mostly hear the static. if i turn off the stereo and rev the engine, it almost always disappears for a while until it picks up again. i would assume it is something to do with the shielding or grounding of the left speaker/wires, as it does not affect the right speakers. if anyone knows how to resolve this, i would really appreciate it.

mark, forgot all about the word doc... all the diagrams and items are there. will check the items and let u know how it's turned out. tks. ;)

toolpants + poobah + others, i'm still at it... after replacing the cables, i'm not able to get the top to register its closed. the gears has gone off the transmission several times now so i'm quite used to getting it back on the transmission again and syncing... but sometimes i get the top to register its closed and the light on dash goes off and other times not... when it doesn't, inevitably the gear comes off the transmission. i don't know what i'm doing differently to get these inconsistent results. i read poobah's fix to his problem and wonder if it's the B-pillar microswitch, but i don't know what this looks like. (i took a picture of a switch/socket behind the left rollbar but i the file size was too big to post. i can't see how it runs to the convertible top frame and don't see the the thin flexible metal switch so i doubt this is it (and this looks more like a power socket - for rear defogger or other??) maybe more trial and error... :huh:

steve, to remove the worm gear i tried the following: -remove the plastic tip from the worm gear. (it shld slide off) -pull the worm gear and cable away from the housing (say 6inches) so that no plastic pieces are near the worm gear - wipe off any grease fm the area - hold the cable with pliers n heat the worm gear end only so that it expands first before the cable. (i used my gas cooker) - it gets very hot so use yr oven mitts and simply pull the worm gear off the cable. - replace with new cable/housing after you've added the inner white plastic ring/plate thing n run it under cold water so the worm gear contracts around the cable again. place the plastic tip back on before assembling into transmission. - don't get burned! i hv a 98 boxster n just replaced the cables. the new cables ARE longer (by abt 1inch) which means it doesn't hv the same straight run from motor to transmission - it has more bends but it seems to operate the same. (i feel this is something porsche should check/change as the cables should turn more smoothly if it runs in a straight line- less friction on the cables inside if straighter). fyg, i'm still fiddling with the top as the motor is not stopping when the clamshell closes. i've had the gear jump off the transmission a couple of times and sometimes it works fine when i've run the gears back on and sometimes not.

hello again. right... after a 2week delay/distraction, i've finally mananged some time for this. after much difficulty and contortion getting to the clips thru the rollbars, i was able to bend back the clips and slide them off. on the right side, the arm shot off immediately, and on the left side, the arm had to be tapped but came off as if under some tension... i wonder if this was a somewhat dangerous (to me) method as the arms seemed to hv been under pressure. (i removed only the upper/bronze clips as suggested) anyway, both arms are completely off and sitting aside until repairs completed. the clamshell is sliding freely manually open/close, and the dustcover has been lifted for clearer access! :D 1. checked top cable wire/ferule protusion and both abt 3/4 inch so both ok on the roof end. will replace cable housing with new strengthenend versions anyways. (blve this is parts number is 986-561-717 03 universal). 2. one side red plastic balljoint for top was broken off. other side was ok until i tried to lift the top electrically and then it also broke suddenly. so these arms need replacement. (wld u know the parts number for these?) 3. both side motors/transmissions sound like they're working but only the left side v-arm is rotating so believe on the right side the cable has come off it's gear (as earlier suggested). perhaps too much tension on this side during closing and it not only broke off the ball joint but also snapped gear out of position). am now trying to remove the transmission but need another socket wrench for the 3 outside bolts as they're quite tight to get to and current wrench arm too deep. once the transmission is off, i intend to open it up and hopefully it's just a matter of positioning the gears back into place) so at the moment, the clamshell is bouncing freely and held down only by it's own weight. not too happy abt bouncing shell during driving but anycase, i can now manually move the top up/down as there is no mechanics connected to it. the process i'm looking at now is to take the transmission off and see if the cable has come off the gears. if this is the case, then problem seems clear and just a matter of replacing both cable housing and setting them into the transmissions. then fix the new ball joint arms on, replace the clamshell cover arms back on and secure them with new clips. (i am a bit worried that there will be too much tension required to put back the clamshell arms - seeing how much tension seemed to be present during removal). with regards to alignment of cables left/right, what is the special bit for the hand drill to rotate the cables manually? any comments/advice would be appreciated. cheers. ;)

thanks for the advice, guys. i'm trying to get the clips off but it's definitely not the easiest of jobs... it's hard to see with the dust cover and top cable in the way and i can't figure out how the clip works. i thought it was just a metal plate that slides underneath the pin's wider head so all you have to do is slide it out, but this doesnt seem to work. alternatively, using the grey clip in your foto for reference only, the clip looks like a sandwich with a bar tab in the middle. do i simply 'open' the clip and straighten the bar clip? i'm thinking of putting a screwdriver in the gap where the end of the sandwich come together and prying it open like an oyster. tks. :unsure:

sorry... 1998 boxster. (shld hv added that to my first post). when i start the car, the convertible top light comes on. (this used to disappear after a few seconds or minutes). when i unlatch the top, the windows come down some way - abt halfway. if i hold the convertible button for a few seconds both windows go down all the way (altho the roof is stuck). it happened when i came back from work and had just put the top up. i then decided to clean off the windshield frame (as i noticed it dirty earlier) and tried to put the top down again. i remember the engine whirling for a while but nothing happening. tried brakes, engine off/on again, etc but no luck. so i just left if for a while. now no more whirling convertible motor n just the 'thumps'. maybe something is jammed in the convertible top/clam and the convertible motor/gears cuts off to prevent burnout? guess i'll know when i access the engine bay. tks.

:( thanks. got the link to mark's comments so i now know how to get the top to the service position... this isn't going to be easy. (it'll have to be this weekend) before i go dismantling the roof, i've just checked again and i don't hear the motor whirling now, but there's a small 'thumping' noise when i press the up/down button which i wonder if it's from the current getting to the motor and then cutting out immediately as the motor won't wind. is/are my transmissions buggered?! is there anything else to check? saw an earlier reference to b-pillar circuit out of contact... will this affect? :help:

g'day B) , another convertible top cable that seems to need replacement, only this time the top is stuck in closed position and would greatly appreciate some advice as to how to put the clamshell/roof in the 'service' position when i can't get the roof to open even slightly. from the various forums, it seems once i do the access to the back, i need to yank on the ball joint. the question is do i pull in the direction along the length of the wire or to the side. (once i've done this i think i can follow the rest of the procedures outlined by toolpants et al).