Well, it seems I too have found that the convertible top can be temperamental. I've searched the posts in this forum folder, and they have provided me with a great deal of knowledge, but I am left with a question as to the least-cost method to proceed in repairing my non-functional top.
Here is a brief history as to the symptoms; the electric motor had seemed as if it was laboring somewhat, although with the car new to me there was no point of reference to know if that was unusual. The top had over-traveled when putting the top up day prior (it approached the latching position, and while still holding the button in the same position, the top reversed travel). That was operator error, the rocker switch button was held in past the point of the indicator light going out, The top was immediately reversed by toggling the rocker switch and latched up. The top had been lowered again, and later put back up after that without incident. On lowering the top today, a pop was heard on the driver’s side, and I took visual notice of things not being right.
If viewed from centerline of vehicle; the driver side V-lever top side connected to clamshell strut is at about the 1:00 position, and the driver side of the clamshell fully closed. Again viewing from vehicle centerline, passenger side V-lever was probably more like 12:00. Passenger side of clamshell was open about 3". After consulting several of the posts about top problems here, I proceeded to attempt popping the clamshell tie rod ends off from the V-levers. I managed to get passenger side off without much trouble, but the driver side is stubbornly refusing, as it is under significant tension. The passenger side of the clamshell now rests about 3/4" from closed; the convertible top appears to not be fully retracted and is obstructing further travel of the clamshell. Force has been applied in various manners to free the driver side pushrod from the V-lever, but not wanting to break things just yet I decided to yield before some expensive part does.
Hoping to be smarter than the machine, I supposed that operating the top via the rocker switch to raise it only momentarily would relieve the tension the driver side clamshell tie rod, but that is only providing brief, minute motions of the driver side V-lever, and nothing from the passenger side. I suspect that is a strong clue as to the real problem, but I am getting ahead of myself in attempting to diagnose that without first being successful in removing the driver side clamshell V-lever tie rod end,
I've thought about removing the clips on the opposite end of the clamshell strut, but my fingers aren't quite that long. I've also noted that the strut is very close to, if not already contacting the guide arm (98656155101), which seems reasonable considering it is in the closed position, perhaps even a bit beyond.
Any thoughts on an approach that offers a bit of finesse to get past this roadblock, or is brute force and potentially breaking things just the way it is? If so, I’m thinking the ball pin (98656168900), at $11.96 is expendable, and using a sawsall on it while taking care to vacuum up the filings while cutting might just be the sensible approach.