Mike:
What year is your Boxster? What do you mean by "roof piece" and how is it jammed? In what position? When you push the button, do you hear a rythmic, heavy clicking noise (i.e., a loud, heavy click, then quiet for one second, then another click, etc...
Did you install or partially install the new convertible top canvas yet or is it just the frame mechanism that is now exposed?
Regards, Maurice.
Hi Maurice,
I removed the entire convertable top mechanism/frame and subsequently closed the convertible top lid with the frame removed. The lid will no longer lift and makes the "heavy clicking noise" exactly as you describe it. It is a 1999, and the lid is stuck in the down position, as if the Convertible top was down (if there was a convertible in there, which there is not).
Mike:
It sounds like your half-moon gears inside the convertible top transmissions have gone past the last of their 50 teeth. The reason you hear the heavy clicking is because once the half-moon gear goes past its last tooth, it is pulled back by the black hydraulic pushrods which connect the V-levers to the clamshell.
The conventional approach would be to lever the black hydraulic pushrods off the steel balls that are screwed onto one end of the V-levers and that will allow you to operate the clamshell manually. Once you put the clamshell in its maximum up and back position (45 degree angle), you can then unclip the drive cables from where they are inserted into each side of the convertible top electric motor (located in the convertible top well, just forward of the third brake light) and then spin the cables in the opposite direction with an electric drill so that the V-levers go back to their correct position of rotation (i.e., so that they don't go past the last of the 50 teeth).
If you have trouble disconnecting the pushrods from the V-levers (they are difficult to separate because they are under pressure as they are pulling on the V-levers in that position) you can try an unconventional approach. That approach involves removing the carpet-covered plastic trim piece that is below the B-pillar so as to gain easy access to the B-pillar microswitch. Once you can access the microswitch, you can pull (or push) its small silver metal arm so as to activate (or release) its tiny switch while you press the dashboard switch either in the up or down direction. That can reverse the direction of rotation of the V-levers and that will then raise the clamshell.
If you use that second approach, you MAY still have to spin the drive cables to get the transmission's half-moon gear back where it belongs.
With either approach, if you spin the drive cables, make sure you rotate the V-levers an equal amount of degrees as they have to remain synchronized.
Also, I am assuming that you have the early (Version A) type of transmissions because your car is a 1999 and because the teeth are skipping. The later (Version "B") transmissions were installed at the middle to end of 1999 and their equivalent of the "B-pillar microswitch" was moved to the right (passenger's) side transmission.
I have previously posted photos of the B-pillar microswitch and how to remove that carpeted plastic trim panel. If you choose to go with that option and have trouble locating those parts, post here and I will look for those.
Regards, Maurice.
Maurice,
Thanks for the help. I tried the first method and it worked. Thanks again. I owe you.