1schoir

You are not lost yet... Now that you have eliminated those possible causes (although the double relay is not completely eliminated), disconnect the connector to the electric motor and apply 12V to it directly. Sometimes a dead spot develops and you will get no reaction at all when you press the button. If the motor is good, you have to check one of the two microswitches inside the latch assembly. There is a plunger-type microswitch in there, and another one on the right side of the assembly, and that is the one that activates the convertible top double relay. If the latter switch is faulty the double relay will not get power, even though it may appear to be intact when you visually inspect it, and sometimes even when you test it with a multimeter. Specifically, take a close look at the solder joints where the leads attach to the plug. This can be hard to detect, so check it with a magnifying glass for hairline cracks in the solder joint and for corrosion. If necessary, heat up the connections with a soldering iron and flow a tiny bit of solder onto the suspect joint(s). Believe it or not, the temperature (sun light, A/C blowing on it, etc...) can affect it to the point where the connection is broken and then re-established. To gain access to the microswitch you have to remove the latch plate at the center of the windshield frame. Pop out the two little black plastic "eyes" by carefully prying them off with a very small flat blade screwdriver or borrow one of those "orange sticks" that women use on their fingernails to pry them out. Remove the small torx bolt that you will find under each one of the two eyes. Remove them and then pull down the latch plate carefully until you can see and access the wires for the switch and for the light. Unplug the wires and the latch plate will come off. You will find two fragile retaining clips that attach the switch to the underside of the latch plate. These are easy to break, so use a pair of small needle nose pliers to pull them off, very gently. You can reuse these if you are careful by squeezing the cross sections that are located at the center of the clips until they are flattened. Let me know if that doesn't work and I will look for an electrical troubleshooting guide that will help you pinpoint the problem. You will need a multimeter and some probes. Regards, Maurice.

Do you have water/moisture in the foam carpet pad under and behind the driver's seat? Also, check fuses B6 (supplies power to the relay) and D3 (supplies power to the electric motor. If those two are okay, take out the double relay and give it a couple of sharp raps on the ground. That will sometimes "wake up" the relay. Regards, Maurice.

Hotrod: Check for moisture/water in the foam lining of the carpet under and behind the driver's seat. Your drains (either front or rear) are either clogged and not draining the rain water or the car wash water out and the water is finding its way to the immobilizer under the driver's seat, or there is a rip/tear in one or both of your drain trays in the convertible top well. The immobilizer has some control over the windows, so, if your windows are no longer dropping the 4 inches when you pull the latch, it may be affecting the operation of the top. If your immobilizer is wet, you MAY be able to take it out, take it apart and dry it with isopropyl alcohol before it does permanent damage, but you have to get it pronto. You did not say whether your emergency brake idiot light goes on when you pull up the emergency brake, and that it a pre-requisite for power to the top. We need more details and a history of how this problem developed. Regards, Maurice.

The problem may be with the transponder "pill" inside the key that will not crank the motor. The fact that both keys turn the lock just means that the blade one each key is correctly cut. Try to start the car with the key that does not normally crank it by keeping the other key near the ignition switch while you try to crank the engine with the "bad" key. If that works, the transponder pill in the "bad" key is broken, missing, or the immobilizer under the seat has not been correctly programmed for that key's transponder. Regards, Maurice.

You have to release the clamshell by either popping off the little clips at the rear of the "hydraulic" pushrods or pop them off their steel ball at the front of the hydraulic pushrod. That will allow you to move the clamshell manually. The only problem is that it's very difficult to access those when the clamshell is completely closed tight.One way that I have been able to gain access is by unbolting the 19mm bolt that holds the V-lever in position against the transmission on each side of the car. It's tough to get a socket in there, but if you use an offset box-end wrench you can do it. Be careful, though because the V-lever is under pressure, as it is being pulled REALLY tight by the "hydraulic" pushrod when it's in that position (all the way closed).You want to be able to pull the black cables out from the sides of the electric motor so that you can spin the cables with a cordless drill (on the lowest torque setting) until the half-moon gear becomes engaged again. Make sure that you spin them an equal amount so that the clamshell and the canvas top go up and down in an even manner, left side to right side.Note that the 19mm bolts are on there with loctite, so they will seem very tight.Here are two photos that show you what the 19mm bolt looks like, and its location, along with the inside of the "A Version" transmission showing the half-moon gear. That will give you an idea of what you are doing when you are spinning the cables with the cordless drill.In the first photo, you can see the 19mm bolt in the middle of the V-lever. When you stand beside the car, just to the rear of the door, and you look straight down, in between the forward part of the clamshell and the folded down B-Pillar, you will see the top surface of the V-lever.Here is a photo of a Sears offset 19mm wrench that works well in this instance:NOTE: BE CAREFUL to take note of the position of the V-lever on the transmission male key so that you can re-install it the same way. There is a key on the back, so it can be installed the correct way and 180 degrees off. So again, take careful note of the position of the V-lever so you don't reinstall it upside down.Regards, Maurice.

It is rarely the convertible top frame assembly and canvas that need replacing (except for the vinyl window). Almost every time it is one or more of the other components, such as the double relay, the B-pillar microswitch, the black lever microswitch, either one or both transmissions (since yours is an "A Version" transmission Boxster), the drive cables, one of two fuses, one of two microswitches in the latch assembly, a dead spot on the electric motor, the emergency brake microswitch and idiot light on the dash, etc, etc... If you car had a hardtop on it, the canvas top and frame assembly should still be there, tucked under the clamshell. When you press the button, are you sure the clicking is coming from the center, under the clamshell, or is the noise coming from one or both sides, where the transmissions are located? If it is coming from the middle of the clamshell, it is probably a case of your drive cables' outer sheath(s) having stretched, and thus not allowing the inner speedometer-type cable to be driven. That is turn will prevent the transmission on that side (or both sides) from rotating the V-levers. Need a little more detailed description. Regards, Maurice.

Darren: The part number for the rubber bushes where the front pushrods connect to one arm of the V-lever are 986.561.881.00. The new rubber bushes will make the operation a little quieter, but it won't have any effect on the timing. The power to the electric motor is cut off after it receives signals from two microswitches: The B-pillar microswitch (which is depressed/released by a part of the B-pillar frame itself) and the black lever microswitch (which is located on top of the electric motor and is depressed by the clamshell). After both of those are tripped, there is an "after-running time" of a little less than one second, after which power is cut to the motor and the idiot is shut off. It's possible that since the clamshell did not close evenly (because the transmissions were not synchronized properly) it did not depress the black lever microswitch soon enough to stop the V-levers from rotating and thus you got the over-rotation again. There is also a simple way of tripping the black lever microswitch a split second earlier and thus "fooling" the system to achieve your desired result. You can add a small 1/4 inch thick foam spacer by sticking it on the underside of the clamshell at the spot where it contacts the clamshell, and successively add one or two more pieces until you get the desired result. That will set off the "after-running time" a split second sooner and may be enough to fix the over-rotation. Start by synchronizing the transmissions by operation the clamshell up and down a few times (with the electrical switch) while you measure the distance between the lower lip of the rear of the clamshell and the top of the forward edge of the trunklid. Once it's one or two or three inches away from completely closed you can get pretty accurate measurements that should match a spot on the left side of the rear of the clamshell with an equivalent spot on the right side. As to the "play" on that one V-lever, it may be wear on one of the teeth of the half-moon gear of that transmission, and that little play or slop may affect the timing slightly. Regards, Maurice.

Mike: Good work! I think next time you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed! Make sure to check that the belt is correctly seated in all the correct grooves on each of the pulleys. A couple more of these DIY's under your belt and it'll be just like the 1970 MG Midget! Regards, Maurice.

Mike: Most people apply torque to the big nut (22mm, IIRC) in the middle of the pulley to move the spring-loaded arm. I'm not sure if the same would work with the 15mm bolt, but that may be an alternate way to release the tension on the belt. Regards, Maurice.

Darren: Sorry...I forgot to tell you about the magnetic quality that the drain hole acquires whenever you are working near it! You can absolutely recover the bolt and fat washer, but it depends on how far you are willing to go. If you remove the foam drain tray, you will expose the little plastic cup that has a hose pressed onto its underside, but you may not have to go to that extreme. You can also pull the outboard side of the foam drain tray out from under the lip of the sheetmetal that holds it in place and see if you can reach under the drain tray with a magnet leading the way. If you haven't moved the car, take a look around the inside and the front of the rear tire on the passenger side. There's a remote possibility that the bolt and/or washer "drained" through the hose. If you don't find them on the ground, take a length of wire hanger and attach a powerful magnet to the end of the hanger wire that is in your hand and fish the other end down into the hole. Make sure that whatever you fish down there does not have a sharp end or you will run the risk of tearing the foam drain tray or the plastic cup under it. BE CAREFUL NOT TO TEAR ANYTHING or you may end up with water under the front seat. You also should make sure that any water that drains into the foam drain tray actually empties completely out of the bottom of the drain pipe (and does not back up or end up in the cabin) in case one of those two parts is blocking the drain. Regards, Maurice.

Mike: It is spring loaded and it will snap back. When you put pressure on it, it relieves enough tension so as to enable you to pull off the belt. When you re-install, you again have to relieve the tension by pulling on it so that you can install the new belt. Regards, Maurice.

Glad it's coolant!!! Take a look at the DIY so that you can get an idea of the location of the coolant reservoir and the hoses around it so that you can isolate the source of the leak: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/tutorials/article/232-diy-replace-coolant-reservoir/ Regards, Maurice.

Good news if the puddle is directly under the oil filter. If it's oil, it may just be the large o-ring seal on the oil filter, or that the oil filter housing somehow got loose or cracked. If it's antifreeze, it may be coming from the oil cooler, which is on top of the engine, but almost directly over that area. The oil cooler has four o-rings (two for the coolant passages, and two for the oil passages). I would check to see if it's any one of those, which would show up at the point where the oil cooler mates with the top surface of the block. Here is a photo of the oil cooler on a 3.8 X51, with the arrow pointing to the mating surface: This should give you an idea of where to look. Regards, Maurice.

A 1/2 quart of oil all of a sudden is a LOT of oil for a leak with no prior history of leaking. First try to determine if it is engine oil ( and not power steering fluid, for example). If it is engine oil, and you can determine that it is coming from the point at which the transmission is bolted to the engine, then it is either your RMS or your IMS. The RMS does not usually leak that much all of a sudden. If the leak is coming from your IMS, proceed with caution as that could be a sign that your IMS bearing or flange is failing. If it does fail and you run the engine, the engine can self-destruct. I don't want to be an alarmist, but you should carefully explore the possibilities and determine the source of the leak. Regards, Maurice.

Kent: There is an overflow tube that runs from underneath the drain hole which at 9 o'clock when looking at the coolant cap (with the thin black plastic cosmetic cover removed), goes through the rear firewall and is then routed to an area just inboard of the right rear wheel well. The overflow will usually end up dripping onto the ground just inside the right rear wheel. Since you just filled it, I would first check whether any coolant has indeed overflowed by pulling the small black plastic cover off (after removing the coolant cap and the oil fill cap). Here is a photo of where the drain hole is located (disregard the other labels): Regards, Maurice.

I think JFP is right, as usual... Here is some information I had gathered about three years ago: Cost of replacement Heater Blower Motor for 986 Boxster at dealer (part #996-624-107-01-M262; OEM part #1J1 819 021 A): $317.50. Cost of same replacement Heater Blower Motor for Volkswagen Jetta Wagon 2.8 at VW dealer (part #VAG-15418-M177; OEM part #1J1 819 021 C): $121. I have compared the photos at Pelican Parts with the actual blower motor from my Boxster and they are the same. BTW, the Boxster part on my '97 has a prominent "VW" logo on it. Regards, Maurice.

Do you see it here?: Regards, Maurice.

Darren: PM Sent. Also, remember to NOT operate the top while the front pushrod(s) is/are dangling and not attached to the steel balls, as they can dig into the foam drain trays and rip or tear a hole in them. Considering that you get lots of rain over there, it wouldn't be long until the water would find its way into the cabin and promptly fry the central alarm computer under the left seat. Regards, Maurice.

Mat: Either the two sides of the top were not synchronized (thereby putting more pressure on one side) or the plastic ball cups are brittle from age. Since your plastic ball cups are red in color, they are the originals that came with the car. The red ones were replaced with white ones that are more flexible and less prone to breaking from age, so you should replace the other, still intact, red ball cup and keep it as a spare. Once you replace the ball cups, you must synchronize the top so that both sides operate simultaneously. Take a look at the instructions at the bottom of page 38, and the photo at page 39 of the Part III PDF file on Mike Focke's website, here: http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/installinga'03-'04glasstopandframeona'97 to get a starting point for synchronizing the transmissions. Once you have the V-levers rotated to the correct position and you have re-connected the plastic ball cups onto their respective steel balls, carefully observe the operation of the top and of the clamshell until you are sure that the transmissions are synched. A good way to double check is to eyeball (or measure) the clamshell while standing behind the car. When it gets to about 1 or 2 inches away from completely closed, it is easy to judge whether the clamshell is level (which means that the V-levers are at the same degree of rotation and the transmissions are synchronized). Regards, Maurice.

Mat: The little plastic piece that you found fits in between the bearing bracket and the hinge lever which is connected to the body-colored support arm of the clamshell. That piece is not the cause of your malfunctioning top. Here is a photo showing where it is located: From your description, and because you have the "A Version" transmissions on your '98, it does indeed sound like your V-levers have over-rotated and thus cannot go in the other direction. Your next step is to disconnect the two cables at each side of the electric motor and spin the V-levers by using a cordless drill. By doing so, you will "un-pretzel" the position that the V-levers have gotten into by virtue of the over-rotation. Here are instructions that I had written up some time ago: The easiest way I have found to access the 'works' if the top is stuck in the closed position is to partially and gradually open the top by using a cordless drill. Since you described the power drain and the loud cracking sound, your drive cables are probably intact and thus you can use this method after unlatching the top latch.First, reach under or through one of the roll bar hoops so that you can grab the thin metal bar that runs from left to right and that is attached to the rearmost edge of the black vinyl apron under the rear bow of the convertible top frame. That long bar (flat metal bar with a 90 degree bend, about 2 1/2 feet long) is attached to the rear firewall in the convertible top well by means of two small plastic brackets or receptacles, one on each side, about 1 foot to each side of center, 8 to 10 inches from the level of the clamshell when it is in the closed position. Reach for one side at a time and twist it off the brackets by turning it down and rotating it towards you. That will free the vinyl apron from the firewall and give you access to the sides of the electric motor. The electric motor is located exactly in the center of that rear firewall and, in a '97 also has a small lever mounted on the top of it. You will see the black vinyl sheath of each of the two drive cables going into the sides of the electric motor. There is a brass colored upside down U-shaped clip preventing each cable from being pulled out of the side of the electric motor. The U-shaped clip has a little tiny shelf at its top surface and that is what you should push upwards on to remove the clip. Once you have pushed the clip up and off, grab the cable where it goes into the side of the electric motor and pull it in an outboard direction. Do that on each side. Once you have pulled the vinyl sheath off, you will see the inner steel (speedometer-type) cable sticking out by about 3/4 of an inch. Put one of the inner cables into the drill chuck and set the power drill on a LOW TORQUE setting. Now operate the drill while observing the direction of rotation of the V-lever on that side. The V-lever is located just behind the base of the B-pillar, below the level of the top surface of the rear-quarter panel. If you are spinning the drill in the wrong direction, you will hear that loud cracking noise again as the black "hydraulic" pushrod pulls the half-moon gear past its last (50th) tooth and the top will NOT start to open. In that case, spin the drill in the opposite direction and you will see the top start to open slowly. Just spin that side for a few seconds, then disconnect the drill from that side and insert the other drive cable into the chuck. Repeat the same procedure as above until the other side of the front edge of the top has reached the same spot at the side you did first. Then go a little further with that side. Now just repeat, alternating each side and that will allow you to open the top until you get the clamshell in the 45 degree position. That will give you clear access to the electric motor so that you can re-insert the drive cables and then install the U-shaped clips to lock them in. That should do it. Keep us posted. Regards, Maurice.

Brian: Taff has covered most of the possible sources of oil that might end up on top of the block. I would add the little o-ring that is at the base of the dipstick tube, and the larger o-ring that is at the base of the oil fill tube (where each one meets the block). A good way to locate the source of the leak would be to clean the top of the engine again and monitor it at short intervals to see where it is originating. Regards, Maurice.

Lumpy: Congratulations on your new ride. Drive it in good health! Here is a recent thread on the topic of cooling fans and some of the likely causes of failure: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/37254-radiator-fan-question/page__p__197445__fromsearch__1#entry197445 Regards, Maurice.

gmorris: The most likely cause of the "slack" that you found by being able to press the window down the additional 1/4 inch that you described is a worn, frayed, or stretched cable in the window regulator assembly, or wear/ crack in one of the plastic parts through which the cable runs. Because of the extra slack, the window does not retract the full normal distance of 13mm (1/2 inch). To diagnose it more definitively, observe the window closely (i.e., listen intently) when it drops down upon pulling on the door handle...if you hear the electric motor engaging a split second before you see any movement, that will mean that there is slack (which must be taken up before there is movement). You can compare it with the action on the passenger door so that you can see what the normal condition looks (and sounds) like. If your passenger door regulator is intact, the window should start to move at the exact same time as you hear the electric motor engage. The part number for the window regulator is 996.542.075.04, and it does cost around $200. Check with board sponsor Sunset for a decent price. I think that the listing that you may be looking at shows the part as "-02", which means "up to 2002", i.e., not just 2002. The electric motor is a separate part, but these motors are not known to frequently fail. It is almost always the regulator that fails. Also, be aware that the part for the window regulator is the same for Boxsters and 911's, but that you must adjust a small insert at the bottom of the forward leg of the regulator to make sure that the window goes down to the right level depending on your model. That small issue is dealt with and illustrated in another thread. If I find it first, I'll post a link to it. Regards, Maurice. Update: Here is the link for removing the door panel of a 996: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?/tutorials/article/31-door-panel-removal-install-instructions/ Here is the link that deals with the correct bump stop position for a 996: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/16646-window-bump-stops/page__hl__regulator

RFM: Thanks for the clarification! Regards, Maurice.

Jose: Looks like you definitely found the problem. You might want to consider taking your heater core to a radiator shop and to have them evaluate whether it's possible to seal it. They can usually turn that around in a few hours and it's going to cost a lot less than a replacement from Porsche. Thanks for posting your progress and the photos. Regards, Maurice.