Top Problem

[sabachi]

i have a 99 boxster and monday i drove to work with the top up when i went to bring the top down i notice the red plastic was broken but i was able to get the top down... i brought a new plastic for 90 bucks..really sucks and now notice that the motor on the driver side doesnt move but the motor on the passenger side does move...any one know what the problem could be ...thanks jay

[RFM]

There is only one motor in 986, you mean the transmission box i think, there is definitely something wrong with the transmission cable on the left side. Ask or PM member Maurice for further instructions, he have a good insight in 986 soft top problems.

[1schoir]

i have a 99 boxster and monday i drove to work with the top up when i went to bring the top down i notice the red plastic was broken but i was able to get the top down... i brought a new plastic for 90 bucks..really sucks and now notice that the motor on the driver side doesnt move but the motor on the passenger side does move...any one know what the problem could be ...thanks jay

Jay:

$90 for a pushrod with the white plastic cup is a little steep. If your other one breaks, buy it from board sponsor Sunset Imports, or if you want to buy just the white plastic cup (which Porsche does not sell separately), PM me and I will give you the details on how to contact the guy that had them manufactured.

As RFM says, there is only one electric motor and you are probably referring to the two transmissions or the two V-levers that are attached to them.

Since your Boxster is a '99, you probably have the early (non-textured) cables. You can replace the complete cable on the side that is broken only, or you can try to repair the cable so that you end up with the required 3/4 of an inch of inner (speedometer-type) cable protruting from the end of the cable housing.

To determine whether you can repair your cable, pull the cable out of the side of the electric motor. The electric motor is located at the center of the convertible top well, just forward of the third brake light. To pull the cable out, you must first pull off (by pulling straight up) the upside-down U-shaped brass colored clip and then pull the cable outboard. Once you have pull the cable out of the side fo the motor, see if you have 3/4" of the inner steel cable sticking out past the end of the outer (black) cable sheath. To determine that the inner cable has not broken apart or frayed itself inside the outer sheath, grab the inner cable with a pair of pliers and tug on it (gently). If one part of the cable does not come out, you might be able to repair the outer sheath by shortening it the appropriate amount so that you end up with 3/4 of an inch of the inner cable to stick out.

Go to this link for an overview of the problem: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1666

Tool Pants also wrote up another thread which describes the repair procedure in detail, but I have not been able to locate it. If I find it, I will post the link here.

Regards, Maurice.

[1schoir]

Jay:

Here is the link: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=68

See post #8 in that thread for a photo of the upside-down U-shaped clip.

See posts #20 and later for the actual repair procedure by Tool Pants.

Regards, Maurice.

[sabachi]

wow thanks everybody ...you guys really know what your talking about i'm gonna try doing it this weekend but thanks again ..I really appreciate it

[1schoir]

wow thanks everybody ...you guys really know what your talking about i'm gonna try doing it this weekend but thanks again ..I really appreciate it

Jay:

One more thing. Since your passenger side V-lever rotated some after your driver side V-lever stopped rotating, you will have to resynchronize your top.

In your case, the first method to try (and the easiest first attempt) would be to spin the driver side V-lever with a cordless drill (on a low torque setting) so that it matches up with the passenger side V-Lever's degree of rotation and position.

That should do the trick. If not, post here again.

Regards, Maurice.