Sean Hamilton

Hi Bill, just wondering if you were able to resolve the inst. panel light ?
Your issues with the latches seem similar to mine, well, on mine top goes up and down fine but on closing the latch motors begin to latch down but stop midway thru the motion resulting in the top sitting up about 15mm. After 3 or 4 more attempts at closing it eventually does but the dash warning light remains on. Cant tell if its a micro switch issue or the control unit, and therefor which I should have at go at first.
Appreciate any assistance, thanks.

btw, for RHD the VDO box moves accross to the RHside with the instrutments and yes the control unit remains on the LHside but tucked away and mounted high above the glove compartment, which I'm guessing has to be removed first to be able to get at it ?

Slow Guy

No Sean, it seems that's the way it stays according to several cab top owners. I checked the microswitch, working fine, activated the switch manually and the light stayed on so I just lived with the light. The steering wheel was in my LOS to the light so it didn't bother me.

BTW, I had already replaced the cab top controller so it wasn't that. The cab has been sold so I can't do any more diagnosis.

Sean Hamilton

Thanks Bill,
And for those of us ROW RHD'ers the control box is on the left and up behind the glove compartment, which is best removed for easy access:

ems911

I too have a problem with the convertible top control unit on my 993. I had it at the dealership and they want to replace the part, but I'm going to try to repair it first based on the posts I've read here.

My question is how do I remove the control unit? The service manager at the dealership said to remove the vent on the drivers side by removing the screw on the side of the dashboard and then the control unit is a box behind the alarm box. Based on what I'm reading here it sounds like most people are gaining access to this part from underneath via the floor by the pedals.

Please advise - pics would be helpful.

FYI - Dealer wants to charge me $800 to replace this part + the $120 they've already charged me for the diagnosis.

windblown

my top has been working on and off... mostly off! I have taken the control box out (wow that is tight!) resoldered the bad spots, plugged it back in and now I have bot my "top up' and my "top down" light on? my top is still not working and was wondering how hard it is to get to the micro switches the latch on the roof and behind the emergency brake? Having my e-brake out of adjustment wouldnt be keeping my top from operating would it? Thanks for all the help.

9934s3.8

hi

i am new to the site but have searched over to see if i can find the same (exact) problem as i have but to no avail - if i missed apols for replication.

my problem is that my top gets stuck half way on opening or closing at random intervals.. i have sent it to the garage twice - once they said one of the microswitches was defective and the other time just the fuse.. yet now it has happened again - its kind of annoying as its not that easy to drive with a top stuck in half way mode!

if anyone has any insight as to why this happens and how to fix it please let me know, getting desperate and now just drive the 3.8 as the cabrio is too unreliable as she is now..

Sean Hamilton

1. check that fuse again, if it's blown then it's telling us that there's a deeper electrical issue.
2. Check E brake micro - during it’s flight disengage and re-engage the E brake. In your situation with the top now interrupted, do the same but to see if it re-starts its flight.
3. check the transmission micro's - if they're out of whack the cab top flight will be interrupted, but usually at the same point in it’s flight and every time at the point of micro contact .... not randomly as you are experiencing.
4. check the rear motors - drive cable shafts.
5. Control box soldering ….. good luck, don’t give up. I reverted to manually opening and closing the cab top to save the wear and tear, faster and 100% reliable.

BTW, for the post above,^^ in my experience the dash warning light dont tell us fibs. Unless the micro’s are perfectly in sync it will stay ON … telling us that the top has definitely NOT closed all the way snug down, according to the position of its windscreen micro’s, even if by the width of a hair. And that’s assuming something more sinister hasn’t happened inside the front latch motors like a stripped worm gear and/or broken drive gear teeth which will always cause the top from not closing all the way down snug and the dash warning light telling us so.

C2Cab95

Sub'd! I'm going home tonight to try this.

Thanks!

Quick question... did everyone also have the red light lit indicating an issue with the cab top?

BSL

When converting to manual operation and the top is down? Yes.

Sean Hamilton

G'day Brian.
mine is the opposite for manual conversion .... RED dash light remains ON when the top is OPEN - indicating that it hasn’t locked down fully when in its OPEN position because I've disengaged the transmissions and therefore I'm assuming the rear motors cannot communicate with the transmission micro's.
When pulling the top back up and CLOSED then using the console switch to re-lock the top down home and snug - the RED dash light is OFF, thankfully.

BSL

Yup, that is what I meant (top down/open--light is on; top up/closed--light is off).

How are things on your side of the world Sean?

Sean Hamilton

Ah !! Yep, of course ... Top down = open ... "downunder" swaps the thinking sometimes,

Terrific thanks Brian. Summer breeze is now just kicking in so I'll be out there yanking in that main, hard on it !!

C2Cab95

I'm going to be doing this soon. I guess I lost my soldering iron in a move. I was thinking of a low wattage soldering iron, like a 15 or 20 watt unit. Or does that even matter? Also, which type of solder would be ideal?

I got my cab top light to go off, and the top has been working flawless the in the past couple weeks. It was just an issue my Dad recently started to have before I bought the car from him.

87Woodcab

Does anyone know if the control unit for an '87 Cab is the same as this one for the 993? It has the same part #, only it starts with a "911" instead of a "993". They do not make this unit any longer, and the replacement unit, which is $800, comes with a 9 page tech manual with all the changes necessary to make it work. If these problems of cold solder joints are universal, then I'm going to give it a try. Also, is the unit for an "87 under the passenger floor board, or under the driver side foot well? ThanX!

gaby1088

can anyone please clarify how to get to this chip?