scorchpa

I've attached a few pictures As promised



You can see how the "H" shaped hinge is pressing against a metal tab which holds a switch closed. In my case, the metal tab was probably bent a bit too much, so the switch was not being held closed.



This is a close up of the switch in the fully open position (would look like this when hinge comes in contact with roof line, telling the hooking mechanism to begin



Here is what it should look like in the fully closed position. This is when roof is partly retracted etc.



Here is the set screw I adjusted in order to get it to work again. - Any novice could do this in 5 minutes tops. Just need the Torx screwdriver and a small hex key.

wucash

cool pics thanks for posting, wish I had them when I was trying to re set my spring would have saved me 20mins.

Jaybatl911

I brought my 99 986 in for a ebrake switch replacement and picked it up yesterday. Got in this morning and attempted to put the top down. It got half way and stopped dead. Nothing! No movement either way. I'm not bright enough to know what to do - especially how to get it to move manually. I called my mechanic who told me that I can't do it myself and that he'd come for it in the morning.

Reading through the thread I'm wondering what went wrong. It's a relatively new top which was just recently checked out by the local Porsche dealer and a few 100 Dollars later (suprisingly inexpensive) I got it back. They did tell me that the senor or actuator for the windows to go back up when the top closes needs replacing but that I can do that manually so they didn't bother replacing it. That would have been about $900.

What are the steps one should take to check the top when it does these things?

Thanks for your help.

Bossbill

Pentosin is available at a number of O'Reilly's Auto Parts chain stores.
Go to their website to check availability near you.
I got mine for just under $20.
Note you might have to ask the clerk as my store hid it in the stock room.
You can also have them send it.

lomax

OK, resurrecting a dead thread. I hated to start a new one just for this.

I recently picked up a 99 C4 and sometime the top works fine and sometimes not. It appears that what is hanging it up is the wings/flaps (is that correct terminology?) some times do not come completely up, or down. When trying to move them manually they seem to be be locked in place.

Today it got stuck with the top all the way down but the clam shell would not close all the way. The right wing flap was still up. Top would not go up or down. I reached in trying to not get my hand cut off and flipped the micro switch on the flap and badaboom it went right up with no issues.

So now stupid question time.

I see the flaps ride on a couple of nylon clips on metal tracks. Is there any way to lube them?

I also see but have not messed with it that my Durametric has a convertible top option. Can this be used to diagnose or fix anything? Any advice on what to look for in there?

Am I just stuck in taking it to someone that knows what the heck is going on?

Any other advice or things to try would be appreciated. I read most of the thread I could find and no I have not pulled the top and checked the fluid yet. Bad Me I know but the top was serviced about 5K ago, not that that means anything.

Marc

rolex11

I had the same issue a while ago. Those wings/flaps are spring loaded and swivel on small plastic gears. If the springs have lost there tension they do not lift the wings/flaps enough.

You can put your top in service mode where the wings/flaps are folded vertically before the top fully closes so they are exposed. I pulled the springs on each side apart so they are set with more tension and also took a clean paint brush with some spray cleaner and brushed them good. A lot of dirt and grease accumulates on them and causes them to stick and not spring up as they should so the micro switch doesn't engage and the top stops working.

Then a good coat of white grease on the gears.

If you notice that the flaps are sort of sagging when the top is fully open, that means the springs are worn and are not putting enough force for them to pop the wings/flaps up. The springs may be able to be replaced, on mine I just, as I said, pulled them apart to increase the tension. Kind of like pulling a coil spring apart to increase the tension.

Before I fixed the springs I had my wife or a second person pull them up as I operated the top so as to engage the micro switch. One springs were corrected and gears cleaned and lubricated, all has been well.

lomax

Thank you very much for the information. The springs seem to be fine and the flaps move, folding wise, very nicely. But as you say I need to grab them and try and pull them up or push them down vertically when trying to operate the top. I think I need longer arms.

I will try and get down in there to see if I can see any gears and try some white lube on things that I can reach.

Thanks again.

ZuffenZeus

Curious... LoMax, do you store your Cab in a garage daily or leave it outside? I keep my in the garage and it usually operates fine, but I've been noticing that it sometimes struggles to open and enclose the top. I'm wonder if this is a sign that it will need to be serviced soon. Anyway, just curious. Thanks!

lomax

It has been stored in the garage since I got it but as motorcycle riding season is coming it will be spending more time in the driveway.

lomax

Well since I resurrected this dead thread here goes another one.

I am going to open things up and lube everything and check the functions. I would like to check the hydraulic fluid also. I went to two Porsche dealers today and neither of them had the hydraulic fluid or a new washer for the filler plug. They could not even fine the washer, REALLY come on Porsche.

So this is an open call to any of the vendors here to PM me on some hydraulic fluid and a new washed for the fill plug. ARGGGGGGGG!

Off to the garage now to see what kind of problems I can cause.

Update, Looks like it is service shop time. BTW: the pump was full of fluid and it looked good. Everything on the top works just fine but the lateral flaps are not activating, thus it is hanging the top up for opening and closing. If I manually open or close the flaps then the tops works flawlessly. As they did work once upon a time I am hoping that a full re-sync will fix it, if not then it may be flap motor time. Durametric will clear the codes showing "time out" but will not sync the top functions. Whee get to spend more time and money. It looks like dealer time as there are no Indy's open on Saturday and that is the only day I have off. Drat.

Marc