CabrioArtie

I went to shopping at Costco yesterday and as usual I put the top up while in the store. When I came out, I loaded up the front trunk and went to put the top down. Well, this is where my problems begin; the top unlatched from the window and went up a 3 inches. At this point, I heard an awful grinding and crunching sound and the top stopped. I managed to perform the emergency disengage of the top from the motors, manually raised it and let the auto locking take place.

Today, I took most everything apart thanks to all of the wonderful posts on this site. What I found was, every screw, nut and bolt dealing with the top transmission was loose. Even worse, on the driver’s side, one of the three transmission mounting bolts had completely fallen out. I took the transmissions apart, inspected everything and put them back together, all looked okay. I even figured out a simple way to synchronize both sides (I think). The problem now is, even though everything is together, when I press the switch, nothing happens, I hear the motor running, but the top doesn’t move. It will engage and dis-engage from the window, but nothing else, no raising or lowering.

I assume the next stop is the motors. So, before I get there (most likely next weekend) I have a few questions:
- The raising and lowering of the top is done by two motors, correct? One for each side?
- Is there anything that I need to synchronize with the controller? All the micro-switches seem to be functioning properly.
- If I disengage the arms from the transmission and I operate the switch, I assume that I would see the center of the transmission spinning, correct?
- Could this now be the dreaded short cable issue as documented on rennlist? I didn’t have this problem before the crunch, but in moving the transmissions around I could have stretched the cable jacket.
- I have a ’93 with rear seat delete, I was going to start looking at the motors, but I found that getting the rear deck out to be a problem. There are three lower screws where the deck meets the seat delete, but it still doesn’t come out and I can’t find any other screws. Help!!

Any and all help would be appreciated.

user 783003

Mine came this way and it's due to the shortened cables AND the clips to hold them to the motors (one per side, yes). I've seen two fixes written on this. One is to cut a section out of the middle of the cable and duct tape them together. The other is to pull off (or cut off) the metal end that goes into the motors and then re-crimp it back on. I tried the re-crimp method on the driver's side and would not do that again. If I had to do it over again, I'd do the duct tape method.

None of my bolts were loose when I got the car except for the big ones attaching the top to the transmission.

Good luck! Manual top isn't that bad. Gives you a chance to put the top boot on.

CabrioArtie

Since I haven't gotten to the motors yet, how do the clips on the motors work? How do they unclip, I figure if I ask now it will save me time when I get to them.

I am manual for now, but I would prefer the auto top around town. It is a pain to put the top boot on/off for short trips.

user 783003

Good question on the clips. I ordered them, but haven't put them on as my cables are still too short. I believe they clip onto the motors and hold the cables in place. When I tried the cables in the motors w/o the clips, the cables slipped out of place. I'm sure you have them if it just broke. Mine were missing.

mdowell

So you guys don't put the boot on always? I was under the impression that I had to...

CabrioArtie

I only put it on when I'm going on the highway, around town I don't put it on.

user 783003

I had to buy a boot cover and until it came in this April, I couldn't. Now, I put it on every time. Helps me feel I'm getting my money's worth. Those things are not cheap!

JDD

What is the emergency procedure to disengage the top from the motors?

CabrioArtie

It is documented in the owner's manual which thankful I read when I purchased the car.

Short description is, remove the two black plastic cover circles from the rear side panels where the rear speakers are and insert a 19mm socket. The owner’s manual states you can use the tire iron, which I can tell does work. Turn to loosen the bolt about 4 to 5 turns and the top should then be manual for raising or lowering at that point. If not, either something is binding the top or you didn’t loosen the bolts enough.

I should note (if possible), do this procedure when the top is completely open or closed and try not to run the motors for raising or lowering. Doing any of these items could cause the motors to be out of synch and make it difficult for the top work properly after re-engaging or worse.

Dis-engage at your own risk.

JDD

Thanks for that...mine didn't come with a manual.

Gus

You need to put the boot cover on the top when it is down if you run at highway speed - When I got my Cab the pre-owner did not do this and I was amazed at how worn the headliner was from the wind beating it took when stored down without the boot on - I had to replace as when i tried to repair it just fell apart.

user 783003

As mine didn't come with one, no telling how much it was run w/o the cover. On a different note, can you replace the streched out elastics without replacing the whole top? Top is fine, elastics are not.

CabrioArtie

I know this has been said many times before, but this is a fantastic site with outstanding people. I finished fixing my Cabrio top today and thanks to all the posts on Rennlist I was able to accomplish this mission with little to no problem.

Just to reiterate what others have said, if you have a cabrio, check all the bolts and screws on the transmission. They definitely loosen up over time and if not tightened up can cause major problems.

I was lucky, just loose screws/bolts which exacerbated a short cable problem. Fixed the loose screws and bolts and used Locktite blue on everything, fixed the short cable problem, aligned the top and greased everything up. It all seems to work, however I think it opens and closes a little slower than before.