loutadd

[QUOTE=RoadHazard;19495864]What notch in the transmission housing? Here's a photo of my left-side transmission as it came out of the car. I put the top in the fully down/back/open position before removing the transmission and detaching the metal lid. Nothing else has moved.

The line in the center 13:00 hrs. Needs to line up with the line on the cover. If you google « top gear replacement Boxster 987 ». Go to a site which is called Pelican. It has pictures of the gear replacement and alignment. Please note that Pelican has the top in closed position. The FSM also has it in the closed position.
In your picture you will note that there are 2 micro switches and a center pointing arm. When the pointing arms hits the indentation on the round top plate it pushes one of the micro switches button inwards depending on which way the top is going. You should check continuity on the micro switches with a multimeter first and then by pushing in the micro switch button for each micro sw.

I noticed in your picture that there is a etched line around 15:00 hrs. If you took the transmission off in the fully open/top down position this is where the other line 13:00 hrs mentioned above should be. Try moving it to that position by turning it towards the right with the cable inserted and a drill. If you can’t take your cable out of the car let me know you may have to move the planetary gears which is a little more complicated but easily doable

RoadHazard

Okay, I've reinstalled the left-side transmission and rotated it until the grooves line up. Then I removed it again.
First photo shows it as it came out of the car. Second photo is with the metal lid removed but no other changes. The electric switch is on the low portion of the cam, which seems correct.
I've checked the two switches with a multimeter and they check out okay. I've also used my Foxwell NT530 OBD scanner to monitor the switches as the motors turn, and it also reports switches open/close at the right time.
If I push the cockpit button down to close the top (which isn't really connected to anything), it turns the motors and stops on its own, as it should. Then I stick my finger into the overhead windshield switch to simulate latching the top. The motor turns a bit more and then the dashboard displays the "Failure convertible top ctrl." message.


Transmission in "service position" with grooves aligned.

Same transmission with lid removed.

loutadd

Looked at the picture without cover. I assume you are in the closed position.

install the v lever on the transmission and move the left side of the lever through the cable with a drill to six o’clock. If you look at your video should be where it is positioned when you removed the key.

if you notice in the video the lever stops automatically, then moves again when you latch top. At this point micro switch has not been activated in transmission because it is too far and that is why when you turn the key on it moves again.

By moving the v lever to the 6:00 o’clock position it should automatically stop there and when you latch it, the lever will move to the position where in your video it stops after you put the key in the ignition.

Good luck

RoadHazard

Thanks again for the good advice. I followed your instructions, but maybe I did it incorrectly. The problem hasn't changed.

With the key out and the car off, I used a drill to turn the transmission cable for several seconds until the V-lever (the "boomerang") was at the 6 o'clock position. Then I turned the key, held the switch to close the top, and after it stopped I stuck my finger in the windshield switch to simulate latching it. It moved a bit more and then gave the same error message. If I take the key out and put it back in, the motor moves even more.

Below are three photos that may be helpful. The first is with the top in the fully retracted/open/back position. Next, the top is fully forward/closed/up position but the latch is not latched. Third, is after pushing the latch switch. (The convertible top itself is not connected, and the right-hand transmission is also not connected.) Does this provide any clues?


Top is in fully open/back/down/retracted position.

Top fully up/closed, but before manual windshield header latch is latched.

Top fully up/closed, after latch is latched.

loutadd

Move the position of the lever to the latched position in the 2nd photo which will now be the pre-latch position. The distance between the bottom ball socket and the top of the clamshell rail should be 195 mm.

loutadd

Sorry previous reply should read third photo instead of 2nd photo

loutadd

When it is in the position do not close with up down switch. Manually put the top in it’s up and latched position. Once you have done this you can put car in ignition and open top.

loutadd

With down switch.

RoadHazard

Thanks, as always. Still didn't work. :-(

Here's what I did:
1. Key in. Hold up/down switch to put top all the way open until it stops. Then reverse direction to put top all the way up/closed until it stops. Do not touch latch.
2. Key out. Use drill to spin cable and rotate transmission a few degrees forward (counter-clockwise) to the approximate position in photo #3, above.
3. Close overhead latch.
4. Key in. Immediately motor spins for ~1 second and car shows "Failure.." message. Up/down switch does not respond.

loutadd

First

set the v lever to the position in the third photo. Remove key.

Second

with no key in ignition manually put the top in the closed position without latching top.

Third

put key in ignition and push latch to close top. You should hear motor working for a short period 5 seconds.

Fourth

Open top latch and use up down button to lower top.

If that does not work let me know one other possibility

loutadd

Can you send me a photo of the top motor where the cables from the top transmission are connected. I just want to make sure that it is the motor that doesn’t have a switch, like 986 model

RoadHazard

1. Done. I used the switch to move the V-lever back and forth until it was at the 6 o'clock position as in third photo. Removed key.
2. Done. Manually lifted the convertible top up and placed it against the windshield but did not latch it.
3. Done. Inserted key, closed manual latch. Motor turned for about ~1 second, then stopped. Display = "Failure convertible top ctrl."
4. Can't do this. Switch no longer responds to either up or down direction.

Here are photos of the electric motor. I'm 99% certain there is no switch, as it has only two wires for +12V.


Electric motor for convertible top, as seen from above.

Electric motor for convertible top, as seen from left side.

loutadd

Motor was okay 987 model.

Question in the first picture you sent the LH transmission was in the position and did not move. Was the gear changed?

I noticed in that picture that there was a line mark at 3:00. Was this something you did or was it already there?

RoadHazard

Yes, it's a 987.1, model year 2005.
In the first photo I lifted off the metal lid without moving anything. It was in the top-down position at the time. This is how it looked inside. The limit switch has just moved onto the high part of the cam wheel.
Both transmissions (left and right) were rebuilt by an independent shop after the original gears broke. Both transmissions now have metal gears in place of the original plastic gears. I have re-opened and disassembled the left transmission several times since then to troubleshoot this problem. It's possible I reassembled it wrong, but the problem never changes.
I made the mark at 3:00 myself, but I don't remember why. ;-)

loutadd

The only reason I asked is because I thought this may have been made to show where the cam line was before disassembly.

Does your failure message come on when you close top latch or before? If message shows up before you close latch go in opposite direction to see if during the travel of v lever message disappears. If it disappears close latch.

In the owners manual (2007 model) it says to activate the switch in the opposite direction when you see the message. I assumed that you did this.

When activating up/down center console switch make sure car is running as it may drain your battery.

If the above did not work I would try the following.


At this point I would use the v lever (side that does not have the blue tape) at the 6:00 o’clock position close latch and see if message comes on.

If Message comes on I would open latch move v lever (side w/o blue tape) to 7:00 o’clock position and close latch to see if message comes back on. I would continue doing this for each hour position.

Unfortunately I sold my car recently but cannot look at the position of the v lever when fully closed and fully open.

If you know someone with Boxster 987
or if there is some other people on this site that could provide a picture of the v lever in the open and closed position it would help compare against yours.