loutadd

In my previous post I made a mistake it should not be the blue liine on the housing but rather your pre latch cam position should be where your C position was. You will have to use your drill to get to your C position in pre latch

When you latch, the C cam plate position will move to the left counterclockwise and your latched position will line up your closed position exactly the same as the picture I sent in post 54.

sorry about that! .


If that does not work I am out of ideas.

RoadHazard

Heading out for two weeks of vacation, so this test will have to wait. Thanks as always. I'll let you know what happens after I get back...

RoadHazard

Back from vacation, and back in the garage trying to fix this #@%$! car.

Sadly, the newest idea didn't work, either.

Right now, my personal feeling is that it's an electronic issue, not mechanical. I think the RCM (the electronic module under the left seat that controls the convertible top) is somehow incorrect. I bought a replacement RCM from a third-party shop that *says* it was programmed for my car's options and features. They even sent me a second RCM just to be sure. Both worked just the same. My next step is to take it to the Porsche dealer and have them program it, just to be 100% sure. Or maybe they'll find a different problem. Either way it'll cost money but maybe my troubles will finally be over.

loutadd

Dear Roadie, Sorry to hear it did not work. Let me know if reprogramming fixed your problem.

kjb1122

So did it work? did Porsche find anything? did they solve it? programming issue? please update if so.....

I am going into a specialists tomorrow with the same fault, exactly the same fault!! however, my car every-time I started it tried driving roof further closed, to the point now, my switch is inoperable, I cannot lower the roof from the upright position !! really annoying. And fault comes straight in. So I'm in even more of a mess than originally. Any ideas on how to lower roof with it stuck closed?

kjb1122

Hi did it work? I have exactly the same problem as you, I'm off to a convertible top specialists tomorrow to attempt to fix my issue or at-least diagnose. First thing they are going to do is program my convertible hood to pre 2007 where the hood drives further closed after latching as he suspects its had a second hand module at some point in its life. Will re setup the roof motor and fingers crossed sorted.

loutadd

I was waiting on Roadie to respond if problem was fixed.
Not sure what you mean by ´programming hood latch’
Let us know if shop fix was successful.

kjb1122

Its only you that has mentioned programming a hood latch? I didn't say that. I am saying, later Boxsters when you latched the roof closed, the motor drives for a few seconds to make roof taught, with earlier Boxster this wasn't meant to occur, so suspect module has been replaced with later version and needs coding to suit earlier style Boxster. This is what he is going to do for me..

loutadd

Ok let me know how it goes.

kjb1122

Ok so to confirm, just got home after a 4 hour round trip to Chris Denning Porsche in Cardiff. First job, code the module, he read it first for the roof and it wasn't even set up for a UK car, along with being coded for post 2008 or whatever year it is where the motors continue to drive the roof taught after latching closed. He did this first and voila' no more fault when you latch the roof shut. Fixed.

He then quickly setup my two transmissions and put it back together, its all working perfect!! and all for £150, cannot fault him.

So OP your used module is coded for a later car, ours shouldn't drive motors when latching, get to a specialists and have them code the module for the roof to 2005. It will fix your issue, its not mechanical problem at all. I am very pleased.

kjb1122

Really annoying when you write a reply and it has to be approved by moderators? every single time? I wrote a reply yesterday solving this issue and its been deleted? bizarre way to control a forum?

I will write this again for the benefit of the OP:

I had exactly the same issues as you, same deal, close the roof, when you latch it, you har motor drive for few seconds then beep convertible top cntrl failure alarm.

Car is 2 months in my ownership and came like this. Its roof wasn't actually working when I picked it up, but I replaced all my arms, fixed tonneau cover etc and then once all operating kept getting this alarm, highly annoying.

The fix:

At some point my car has had a used hood control module, this hadn't been coded and was off a newer Boxster. My 05 Boxster relies on 1 limit switch for the motor to cut out and stop once reach full closed travel. Newer Boxsters worked slightly differently, they drove the motors closed once the hood was latched to make the roof tight. My module was trying to continually drive the roof closed after latching. The specialist I went to who is Chris Denning Porsche in Cardiff, solved the fault by re-coding my module, and then a quick connect of all the arms, quick check on calibrations and winner, its all working!! without the fault!!

Next job, fix my roof elastics

RoadHazard

I've made no progress at all. All the many (many, many...) mechanical tweaks have made no difference at all. I'm pretty certain now that it's an electronic / software issue -- as kjb1122 discovered. I'm off to see if I can get my unit reprogrammed.

On the plus side, I'm now a ninja-level expert at disassembling and reassembling my convertible top transmission. I could do it blindfolded!

RoadHazard

Yes. This exactly. My 2005 with replacement RCM wants to move the top *after* it's already closed and latched, which is incorrect, kicks out an error code, and potentially damages the mechanism. Evidently later models of the 987 did add this additional motion, so it's important that the RCM be programmed for the correct model year, not just the correct Boxster generation. Thanks for the tip.

loutadd

Thanks feedback!

RoadHazard

I've sent my module back to ECU Doctors in Florida with explicit instructions to reprogram it for a 2005 model. We'll see what happens...