andrewjn

Hi guys! Wondering if any of the other convertible guys out there may have a line on this one. I left my top down in the garage for about 3 weeks under the boot (just thought it looked so good!). Went to put it up and everything was normal until it didn't latch (I can't remember if I put my hand up a little to keep it from slamming to the top of the windshield or not). now it won't go down or up and I may be able to hear a motor when I push the toggle but just for a second. I tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting to see if it could reset. Yes the parking brake is up btw.

Any ideas?

e9stibi

Not sure if I understood your problem. Check this video or it could be a limit switch. Misalignment of the gears in the gearboxes are unlikely. Or a the shaft has an issue antithesis motor side but in this case one side would not move well at all.

Lorenfb

Correct (for the top motor), but the gear alignments in the locking motors could very likely be the problem.
Read here under Porsche Cab Top for a description of operation, https://www.systemsc.com/problems.htm

CabrioArtie

There are microswitches next to and in the the locking motors which may be having a problem. if they report they are open/closed incorrectly the top will not operate correctly.

See this video for some help. He isn't correct on which models require the engine to be off to operate the top, but everything else he says is correct.

Lorenfb

No

Yes, and that was fully explained in the previous post's link.

andrewjn

Those videos do a great job of explaining the workings of the top. When I get home this evening I’ll try some more trouble shooting based on some of the info they shared. Thanks guys!

Lorenfb

If that doesn't find the problem, then it's in the control unit where over 90% of the problems occur;




The connections above the red line need to be re-soldered.

Lorenfb

The other input many forget is the oil pressure switch (intermittent), i.e. engine not running.

Twilightblue28A

The cabriolet top is complicated and has many moving gears and cables all of which must be perfectly synchronized to operate the top properly. Try some basic troubleshooting. If your top appears to be opening or closing unevenly, stop immediately or you may damage the tops frame. Temporarily put your convertible top into manual, allowing you to close your top. Take your car to a reputable and trustworthy mechanic, not an upholsterer, who has worked on Porsche convertible tops for repair.
Always close your top after use. Allowing your top to remain open for extended time periods is not good for your top to operate reliably, nor is it good for the plastic rear window.
If replacement cables are needed, always buy and install the cables in pairs, and only use genuine Porsche cables.

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Lorenfb

Actually, the operation is quite simple, once you understand the basic operation as provided by the link in post #3.
Typically, some waste money on unnecessary parts and labor, the result of bad troubleshooting techniques of repair shops.

Here's the wiring diagram. As can be seen, it's fairly simple.

abiazis

Wish I bought a coupe sometimes! Spent about a third of my maintenance expenses on my top the last 22 years on my 993...weak point in the car relative to other convertibles

Lorenfb

They all are! Remember, it's mechanical system, where the failure rate increases with usage and time.

Twilightblue28A

To the op. Did you get your top working correctly?

andrewjn

Sorry for the delay in follow up. Got the top working again! So I first put electrical tape on the left and right micro switches as above in the video. No go on the latches. They wouldn’t do a thing both when I toggle up and down on the switch on the console. They were frozen apparently in the “open” position. Dash conv top open light was on. I did notice that when I toggle the conv top button down there was a one second electrical motor noise from the top; no movement of the latches. No electrical noise when I toggle up.

I removed the cover from the top to expose the latch motors and latched the top manually with a slot head screw driver. (I’ll post a pic below). The manual screw is in fact a slot head but it is easiest to remove the cover IMO rather than put a screw driver blindly through the plastic access point. Everyone was correct; I felt like the guy in Memphis Belle manually putting down the landing gear at the end of the movie! I finally got the latches in the lock position. I then tried to toggle the top down and viola! : top working seamlessly again. I guess you could say I didn’t fix it, it just started working again….

flyweight

My cab top is misbehaving again. Both of the top latch motors stopped latching when I attempted to raise the top.

I did some debugging by keeping the top raised midway (so the fully-up or fully-down limit sensors won't trigger) and taping down both microswitches. However, when I clicked the button neither motor responded.

Does this indicate a convertible top ECU problem? Any other debugging I should do before I remove the ECU under the dash again? Thanks.