kms0521

All,

I've had my issues with the convertible top over the 14 years I've owned my cabriolet, from stretched cables, to stripped gears, to failed latching motors, to a host of switch issues. Last year I met Loren at Systems Consulting in Manhattan Beach, CA. I spoke to him about intermittent performance on closing and he was convinced it was my controller. Living nearby, he came to my house, spent a few hours troubleshooting the issue, and also brought a refurbished controller. Turns out he was spot on and the refurbished unit fixed the problem. Apparently they are prone to poor soldering issues. Just recently, the latching motors stopped engaging again when the top closes. I went to Loren's house this time and we troubleshot a failed switch, located right next to the latching motor. The spring broke off, just like the other one did a few years ago. Expensive to replace at $254 from Pelican. Wish they sold the spring separately. Shout out to Loren for spending time with me to troubleshoot at no charge.

Kurt

mferris

That's great to hear Kurt. Experience is critical. I replaced the cables in mine a year ago (thankfully no twisting of the frame) and it took a few months of constant latching issues for me to realize that the transmissions were not tightly bolted to the body of the car. Now, every time I raise or lower the top - I cringe just waiting for the next thing to break but I know I can replace the latch motors myself and what keeps the top from aligning at least.

abiazis

My top guy shortened the cables over 10 years ago and the top seems to work more smoothly, with less issues emerging to repair versus when the cables were longer - the most noticeable difference is that the top closes more softly and quietly, when it latches on the window frame......it used to drop "somewhat hard or violently" with a loud thud, when the latches hit the frame before locking.....

The shop has been doing this cable trick with all 993 tops that he services for some years...........fyi.....

kms0521

The hard drop is what I’ve found to cause the spring on the microswitch to break. It just wears a lot faster with the slamming. Cool that if only one switch works, you can jump the connector in the one that doesn’t and all works fine.