PCoan

I have searched and it seems that there are a lot of convertible top problems for the 993, but I can't seem to find a thread dealing with my issue.

I rarely put the top up, and since I have owned the car have only done it a handful of times. The last two times I have tried it, which were both after driving it with the top down for at least a couple weeks at a time, the top goes all the way up until about 2 inches from connecting and then stops. I happened to have the car in the dealer the last time it happened and they said they had to realign something and it worked fine. Then of course I have had it down for the last couple months and the same thing happened to me last night.

Has anyone ever heard of this problem? The dealer was telling me about some gear problem where the gears for the top are half moon shaped and not full circles so sometimes the top comes off the gears? Can this be true? If it is has anyone came up with a replacement gear assembly so this doesn't continue to happen?

I am trying to get the car ready for a road rally this weekend and I want to make sure the top is at least operational, in case of weather. Any help would be appreciated.

Arena993

There are a lot of cab owners that convert the power top to manual operation. Here is a good write-up on this very subject. It also tells you how to re-align the top as well.

Go here - http://p-car.com/diy/cabtop/

vjd3

It could be a variety of things, the cables that operate the top stretch and get out of sync, there are problems with the gears in the transmissions (yes, the teeth are only on a portion of the gear).

When you get tired of fooling with it, you can just make it a manual top by loosening the two large bolts by the top arms (behind the plastic cover) with the lug wrench, and raise and lower the top by hand (if you are using the boot, it's no extra trouble anyway). The top will still electrically latch and unlatch using the switch on the console.

The top is problematic, it's early 80s technology, and if it jams or gets out of sync going up or down, the frame can get twisted or snap and cost you thousands. The effort to raise and lower it by hand is pretty negligible in comparison ...

BTW, the little red idiot light in the dash will stay lit if you operate the top manually when the top is down. But you can turn off the big "!" indicator by hitting the "!" switch on the console.

Deadeye

You can also remove the bulb from behind the idiot light so you don't have deal with it. All of this is reversible for re-sale.

PCoan

Thanks for the replies guys! The weirdest thing happened. I went to put it into manual mode, as per your suggestions and after I loosened the passenger's side bolt I saw the frame give way just a bit and I heard that little voice in my head say, "try it now, see what happens." So I did, it works great again. I re-tightened the bolt lowered and raised it a few times. I even took it for a few miles since its beautiful outside and it seems to be fine now.

Obviously, I'll put it back into manual, per your suggestions, if it happens again. I'd much rather just keep the top down constantly, but being in the North East its not probable.

Thanks again for your replies!

24FPS

imho: i would make sure my cables were aligned before using again... just my 2¢
the uptake on the cables becomes uneven after time & needs to be adj (or cables replaced); if you don't & it becomes worse you could break a motor arm which requires a whole new motor $$$ (there are two). just be careful... i love my top down too but close it when i park. bol

Slow Guy

When you put the top in manual mode I would also suggest pulling the power plug at the top retracting (not latching) motor, it will keep the gears from turning if you hold the switch too long. It's simple, the motor is behind the rear seats and one screw holds that back panel on. I also put a mid-size flat washer between the arm and the transmission to keep the notches from getting dinged up.

The cables are like the old speedometer cables, I think it's more like the internal cable shortens (gets wound tighter) over time. My shop cut off the outer sheath at the end of the cables and re-attached the cable end when I made my top electric again when I sold it.

Slow Guy

Here is a photo of the top motor (not the latch motors) behind the rear seat. You can see the difference in the cable lengths. Also notice the power plug on the left side.