jnkn24

Ran into a problem with my top on Friday. For some reason, the top would open approximately 50-60% of the way and stop. At the time, the motor was still able to close the top. So when I got home, I had my son open it until it stopped a few times while I watched to see if there was an obvious obstruction of some kind. While doing so, I noticed the passenger side of the clamshell was stuck in the down position while trying to open. The driver side would open and start to lift but ultimately stopped because the passenger side was stuck. After trying a couple of times to help release it by lifting carefully, I decided to follow the "emergency release" steps to free the clamshell. In hindsight, I should have closed the top completely first, but followed the steps with the top halfway open since I read one person freed the clamshell this way and solved the problem. Unfortunately, the clamshell wouldn't budge when turning the tool to release it. Now I feel like an idiot because my top is stuck 50% open/closed. The emergency release won't work + the motor will no longer close the top. Any bright ideas out there?

Hurdigurdiman

Firstly, try manually to get the top to the position it was in before you used the emergancy method. Make sure you have a fully charged battery on board (that is a must). Then try via the key in the drivers door lock . Hold right- to open the top. Hold left to put the top up. Other than that, do not try to help the procedure by hand pressure on the clam shell. When you have the top half up/down, remove the wire bobbles under either side of the back window. Lift the back window up so you can visually inspect the working parts of the cab top. Check that nothing has fallen off mirror image style. They should be identical. If they do not. You may find a fallen part directly under where it should be attached. Spray all moving parts with WD40. Attach the wire bobbles again and hope for the best but do not help the clam shell by hand. That is what I had to do late last year and it has not let me down at all so far this year and I use my top at least 6 times a week. Good luck and let us know what is happening.

dcdrechsel

There are latches that secure the clamshell closed .It sounds like one activating rod has come loose .
The emergency procedure has two parts-manually open or close the lid -also there is a screw to disengage the pump to allow manual movement of the top toward closed .I am not sure it would latch .There is emergency procedure to latch but require retiming of latch once activated .
With the top in a more closed position just have to hunt down the problem with the latch

wucash

I had a problem with only one side of the clam shelf opening. The bracket got jammed on that side. I unscrewed the other half then had a friend lift it as high as possible and with little wrench I was able to get my hand to get the other bracket off (took 30 minutes to get 2 screws out as there was 2mm of room to work in. My other solution was to cut through the clam to release it (new ones are $200 or so on ebay). After that I took the brackets out, reset them into the rail and put some silicon on, it's working great for 2 years.

Didn't know there was a screw that can dislodge the pump from the mechanism, but with a jammed bracket that would have not helped.

I know I took pictures of the jammed bracket not sure if I still have them.

jnkn24

Thank you for the replies. I plan to spend some more time on this later today. Late last night I was able to disengage the pump to allow manual movement of the top. This allowed me to close it. Incidentally, the motor was able to close and secure the front latch just fine after pulling the top forward. So now the top is on and temporarily secure (minus the wire bobbles on the back-- which were taken off blindly when attempting to fold the glass window up to check the hydraulic fluid). At this point, I'm certain the problem is a jammed passenger side latch/bracket for the clamshell as dcdreschel and wucash suggested. The brackets on the passenger side are clearly pushing against the passenger side of the car much more than the driver's side. From the looks of everything, there is not a lot of margin for error with the moving parts-- making a jam of some kind almost inevitable.

jnkn24

I fought with it for another 2 hours this afternoon and came to the conclusion that the mechanism that lifts the clamshell on the passenger side must be broken or jammed. The driver side and rear of the clamshell begin to lift freely, but the passenger side will not budge. Is there a DIY on removing the passenger side mechanism? It's impossible to get a good look at everything, but I'd imagine there is a way to remove a few screws/bolts to release it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The nearest dealer is 150 miles away and my indy mechanic is overpriced and frankly not that knowledgeable.

Hurdigurdiman

I hope you did not attempt to move the cab top when the bobble guide wires were not attached.

dcdrechsel

There is a latch -the Auto Atlanta parts diagram does not show it .However if you google Porsche 996 clamshell latch diagram - you will find a good picture .

wucash

You need to remove the rear and front 10mm nuts. On a working clamsheel this take less than 1 min, on a broken one took me 30min. If you can't get to them then I can only envision cutting through the clamshell to get at them, or the back bracket. Remove the side that you can get up this will give you practice and you can angle it for better access on the other side, so you can slid on the back trunk to get to it or have more room to work in. You might need flexible extensions, mini ratches to get to the 2 screws.

You can also try cutting through hinges, but from what I remembered this would have been impossible for me. and potential to destroy way more parts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-2012-Po...BWt3ra&vxp=mtr You can get lots of good pictures by looking at parts on ebay to figure out how to remove certain parts.

From the picture bellow you can see where my jam was, depending on severity of it you might poke it with something sharp and be able to get it unstuck. The picture is in open position. The closed one will look different obviously.

frisbee91

I repaired my clamshell system a while back. This thread might have some useful info:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...more-pics.html

Here's another thread with some good info:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-top-part.html

I'd first try to get the clamshell open. There are three latches. It sounds like one is stuck. Try to remove the push-arm that moves the passenger side latch. After that is done, you might be able to move the clamshell.

If there are deeper problems with the drive mechanism, I would do as wucash suggested and try to remove the 4 10mm nuts that secure the clamshell to the hinges. (2 each side). Review the threads above for specifics.

jnkn24

Update on 6/15-- significant progress! I was able to free the clamshell by removing the 4 - 10mm nuts. This gave me a better look at everything and the ability to see the primary cause of my problem. The retaining clip on the end of a small brass arm on the passenger side had come off, and consequently so did the arm. After reconnecting the arm and installing a new clip, I also decided to refill my hydraulic fluid (which was low). I then reinstalled the clamshell, manually lifted it with the Porsche hex tool, closed the top with the button, but had to close the clamshell manually as it would not respond. So, as it stands, the top itself now operates flawlessly, but the clamshell and side flaps will not open or close via the button. In some threads, I've read that the top must be calibrated by the dealer. In other cases, I've read of people having success opening the top completely, closing the clamshell manually with the tool and then applying some pressure to the clamshell to ensure the hooks were locking the clamshell into place. From there, it was reported that the all functions of the top began to work again with no further calibration needed. In my case, I hear the relay and the clamshell motor turning, but no movement of the clamshell or side flaps. When I check the clamshell it doesn't feel "locked down" -- which makes me think if I can get some help and get it to lock into place, it might work as others have suggested. Otherwise, I suppose it will need to be calibrated. Any thoughts?

Hurdigurdiman

Again put the top in inspection position. That's half open. Remove the guide wire bobbles each side and the back shelf cover. WD40 on all moving parts. Inspect both sides for anything else that may have fallen free. (like that clip you found). Make sure the guide wires are back in place. Good luck.

dcdrechsel

You might have to reset the emergency screw .When you use the emergency hatch tool it disengages the motor from the lift/latch mechanism .The calibration is also likely off .

jnkn24

dscdreschel-- how do I reset the emergency screw? Is this something I can do myself or is it a dealer-only piece of the calibration. This is clearly the final step in getting my top to work properly again as everything else functions perfectly. I can hear the motor turning to power the clamshell, but it sounds like it is spinning in place-- which more than likely means the emergency screw needs to be reset. Thanks.

dcdrechsel

The screw is just a matter of backing it off until the drive is engaged -setting the potentiometer is more involved and requires the shop manual and a digital voltmeter .Then to be safe the top should be recalibrated -which requires Porsche diagnostic software or the durametric software .I would do the dealer because the Porsche software works better than the duframetric in this scenario .