TomFromCT

I have a 2007 C4 Cab with about 30,000 miles. Recently I have been getting an intermittent "Convertible Top Not in Limit Position" warning when the top is down. The warning seems to go on and off with bumps in the road. I suspect that the sensor that tells the car that the top is down is dirty or loose. But, I can't find the sensor. Does anybody know where it is?
I recently had the car into the dealer for regular service and reported the problem. Naturally, they could not duplicate it. They did say that there were no codes thrown and that they recalibrated the top mechanism. But then the second time I drove the car after the service visit, the warning reappeared.

spgmfo

I had a similar problem for the better part of a year before the dealer finally correctly diagnosed the issue. I have an '05 C2S w/ ~ 29K miles. Mine had the identical error message. I could not lower or raise the top without first going for a drive. It was sporadic in nature and wasn't able to be reproduced at the dealer....naturally. I thought it was a sensor, too. It turned out the the hydraulic pump was not getting up to pressure fast enough and it would throw the code, thereby halting the process. If the pump doesn't reach the necessary pressure within 1 second, the process is terminated. Since the pump was replaced, I've had absolutely no problems. The pump cost about $1K. Since I had been in to the dealership 4 times previously with the same issue, they waved the labor charges.

Good luck in getting this resolved. It was truly a diagnostic PITA.

smokestack20

Tom,
I have the exact same problem in my 06 C2S.

I've been lucky, I guess, in that I cure the problem by raising the top about half way then retracting it again. Basicly trying to "reset" it. Again, I'm lucky it works. The top stays down for the summer so I'm not fiddling with it much.

I'll add that the dealer did check it out, and like you they found no problem. Hope someone has an explanation/solve for this as I fear my goofy reset cure will only last so long.

Ken

TomFromCT

Guys,
Thanks for your replies.
I have not had any problems raising or lowering the top on demand. But the pump problem is intriguing and I'll be aware of that as the issue progresses.
Smoke, your description sounds more like my problem. I usually park my car in the garage with the top down and then drive to work that way. But I raise the top when parking at work to protect from errant (?) bird droppings. When I lower it to go home, sometimes I get an error message and sometimes I don't. I have tried your method of raising slightly and then lowering. This clears the message about 75% of the time, but not always. if it does clear, it will reappear at a random future time upon hitting a bump in the road.
Does anyone know where the sensor is that tells the car the top is down?

smokestack20

Tom,
Sounds as if we have the exact same problem... including the same results from the dealer. Its not that they didn't try, they just couldn't find the problem.

I may be a little better off, in that only once did hitting a bump cause an error message. The top has now been down for the last 2 months without issue.

I appreciate "spgmfo"s hydralic pump effort, could be the pump isn't drawing the top into the bed fully, but it sounds to me to be a "fussy" sensor. Unfortunately I don't have a clue where it'd be located. By the way, visually the top appears to be bedded properly. I even took some measurements and everything appears to be alligned (dealer had to have checked as well)
I'll keep digging on this and keep you informed. Edgy from CA has a 06 cab, and might have some insight. Of course he has never had to use his top because we all know it never rains in California.

KenFromMA

silverbullete55

The same problem happened with my top "convertible top not in limit position" plus another warning "failure convertible top ctrl.". This was happening intermittently then all of a sudden the top would not work. Took at close look at the clam shell and noticed that the latch that locks the clam shell was not properly seating and throwing the warning. You will be able to see this if you use a flash light and locate the latch at the interior rear of the car. Took some pictures with my phone camera of the warning messages and emailed them to my dealer. They fixed the problem by reseting and syncrnizing the module. Works great now.

Caughtacab911

I've had the same problem for a few weeks and have a dealer appt next week. My situation is complicated by the fact that a year or so ago I had the aftermarket Smart Top chip installed, which allows one-touch raising and lowering. I assumed that that mod had something to do with the warning so in a way it's comforting (sorry :-) to hear that others with stock systems have the same issue.

My 05 has 69K miles so it happened later, but I have the same symptoms as described above, including bump activation. When I'm driving and it comes on I consider it more of an annoyance than an actual problem. My response is to ignore it and wait until I'm under 30 mph somewhere then momentarily activate the top-up function, then reverse and bring it back down. That seems to properly seat the top and "quiet" the warning for the rest of my drive.

I will report back when the dealer has a look.

Gene
_________________________________________________
05 C2S cabriolet, arctic silver/black/full leather/chrono plus/nav/bose/tooki/sat/SRX = exhilaration
01 MB E320 4Matic wagon, midnight blue/beige = winter driver/summer hauler

NA011

No problems with my '06 after 5 1/2 years. I treat my top switch like I treat the window switch. About every 10th time opening or closing I hold the switch for an extra 15-20 seconds in hope that it resets the memory. So far so good.

TomFromCT

Gene,
For the record, I also have the Smart Top module installed. I put it in shortly after delivery and it has been trouble free for almost five years - until now.
Still not sue what's going on, but will look at the rear latch per silver's suggestion.

Caughtacab911

I finally got in to my dealer and they fixed the problem I'd been having with error messages on my convertible top. All it was was a computer reset and things are fine. Have had no problems since. They didn't charge me either; I'm out of warranty but I guess it was a simple fix. Life is good again - even though my top down weather days here in New England are numbered!

Gene
_________________________________________________
05 C2S cabriolet, arctic silver/black/full leather/chrono plus/nav/bose/tooki/sat/SRX = exhilaration
01 MB E320 4Matic wagon, midnight blue/beige = winter driver/summer hauler

KAS10

Tom, did you ever resolve this problem? I have the same issue on my 2007 Cab and the dealer has unsuccessfully tried to fix it five times... Thankfully, the first few attempts were under warranty so they keep trying without charge. If possible, I would like to point them in th right direction.

SharperFl

I have a 2006 997 cab s. bought it new in 2005. I had the car in to the dealership 3 or 4 times for the message convertible top not in limit position and had to drive around with the warning light and alarm going off. The dealer never was able to fix it and now that the car is out of warranty the top will not move at all. I believe it was a proplem with the motor all along after finding this forum. Has anyone contacted PorscheUSA about this problem? I did and told them about the situation and they told me to take it to the dealership and talk with the service manager to see how he would handle it. I am taking it in tomorrow and will let you know what happens.

Crossfire190

I am reviving this old thread. I was having similar issues with the "cab top not in limit position" error message. When I took the car out of winter storage, the top moved very slowly and I didn't think it would even open fully. I had previously taken it to the dealer and they couldn't duplicate the problem (of course). To resolve the problem, I put the top into the maintenance position and lubricated every hinge point that I could find with a lithium spray. It now works flawlessly. It opens smoothly and no error codes anymore.

Kaychub

Hi Everyone,

I've searched high and low for a solution for this, I can't seem to find a solution for it.

I bought this 997 C2S Cabrio recently, the hydraulic cylinders were bad, so the top was lowered and raised manually.

I changed out the cylinders and pump for some used ones and the top lowers and comes back up nicely, so they work. However the motor that raises and lowers the rear deck lid doesn't activate, so the process is not completed. The motor works, I know this because I isolated the motor and connected a battery to it and it works fine in both directions, but it doesn't engage the various gears and mechanisms attached to it, there's a plastic bit attached to the motor I reckon something needs to speak to that to engage the various gears in it to move things around.

Dash error says Convertible top not in limit position and Durametric fault code says Convertible 8030 maximum time, so I'm thinking it's just one of those annoying and little thing I'm missing that has a problem.

Does anyone have any idea what could be up with this?

Kaychub

^^I've managed to sort this out, everything works well now, but the error code is still there.

I had to change the repair kit on the Clamshell motor, and calibrate the potentiometer with a multimeter as Durametric did not pull up the potentiometer values, installed the kit and everything works very well, except the limit pos. error is still on the dashboard.

Took it apart again today recalibrated and still nothing....