TSP

1997 986 94,000 miles When the top is down, the power windows work fine. With the top up, they will go down but not up. If I raise them all the way with the top down, they drop the normal amount as the top is raised and from that point, they will only go down, not up. Someone had posted the exact same question on the 986 forum a couple of months ago and got no replies. This is my wife's sunny day driver and the nearest dealership is several hours away. I suspect this is something easy (limit switch gone bad), but I don't know where these live and don't want to have to drive it all the way to the dealership unless necessary.
Tim

Macster

Vaguely recall this being reported a long time ago and the problem IIRC is with the top latch switch.

The car's electronics doesn't appear to recognize the top is up and closed and latched.

There have been some reports of success cleaning the switch. In other cases the switch has to be replaced.

To remove the switch: Remove the center latch housing, pry it out with something like a small screwdriver maybe (the techs have an assortment of small hard plastic pry tools especially for these types of jobs (I found a nice set of these at an autoparts store)) and pop out the two black eyes. Behind each is a T-30 torx screw. Not sure if these screws have a security pip in their center or not.

When you have the switch out try cleaning the the switch with I guess a can of compressed "air" often used for blowing dust out of electronics. Or you might some electronics cleaner though I'm not familiar with the switch and if this makes sense. You'll be able to know once you have the switch out.

You might be able to test this without having to put the switch back in the car.

Turn the ignition on and use your finger to close the switch (duplicating what happens when the top is closed/latched) then operate the windows to see if they work as they are supposed to when the top is up and latched properly.

If the windows do not operate correctly the switch may be bad.

Be careful when you install the switch. Do not over tighten the screws.

Word is the retaining nuts are delicate and if one breaks to replace these may require removing the windshield.

Here's a link that talks about these retaining nuts:

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefo...andrcenternuts

TSP

Ten minutes and done.
A million thanks.

The little microswitch got cleaned with a contact cleaner pen and now it works fine. I suspect I ought to just buy the switch and have it handy for the next time it quits working, that'll be good insurance that it'll last for another decade.

Tim