99MY C2 Cabrio Convertible Top Controls

[engdavis]

I finally found the reason my Convertible Top Light was on all the time. When I bought my car the Convertible Top had a very small hole where it had been pinched by the clamshell cover latch. I just discovered that that latch no longer moves when the top is cycled up or down. It can be moved by hand and when I manually latch it with the top up or down the cable end slider does not move far enough to contact the micro switch. When I activate the switch by hand the light goes out and all is fine until I release the switch; then the light is back on again. There seems to be no resistance to moving the latch by hand regardless of the position of the top and it can be moved from either end of the cable. The latch engages the clamshell cleanly. The plastic along side the track of the controller in front of the micro switch is broken so it was clearly distorted as some point to cause this, although there doesn't appear to be any permanent deformity to the controller and the micro switch still works. I suspect the strain of cutting the top material overstressed the controller mechanism and something has jumped the track or, obviously, broken an internal component in the black plastic controller. I want to take the controller cover off to see if the repair is possible. The controller also has what appear to be hydraulic lines coming out each side that go to the clamshell actuators on each side of the car. I really don't want to disconnect these if I can avoid it because I feel it will make a mess with hydraulic fluid around and under the controller.

My questions are:

Has anyone attempted to remove or repair the controller?

Can the entire controller/reservoir pump assembly be removed as a single assembly far enough to allow access the the black controller mechanism?

If so, what's the best (cleanest) approach to getting it out?

Is there a way to remove it far enough to get the cover off without breaking into the hydraulic lines?

What kind of drive mechanism activates the cable that goes to the clamshell latch?

I will try to upload a picture of the area in question.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or help.

Best regards,

Mike D.