Releasing push rod under tension

[Roadster 986]

Well, it seems I too have found that the convertible top can be temperamental. I've searched the posts in this forum folder, and they have provided me with a great deal of knowledge, but I am left with a question as to the least-cost method to proceed in repairing my non-functional top.

Here is a brief history as to the symptoms; the electric motor had seemed as if it was laboring somewhat, although with the car new to me there was no point of reference to know if that was unusual. The top had over-traveled when putting the top up day prior (it approached the latching position, and while still holding the button in the same position, the top reversed travel). That was operator error, the rocker switch button was held in past the point of the indicator light going out, The top was immediately reversed by toggling the rocker switch and latched up. The top had been lowered again, and later put back up after that without incident. On lowering the top today, a pop was heard on the driver’s side, and I took visual notice of things not being right.

If viewed from centerline of vehicle; the driver side V-lever top side connected to clamshell strut is at about the 1:00 position, and the driver side of the clamshell fully closed. Again viewing from vehicle centerline, passenger side V-lever was probably more like 12:00. Passenger side of clamshell was open about 3". After consulting several of the posts about top problems here, I proceeded to attempt popping the clamshell tie rod ends off from the V-levers. I managed to get passenger side off without much trouble, but the driver side is stubbornly refusing, as it is under significant tension. The passenger side of the clamshell now rests about 3/4" from closed; the convertible top appears to not be fully retracted and is obstructing further travel of the clamshell. Force has been applied in various manners to free the driver side pushrod from the V-lever, but not wanting to break things just yet I decided to yield before some expensive part does.

Hoping to be smarter than the machine, I supposed that operating the top via the rocker switch to raise it only momentarily would relieve the tension the driver side clamshell tie rod, but that is only providing brief, minute motions of the driver side V-lever, and nothing from the passenger side. I suspect that is a strong clue as to the real problem, but I am getting ahead of myself in attempting to diagnose that without first being successful in removing the driver side clamshell V-lever tie rod end,

I've thought about removing the clips on the opposite end of the clamshell strut, but my fingers aren't quite that long. I've also noted that the strut is very close to, if not already contacting the guide arm (98656155101), which seems reasonable considering it is in the closed position, perhaps even a bit beyond.

Any thoughts on an approach that offers a bit of finesse to get past this roadblock, or is brute force and potentially breaking things just the way it is? If so, I’m thinking the ball pin (98656168900), at $11.96 is expendable, and using a sawsall on it while taking care to vacuum up the filings while cutting might just be the sensible approach.

[Chris_in_NH]

there's really no trick to it. you just pry it off. you're not going to break anything, and if you do, anything that you break will be cheap to replace.

i can tell you with 99% certainty that your problem is the same as just about everyone else's on this forum - the cables.

as far as the top starting to move in the opposite direction while you were pushing the conv top button, that is not supposed to happen. when the conv top dash light goes off, the motor is supposed to be disabled. this could be a problem with the top relay, but i would worry about that later.

[fasterjames]

as far as the top starting to move in the opposite direction while you were pushing the conv top button, that is not supposed to happen. when the conv top dash light goes off, the motor is supposed to be disabled. this could be a problem with the top relay, but i would worry about that later.

Mine has always done this. It goes back up about 1cm but the light stays on the whole time and it always snaps closed perfectly. It is a replacement top, could this movement cause me future trouble?

[Chris_in_NH]

as far as the top starting to move in the opposite direction while you were pushing the conv top button, that is not supposed to happen. when the conv top dash light goes off, the motor is supposed to be disabled. this could be a problem with the top relay, but i would worry about that later.

Mine has always done this. It goes back up about 1cm but the light stays on the whole time and it always snaps closed perfectly. It is a replacement top, could this movement cause me future trouble?

it sounds like the transmissions are not timed properly, and that there is some extra 'gear' (or distance) for the transmission to go before it ends the cycle. either that or there may be a problem with the conv top relay.

are you saying that the dash light never goes off?

i don't think that it would cause any problems, either way.

[Roadster 986]

there's really no trick to it. you just pry it off. you're not going to break anything, and if you do, anything that you break will be cheap to replace.

i can tell you with 99% certainty that your problem is the same as just about everyone else's on this forum - the cables.

as far as the top starting to move in the opposite direction while you were pushing the conv top button, that is not supposed to happen. when the conv top dash light goes off, the motor is supposed to be disabled. this could be a problem with the top relay, but i would worry about that later.

Cheap being relative I'm hoping to avoid breaking something more expensive than parts that can readily be replaced without much cost or time. This post by Tool Pants on 6/3/07 indicated the potential to break the V-lever using a pry bar to pop the tie rod ends, I’d rather sacrifice a $12 part to avoid destroying a $41 one. Using a lot of force already, with a lot of metal flexing but nothing coming unglued yet. I suspect the cables as well, just having a bit of an adventure in getting to the point of determining that for sure.

I was wondering about the operating sequence; seems it should have been easy to utilize the limit switch for full extent up and down to disable power to the electric motor. Not entirely positive, but I think the light may have gone off and then come back on when raising the top the other day, without disabling the motor. I had to wonder when reading the owner’s manual in more detail (afterward, of course) and finding that the instructions state “operate rocker switch continuously until indicator light in the instrument panel goes off”. Maybe that was just the technical writer’s way of explaining what the controls are intended to do. I was following the thread on the Bentley service manual for the Boxster, guess I'll order one of them up so as to have some wiring diagrams from which to cipher out the intended logic behind the hardware.

[Roadster 986]

there's really no trick to it. you just pry it off. you're not going to break anything,...

Cheap being relative ...

OK - gave it another try before deliberate destruction, and managed to get the driver side clamshell pushrod off from the V-lever. Used several pry bars, modified one with a notch to work (but it didn't), and ended up using an open end wrench to pry directly underneath the ball end.

Now for the troubleshooting; 1st off I see no plastic whisker on my limit switch for the clamshell to contact telling the motor it is at the end of travel, just the metal spine down inside the plastic housing. Ah-ha - there is a connector to the driver side transmission that seems to have replaced the whisker perhaps? Without it connected, the motor would not run. Reconnected temporarily, and verified motor got voltage, and ran both directions.

Found root cause of problem to be the passenger side cable (Chris_in_NH was absolutely right), it was nearly frozen up in the sheath, and would barely turn when forced with a wrench across the flats of one end. Ends were twisted, probably more so during the laboring I was noticing on recent top up/down exercises. Looks like all it will take is a new set of cables and I'm back in the fun part of Boxster ownership (i.e. my wife can drive it again).

[fasterjames]

are you saying that the dash light never goes off?

No the light goes off as soon as the motor finishes but the top goes back up for a split second before it stops.

This morning I stopped the travel (by letting go of the switch of course) at the lowest point, closest to the windshield and the light stayed on. When I hit the switch again for less than a second the light went out and the top raised about a centimeter.

Should be adjusted or am I fine leaving it like this?

[Chris_in_NH]

are you saying that the dash light never goes off?

No the light goes off as soon as the motor finishes but the top goes back up for a split second before it stops.

This morning I stopped the travel (by letting go of the switch of course) at the lowest point, closest to the windshield and the light stayed on. When I hit the switch again for less than a second the light went out and the top raised about a centimeter.

Should be adjusted or am I fine leaving it like this?

when the light goes off, are you able to close and latch the top? if so, i think it's fine to leave it like that. it sounds like the transmission is off by a split-second. has the top been repaired before (by previous owner maybe)?

[fasterjames]

when the light goes off, are you able to close and latch the top? if so, i think it's fine to leave it like that. it sounds like the transmission is off by a split-second. has the top been repaired before (by previous owner maybe)?

Thanks Chris. Yeah, it matches right up and the top was replaced by the previous owner with a GAHH Top.

[Chris_in_NH]

when the light goes off, are you able to close and latch the top? if so, i think it's fine to leave it like that. it sounds like the transmission is off by a split-second. has the top been repaired before (by previous owner maybe)?

Thanks Chris. Yeah, it matches right up and the top was replaced by the previous owner with a GAHH Top.

well, there's your answer. ;)