Anybody have issues with remoteTop not putting the top down in one go?

[monkeydust]

I sent an email to the makers of it but I thought that you guys might have some experience with this since I learned about it on here.

I installed remoteTop on my 2000 Porsche 911 C2 Cabriolet this morning and am having issues getting it to work properly. When I press the keyless entry device for a couple of seconds to put the top down, it typically starts and then stops before it gets very far. Sometimes it just gets the windows halfway down, sometimes it gets farther and gets the top most of the way down. When it stops, I have to hit the keyless entry device again and either put it back up and then try taking it down again or it finishes putting it down. It doesn't seem to have any issues putting the top back up though.

This happen to anybody else? Any ideas on how I can fix it if it is possible?

[70Sixter]

I have a hard time also. My wife doesn't. Better feel for how long to hit button I think. Be interested in hearing if there is more to it.

Not the remote top. The one that you have to be in the car to use.

Edited August 26, 2007 by 70Sixter

[monkeydust]

I have a hard time also. My wife doesn't. Better feel for how long to hit button I think. Be interested in hearing if there is more to it.

Not the remote top. The one that you have to be in the car to use.

Yeah, it could have something to do with how long I hold the button down. I got it to go down properly this morning with one try. I'll do some more experimentation with it to see if there's something to it.

[monkeydust]

Sigh.... No luck. The thing has only worked properly 2 out of about 15 attempts. Don't think I've had a problem with it going up and locking. Down just keeps stopping somewhere in the process. :(

[wross996TT]

I have the SmartTop not the remoteTop. Make sure the module is connected tightly. Did you use the velcro strap to secure it? Just disconnect and reconnect to make sure all is well. Lastly, I did have to have mine replaced once (similar symptoms).

[monkeydust]

I have the SmartTop not the remoteTop. Make sure the module is connected tightly. Did you use the velcro strap to secure it? Just disconnect and reconnect to make sure all is well. Lastly, I did have to have mine replaced once (similar symptoms).

I went out there a little bit ago and things had gone from bad to worse. I drove to the store and then tried to put the top up with the key and all it did was honk the horn (no top, windows or lock). The only thing that the keyless entry would do is honk the horn. Luckily the car was unlocked at this point.

I drove home and took the seat off and made sure the remoteTop was securely in place and it was. Still, it just honked the horn (also the interior lights were on and wouldn't go off). I took the remoteTop out and tested the keyless entry. Fortunately, it still worked as it used to. I put the remoteTop unit back in and tested it again. Once more, all I got was horn honk and interior lights staying on. I took the unit back out and put things back to normal. I think the unit is defective.

[capt601]

I had some issues with my cab top before and took it to my shop to have them look at it. There theory(and they say it has worked on many cars) is that the smart top gets in the way of the cab top from calibrating itself every so often. So they had me take out the smart top and operate it for afew day without the smart top unit in for a few days and then i put it back in. it operated normal after that, and has done so ever since.

my issue with the top is that it would sometimes not open or close at all, but if i waited a bit of time it would work normal.

hope that works.

[Kim]

theory(and they say it has worked on many cars) is that the smart top gets in the way of the cab top from calibrating itself every so often. So they had me take out the smart top and operate it for afew day without the smart top unit in for a few days and then i put it back in. it operated normal after that, and has done so ever since.

I have had the SmartTop and Remote Top installed since they came on the market .... some years, I guess. I have never had to remove them for any sort of top self-calibration. They both work fine.

[grahamtwatson]

theory(and they say it has worked on many cars) is that the smart top gets in the way of the cab top from calibrating itself every so often. So they had me take out the smart top and operate it for afew day without the smart top unit in for a few days and then i put it back in. it operated normal after that, and has done so ever since.

I have had the SmartTop and Remote Top installed since they came on the market .... some years, I guess. I have never had to remove them for any sort of top self-calibration. They both work fine.

I had problems with mine as well. I contacted SmartTop, and they were really excellent in helping me out, even to the extent of shipping me an extra unit to test with. It turned out that one of the pins in the connector on the Porsche control box had pushed in and wasn't making proper contact. It would be worth your while to take out the box the SmartTop plugs into, remove the cover and check the back side of the connector. It's really easy to see the problem from the back of the connector, and it's quite likely that this is the problem - the vibration of the top opening is enough to make the faulty connection fail, stopping the opening.

If this is the problem, all you need to do is push the pin back down and you should be good to go.

[monkeydust]

I called them today and I'm just going to send my remoteTop back and get it replaced with the smartTop. Yeah, the tech support guy I talked to was nice and I told him the problems that I was having. I think I'll be better off with the smartTop anyways because I wasn't too kean on how the remoteTop actually operated when it was working. If I didn't hold the keyless button down long enough, it just locked the doors, then when I pressed it again and held it down to do the hood, it saw the door was unlocked and tried to put the hood up. Kind of a pain to sort that out when you can't tell exactly what state your car is in since you are not in it.

[monkeydust]

Got smartTop in the mail today and got it installed in about 20 minutes. Seems to work just fine and hasn't gotten stuck partway like I experienced with remoteTop (with 4-5 tries to make sure it was working).

One thing I don't like about it, that I guess it's by design, is that if you start the up process and turn the ignition off, it stops putting the top up. I thought I would be able to pull up to a stop hit the up button and pull the keys out of the ignition and walk away while it continued to do its business. So, I guess I'll have to start the up procedure as I'm pulling up to park so it can be complete by the time I'm ready to pull the keys out and walk away.