loud snapping/clacking noise

[jcaceres]

my son inadvertently tried to open the top while it was not fully unlatched (oops!), there were two loud noises from the back compartment almost immediatly when it started to try to open, and that was it! now I hear the motor humming but nothing happens. Am I in for a big repair, or is it just something that I need to snap back on?

thank you

without a clue, jorge

[jcaceres]

I now have a clue. After reading all of the postings regarding tops I found out that what happened is that the plastic joints in the push arm broke. Are these easy to replace? I can only find instructions on how to take them out but nothing on putting them back on.

[Tool Pants]

You have broken and just maybe bent parts back there. Do not operate the top. If you are very lucky it is just the red plastic joints. Put the top in the manual operation position. Instructions are in the owners manual and in the top section of this board. If you are very lucky you can replace just the joints, but you have to buy the entire push rod to get the joint.

Your failure is why I hesitate to tell people to buy the aftermarket metal joints, as much as I think it is a neat idea. The top motor would have continued to try to move the entire top assembly and things would break or get bent. Instead, the plastic joints break and the top stops moving preventing more damage.

If the transmission timing has not changed and it is just the plastic joints that broke, you might get away with just replacing the joints which are now made of white plastic.

You can unscrew the broken red joints then take the white joints off the new push rods and screw then onto your old push rods. There are a lot of threads on the push rod for the joint so you can adjust it so that both sides are the same.

If it was not so hot I would set up a work on cars day in San Jose before the October 9th tech session in Santa Cruz. Mark is the local top expert so he would have to be there to look at your car.

[mark in sunnyvale]

If you were good, and decided to stop operating the top as soon as the joint snapped, you might be in luck. Like Toolpants said, If the transmission are still in sync, you might be able to just unscrew the red ball joint and screw in a new one. Probably a 10 minute job. Of coure you can't buy the joint separately, that would be ridiculous. You need to buy the whole $45 set including the arm.

If you are close to Sunnyvale, you can swing by my place and I'll look at it. I can give you an idea what the cost of fixing it will be.

I now have a clue. After reading all of the postings regarding tops I found out that what happened is that the plastic joints in the push arm broke.  Are these easy to replace?  I can only find instructions on how to take them out but nothing on putting them back on.

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