1997 Boxster top issue, goes down about 6 inches then up and down and

[suburban99]

1997 Boxster windows drop when unlatched, top goes about 6 inches down then stops, then top goes up and down about 3 inches but will not go all the way down or all the way up. Pushing the down button or up button makes no difference. I have had problems with the latch micro switches in the past and have a new switch coming from Sunset. Any ideas?

[1schoir]

It sounds like a malfunction of your B-Pillar microswitch.

You can trip it manually to see if the "back and forth" cycling goes away.

You can find the switch at the very bottom of the B-Pillar on the driver's side, just below the rim of the half-cylindrical, carpet-covered trim piece behind your left shoulder as you sit in the driver's seat.

Here is a pic:

Regards, Maurice.

[suburban99]

Thanks Maurice, what is the function of this switch? I did not know it was there...

[1schoir]

The B-Pillar microswitch gets depressed (i.e., closes) when the top is nearing its fully closed position. As the convertible top frame travels towards the fully closed position, the B-pillar part of the frame presses the switch closed. As the top opens, and the convertible top frame travels back, the switch is open. The closing of the switch tells the double relay that the top is almost closed, then the black lever microswitch gets pressed down by the clamshell and, following what Porsche calls the "after-running time", power to the electric motor is cut off and the idiot light goes out at the same time. On the later Boxsters (i.e., 2000 and later) those two switches were moved to the INSIDE of the transmission on the driver's side.

Regards, Maurice.

[dsulu]

I am sort of experiencing the same issue.

How do you manually "trip it"? And also, how I tell if in fact this is defective, voltage etc?

any help is greatly appreciated