removing Targa panel how to?

[G60KG]

Hi All, I'm fairly new here and hoping someone has the technical knowlwedge I need to potentially fix the intermittent leak I have on my Targa. Basically we have had a few days of heavy rain and the result was a puddle under the rear driver's side seat (UK car). I had the chance to investigate a little more today. There are drain tubes on either side of the glass panel. Problem is that the drain tubes are part of the lower weather seal which surrounds the whole glass panel frame. I've attached pics of the damaged drain tubes, I think I can tackle this issue myself without upsetting the mechanism settings but need some confirmation.

See drain tube circled. It is part of a seal which runs round the top of the metal frame indicated by the blue bits

this is a pic of the drain tube on the other side. It is damaged too however it is much longer so manages to chanel the water correctly

Can the glass panel and frame be lifted off the car by removing the circled bolts on both sides without disrupting the mechanism?

[G60KG]

I've searched and searched but can't find anything on 996 Targa's. Can someone help?

[Loren]

Clean and test the drains - you really really don't want to take the Targa roof apart. Even some techs can not make it work right again after that.

[G60KG]

as you can see from my pics there is no drain to clean as its fallen off. I tried calling my two nearest OPCs for prices on the seals but could not get hold of their parts departments. I've been reading over the repair manual again and I'm pretty certain the the glass panel and frame will come clean off the car by undoing the bolts highlighted. I am also going to get a quote from the main dealer for changing the seals to determine whether or not its worth the savings in doing it myself.

[infrasilver]

When they install the Targa roof at the factory they do it through the windscreen, that's the easy way, but you will need to remove the screen. There is probably another way that's not so easy, but finding answers may be hard to come by as not many have removed the roof. OPC will charge a fortune for this work and even they won't of done the work before.

There is a place in Wigan (UK) that's breaking a Targa, My advice would be to insert/glue a tube into the shortened drain to extend it and see how that goes.

[G60KG]

Well I've ordered the seal from Porsche, it costs £223 and their system in the dealership shows them the correct picture with the drain tubes of the seal shown where as anything online does not. The part number is 99656245501. I am going to undo the 8 bolts which hold the 4 mounting plates to the roof panel frame, this is only the sliding portion of the targa. I will not be disturbing the roof filler panel in front of the glass panel nor will I be undoing any of the sliding mechanism. Thats the plan anyway. If I am successful I will post loads of pics and do a nice write up as its a forum first. If I fail you shall never hear from me again :oops:

[infrasilver]

That would be good to see a write up as there might be a few more Targa roof problems in the future now they are starting get a little older.

[G60KG]

Received the seal today. Its got a drain hole towards the front corners too. Hopefully I'll get time over the weekend to get stuck into this

rear drain tube

Top of rear drain tube

Front drain hole

[G60KG]

Well I tried to tackle this over the weekend but ahd to admit defeat. I was right about about the glass frame as I managed to detach it from the drive mechanism but I just couldn't manoeuvre it out of the car. I didn't want to push my luck so put it all back together and its all working as it should. I decided to test the drain tubes on the whole roof module. I noticed that there was no water dripping out on the side inquestion so chances are the the drain tube is blocked and water is ending up in the car.

If I remove the rear PU will I be able to see the drain tube outlets so I can try unblocking them?

[infrasilver]

A lot of people use compressed air to unblock the tubes, just try to blow them through. Off the top of my head I can't think where the rear drains exit. I think the front ones are behind the wheel arch liner at the front so could be the same at the rear.

[G60KG]

Problem with getting air through the rear tubes is that you can't get anything down the runners to reach the tube. Maybe I need to look at how to remove the fabric trim covering the rear of the runners.