Convertible Back Latch not working.

[lukaswlu]

ok, so few days my top stopped retracting, I hear it make a noise for few seconds and then stop. The back lid will not start retracting. Few days ago the roof would fail to open sporadicly, usually will little push of the top it would go down. That stopped yesterday.

Today I started troubleshooting.

1. Had a helper push down on the lid that worked 2-3 times then it stopped.

2. Figured the back latch is not opening. It would open maybe 1 inch and then stop. tried removed the latch with no luck as the lid was closed.

3. Figured I can get the roof to half open but either starting a calibration in PST2, or disconeting the gear using emergency open and pushing the roof out. (not sure how that would work if the fron latch wasn't working properly. I guess there must be manual override there too).

3.1 oh yeah the emergency procedure did not work.. i would go counter wise till I could go no more. full restistance and no movement on the back latch.

4. removed the trunk latching piece thinking maybe that is rubbing against it.. no luck...

5. the wire coming from the drive link looked little bend.. tried straightening it out.. not luck

6. removed the latch from the pivit screw thing maybe there is the resistance but no... so right now the link is just sitting on the back shelf. it still moves 1 inch.. but it won't complete the movement... if I could get it to somehow complete the movement at least I could get the top down and enjoy the nice weather... doing a bypass in the relay...

right now with the deck closed I can do so little. With the roof up half way there is some room to work but it might be hard or impossible to take off the lining in the back and start fixing that.

so 2 questions.

1.Is there a way to force the back lid up.. I had a boxster before you could disconnect few rods and manual move it up.

2. What is my next step?

I am thinking.

1, drive link needs greasing.

2. new drive link

3. new drive link motor... this one is weak? but it worked fine as soon as the drive link extends its 2-3 inches.

4. maybe the drive link is tangled up somewhere that's what it sometimes works and others not. at the beginning of today when I pressed down on the lid to open the roof worked perfectly few times.

I am also missing the two little hinge brackets:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/99-RWD-Porsche-911-Carrera-Convertible-996-R-L-Rear-top-hinges-brackets-94-403-/280945671570?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4169aabd92&vxp=mtr

they appear to be cosmetic only. as the roof worked fine before I realized those are broken and took them out. they must have been broken before I bought the car as i can't even find some of the plastic pieces.

Edited May 12, 2014 by lukaswlu