Why did my roof break?

[ped]

The roof on my 98 2.5 has just broken.

I was putting the roof up and there was this loud clunking noise. I looked in the rear view mirror to see the clamshell judder and twist. I stopped to have a look and found an arm in the mechanism had broken at one end. It was just lying in the base of the hood recess. I've since found out this arm is called the push bar spring. It broke by the hole where it fixes to the hinge lever.

On further investigation, I also found the plastic end of main bow push bar is also broken. I've no idea if that was broken already or if it happened at the same time. I understand that it's common for this part to fail but not the push bar spring?

Does anybody know why this happened? Could it happen again?

Any tips for replacing these parts would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Pete

[magcuda]

common problem on 97 and 98s when you fix it use the updated parts, I've seen them rip the mounting sheetmetal

[ped]

Just spent the whole weekend working on the roof, AND IT STILL DOESN'T WORK!!!!!

I've followed the advice found on here and the procedure in the workshop manual but after spending TEN HOURS fiddling and scratching my head, my roof is now stuck in the up position.

I bought both the pieces that were broken from my OPC, the push bar spring and the main bow push bar. Following the advice on another thread I disconnected the other (right) main bow push bar, synced both transmissions with a drill, snapped on the new push bar spring and lowered the clamshell to check operation.

As the clamshell closed it made the same popping sound it did before. I'm sure this isn't right, so I then tried to lift the clamshell to have another look. BUT when I pressed the button, instead of raising the clamshell the motor kept turning the opposite way and pulled the clamshell tighter and tighter until the motor couldn't turn any more. With a drill on the cables I managed to release each side in turn and pull the clamshell up manually.

I then thought it may have something to do with operating the clamshell and not the roof, I connected it all up only for the clamshell to get stuck again.

I then took the transmissions out and checked inside to see if I could spot anything, I couldn't. While the transmissions were out I also took the opportunity to shorten the outer caasing on the cables. Before I put the transmissions back in I used the marks on the transmission cases to be double sure that both motors were synched. I put it all back together and tried lowering the clamshell again. Still got the popping noise.

I checked all the micro switches with a test meter. They seem fine.

I got to a point when it seemed to be working but still popping as the clamshell closes. After ten hours I was disappointed but at least it worked. Later in the evening I went to put the car into the garage and thought I'd try the roof one last time. I unhooked the latch (the windows went down), pressed the down button and heard the motor turn. Then it stopped and clicked like it was stuck again. I pressed the button the other way and the motor just clicked again. Now my roof is stuck up.

I lay awake in bed thinking about the problem and the only thing I haven't touched is the relay. Could this be the problem?

Please help. I'm a desperate man. Summer in England is very short.

Pete