Help! I jammed my top transmissions? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

So long story short is that I was replacing the entire soft top with another one. It's just 3 bolts on each side and you disconnect the soft top from the V levers. I did everything fine except for when I was putting the clamshell back down (no top attached) I believe I held the button down for too long and my clamshell was stuck (could hear the motor but no movement). I somehow disconnected the clamshell from the v levers that were locked in place to get it free but now when I use the button the motor sounds fine but the 2 levers dont spin. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Youtube search: 986 softop transmission. There is a 22 minute video by fupabox that explains the entire soft top transmission system. Towards the end of the video, he will show how to get the transmission aligned correctly. Basically, take off the boomerang arms, and you have to align the line to the arrow.

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Thanks I Just watched the video and learned how to align them but my problem is that when I hit the switch nothing moves I just hear the motor. Maybe the cable is disconnected? I'll have to check tomorrow

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IIRC there are some plastic gears in the transmissions. They may have stripped.

how much do you guys think the dealer would charge to fix it. Or should I try to do it myself or go to an indy shop

What year is your car. The early cars have a switch at the b pillar driver side. With no top bow depressing that switch the relay may be confused on timing. I'd try depressing the switch then attempt to open top. Of course this won't work on a later car.

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'99 2.5L. The top light on the dash is always on too not sure which switch is triggering it I thought it might be for the clamshell. But if I hear the motor moving that would mean its still working right. I have to take another look at it

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Okay your car is the early model. My post above should work. These cars have switches latches and relays to make sure nothing breaks. The relay has to know where the top is before the switch will work. So briefly, clamshell fully closed depresses the switch at the motor. The top when fully closed depresses the b pillar switch. When both limits are reached the top open indication on the dash will turn off. The relay will then allow opening the top. With only the clamshell switch depressed the relay thinks the top is fully open (b pillar switch is not depressed) and will not allow further opening. 1 set parking brake. 2 close clamshell 3 depress b pillar switch. Top open light on dash should go out. 4 attempt to open top. 5 drink a cold one.

Update: I took off both v levers and pressed the button to lower the top and only the drivers side was spinning. So I'm pretty sure this means the passenger side transmission is broken and needs to be replaced. Should I try to replace it myself or take it 5k somewhere? Could it be something else?

I aligned the driver side notches. Here's a Pic Passenger side was stuck like this

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I had this problem with my car. It would be a good ideal two replace both metal gears $100 ebay or amazon. You can do this take your time and you'll find how with the help of youtube and this forum. Good luck

I rebuilt both of mine. My gears were plastic at least the one that failed. It’s not really all that hard to do. As was suggested the 101 project book and a few utube videos and I had the courage to dive in. The top runs like a well oiled machine now

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Thanks I think I'll order the metal gears and replace them both myself. Whenever it's done I'll post again and hope it's fixed. The hardest part will probably be getting the two back in alignment.

Getting back into alignment is not hard but took me a bit of trial and error. Just attach a drill to the motor end of the transmission drive cable for each side to align.

97-99 have different transmissions than the 2000+. The 97-99 have one big gear but the gear does not have teeth that go all the way around. It's only like 70%. Think of like a pie with a piece missing. Or something like PacMan. Your gears have rotated into that dead zone and will not reengage unless you manually turn where the V attaches to. The 97-99 can be a PIA because of that. You need to set both transmissions at the right spot or they will fall into that dead zone again when you cycle the top. Set them too far and it will rotate the gear into the dead zone towards the end of the cycle. My advice is to remove one of those transmissions and take a look inside it. Then you'll see what's going on. The 97-99 don't use that plastic gear that strips out on the 2000+.

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Aw man I hope I didn’t buy these gears for no reason. I’ll pull the transmission and take a look inside.

There's a worm gear that the cable attaches to inside the transmission. Those are know to come loose or break also.

Well I pulled the right side transmission and re aligned the gear and everything was working until the end of the cycle the clamshell got stuck down again. After popping the clips off and inspecting the transmissions this time the left one now isn't moving. I'm ready to get a shop or the dealer to fix it for me at this point. I'm Wondering if a dealership would be able to re-allign it.

Does anyone have any idea why the top works perfectly putting it back up but putting it down the motor doesn't stop when the clamshell closes and it locks itself down? It stops the motor when putting the top up but the light doesn't turn off going down and the clamshell does push down the switch.

believe there are limit switches for both directions.