'99 Cabrio top piston leak

So, as per my earlier post, I was about to top off the hydraulic fluid for the convertible top, and decided to recheck the pistons for signs of crud. Well, no crud, but I was able to feel fresh clean fluid all along the driver's side piston, whereas the passenger's side piston was dry. Seems a clear sign that the seals on the one are gone, and it might be a wasted effort to just refill the reservoir. So would anyone have any good leads on where to get the piston rebuilt? Anyone done the replacement themself? Any good DYI videos out there in case I try to make the swap myself?

Never-mind. I found a good recent thread on this.

Top Hydraulics in Oregon.

Same price as the Cabriolet Hydraulics group in Florida. They pretty much refused to do a single side and pushed hard for both rams. From another thread, I learned about ckunins on ebay who's been rebuilding these for 15 some years now for $225. Of course I would need to remove mine first and send it, so I face either two trips to the shop (90 minutes away) or I remove the one myself, send it to him, and either myself or the shop reinstall it - a possibility as I do need to get in for my annual oil change anyway. He has a decent DYI video showing how to remove it. Looks like I would need to decide if I buy a ratchet wrench, or go in from the rear speaker panel.

I used him and he was very responsive and very quick turnaround. The cylinders are really easy to remove with basic tools. And, I would also encourage you to do both. False economy to just do one. Do it once and be done.

Did you remove the rear speaker to access that end of the piston? His video seemed to show it was possible to reach/remove that end with a ratchet wrench. Which of course I don't have.

I did, was much easier. And yes a ratcheting open end/box wrench is key. They are cheap and worth having. Just an aside, I obviously don't know your financial situation, but if you are going to have one of these cars and assume you can do it on a budget, it will bankrupt you. They are pretty easy to work on and this site is a wealth of information and willing people to help. So, if you have any inclination to do your own work, jump in! With a tutorial here and on YT, I had my pistons removed in 1/2 hour.

Some of the best advice in the fewest number of words I have seen on this site: Shout out to Cape996 "I obviously don't know your financial situation, but if you are going to have one of these cars and assume you can do it on a budget, it will bankrupt you."

Quotes source post: 20142756

When I bought it, based on sound advice from this forum, I created a dedicated reserve/maintenance/repair fund equal to (slightly larger than) what I paid for the car. I just hate throwing money away if I can avoid it. This seems like the kind of project I should be able to tackle.

Possibly a dumb question... I was able to get both pistons removed, and had it in my head that I could get the cam motor mounted again and get the top to latch and drive it until the rebuilt rams came back. And when I went to close the rear cam, it closed just fine, but the top wouldn't latch. I wouldn't have thought the latch would have been dependent on having the hydraulics attached. It this actually the case? Am I stuck with the top open 1" and unable to latch shut until I reinstall the rebuilt rams?

Posting this for others who might find this thread useful, this is probably the most helpful video I could find: the most helpful video I could find . Most videos skipped over a lot of the disassembly steps, probably thinking they were obvious, but this guy runs a continuous video from start to finish. (As a bonus, he's removing the cylinders from a 1999 - there are some plug variations across the years of 996.) I struggled with one of the plugs, and it was helpful to see how it came apart so I didn't risk prying it from the wrong seam. I didn't realize he's working on a right-hand drive 996 until the very end and I (at first) couldn't figure out why the top control censor guides were on the "passenger" side. As to the sensor guide, I did ask Craig Kunins (who will be rebuilding my rams) how I get the top to latch so I can drive during the week or so I'm without the cylinders, and he sent me this image and message: Control slot for hydraulic ram positioning censor "If you need to use your car with the cylinders out, leave the pump unplugged, tape the driver's side sensor arm in place, ignition on, right hand pulls the top to the windshield while your left hand holds the dash switch to close." I haven't actually tried this yet as I'm hoping to clarify what position the sensor arm needs to be taped to. It's supposed to rain all week and I brought our winter car back out of storage, so this might not be an issue, but if I got into a jam during reinstall it would be good to know I can make it drive-able for the 90 minute trek to my mechanic.

Thanks! I'm getting my hydraulic rams back from Cabriolet Hydraulics today so this is timely.

Quotes source post: 20150385

Did you empty the reservoir before replacing the rebuilt pistons? The guy rebuilding mine just let me know the fluid was pretty dark from seal dry-rot particles, and recommended I empty the fluid, clean it out with some fresh fluid, empty, and fill again. I was hoping I didn't have to remove the reservoir, but I don't know how else to do this.

The level in the pump was already below the ports but there was some hydraulic fluid leaking when I remove the cylinders. A Pig Mat under the pump took care of the problem. All I had to do on reinstall was fill the pump reservoir and run the top a couple of times. Just make sure you add enough fluid to the pump and you won't have add more.