996 Targa Hatch release & Targa roof both non-operational

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I live in Melbourne Australia and getting the run around trying to find answers and someone to look at the issues below: Got my 911 Targa (MY2003) just on 3 years ago. A few months ago, the hatch wouldn't suck down and close fully, unless the battery was disconnected and reconnected. Soon after (from memory), the Targa roof became sluggish to open and close, but repeatedly using the button would see it get open or closed eventually - it soon ceased to move altogether, fortunately it was closed. At the same time, the hatch won't open at all. disconnecting the battery and reconnecting makes no difference. I read there are delicate micro switches / adjustments / lub issues / ECU / etc. The roof was sliding fine before the problems started and is always cleaned and lubed annually by my regular specialist mechanic (Porsche trained). I presume the hatch closed sensor is blocking the roof sliding and vice versa. Do you have any suggestions? The best auto electrician, that premium Porsche dealers and my guy send all the work to, says 911 Targa roofs are the only thing he won't touch these days. This leaves me with no-one other than mechanics who will have a go and are likely to replace one thing after another until they finally get it working, all at my expense. I'm more mechanically handy than body/electrics, but would love to know if there is some diagnostics I can do to narrow the issues down a bit and would welcome all suggestions. Many thanks in advance, Frank.

Done some more testing. Checked and swapped fuse (D3 from what I can work out) but roof sliding and hatch are completely dead still - no clicks or sounds of any type with key fob button or buttons in car. I presume the hatch closed sensor is blocking the roof sliding and vice versa. I have tried to manually crank the roof in case it was a little open and hadn't triggered the micro switches (method as per emergency close procedure in Owners Manual using the Allen key/handles) but it's tight as anything and won't move open or closed (both motors). Currently, I have flicked the catch on the hatch and it is unlocked/open, and now won't close properly - no solenoid operation at all to suck it closed - so an open rear hatch and closed Targa roof - neither working with key fob button or switched inside car/on door sill

Hi, what you are describing is pretty much the same experience I had. First the roof would not close on the last 30% without a helping hand. To the point , that I did not even open it again on most of my drives. The rear hatch was then discovered to be disabled due to a very likely not triggered switch by the roof. Finally . I had enough and left it with my Indie ( I got 2 that usually work on it ) . The 1st , which was at that point my only 911 resource was very hesitant to even take the car in , time space etc and mentioned motors to be replaced. I then dropped it of with my other Euro indie, He works on all sort of exotic cars including his Dad's 911 4S , his own older Ferrari as well as my VW. I asked him if he could look at it and that was it. From then it went far worse than what we both expected. The whole roof had to come out ( this is why many Techs will not touch Targa's ) . The end result , a whole bunch of parts where bad. The roof , disconnected from the Motor would not even slide without 2 Man pushing like crazy . Everything was bound up. Lots of tubing and the actual cable had to be replaced , as they where worn down by a hole that created a sharp edge in the corner metal tube where it would run thru. Also , I was warned never to over-lube the system, as the cable is some mixture of metal coated with felt ( i guess) and the whole thing gets with time caked up . Is you may guess, most of the parts ( seals, tube,cable etc) are Porsche original parts only. He tried to find anything cheaper , but no luck and most of this comes in a Kit, that may has expensive parts in it that maybe are not needed. The only parts that where not changed, where the actual Motors, as he was able to retrofit the gears that where slightly worn down ( each of them will run about $650 from Porsche). However, I believe you can get used ones on eBay ( targa or Sunroof motor) for about $120-150. The one lesson he learned , he had another customer call him with a 993 targa ( I think its the same system) and he told him that it was impossible to provide an estimate until they get the whole thing apart, unless its a very simple fix (I don't think that is really ever the case on these roofs). Bottom line, the car was gone for a very long time and my initial fear of the cost actual doubled. If you ask around , the number given is most around 2k , however mine was double that without motors replaced. He even dropped $300 in labor, as I told him to take his time and just work on it when he is not busy. He also did keep my weekly in the loop with any updates, most where not that good at the time. In the end , he and the tech that worked on my Car showed me all the parts that where removed - it was clear then, why the roof did not open anymore or better - very slowly with help. In fact I am still amazed that it moved at all by what these parts looked like. As much as I love this roof, it is a very expensive thing 2nd to the motor if something goes wrong. Not even mentioning the fact , that most tech's will not touch it with a 30 feet stick. I hope for you, it will not turn as bad as my case ( the roof worked for 5+ years of my Ownership perfectly - well it got slower at the last Year) . 1st I would recommend to see if the roof slides easy with the Motors removed - at this point the need to be recalibrated after . If that ( moving the roof) feels like a workout already , be prepared for some parts replacement . Mostly , you can't tell what is needed . until the whole thing is out a that point . Sorry for been the likely bad news delivery guy.

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Okay, what you describe is almost exactly what happened to me and ultimately the diagnosis was indeed a failed microswitch in the rear hatch glass closing mechanism. I too even flipped the catch on the latch mechanism and discovered, much to my horror, that the glass would not suck down/close. Not cool! Do your interior lights stay on for a long time? I seem to recall mine did, because basically the failed switch is telling the car that the rear glass is open. Therefore the lights stay on and the roof won't retract. I can describe more at length, but ultimately the fix required taking it to the dealer for replacement of said microswitch and re-calibration of the rear latch mechanism. Here's a thread that helped me narrow down the problem that I was having: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...h-problem.html

Thanks for the reply Idaho911. Yes, my lights stay on - so disconnecting the battery at the moment - lucky I don't use it often. I have contacted a specialist, Porsche trained, now independent guy, based on the recommendations of locals. He's tied up homeschooling and with a backlog of customer cars, so It will take awhile before I can get in.

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Hi Behle,I need to have my roof repaired the same way. Do you have a shop you could recommend? I had my car at a few shops for over 5 months this year with no luck. The last shop quoted me $7200 to replace the targa frame, and when the part arrived they said unfortunately it wasn�t the part they needed and that actually the cost would be $15860.00 to replace the targa frame! When I said no, my water pump suddenly catastrophically failed on my way to pick up the car. Anyway it�s been a nightmare and I could really use a good shop. Any advise would be appreciated. I am in palos verdes so not so far from oc.

Hi Targameister. The shop I used is in Huntington Beach ( http://www.smseuropean.com ) 5842 McFadden Ave Huntington Beach CA 92649-1336 United States [phone removed]‬ Give Brandon a call and let him know Thomas recommended him. The bigger issue is, that without taking most of the targa roof apart, it is difficult to see what actually really needs done. Once that is cleared up, the parts mostly come only from Porsche as repair kits and likely will only require to be used partially. Brandon had my car for a while, I was in no rush and I think it was very helpful for him to figure out future inquiries . Most shops that have somehow done 1 or 2 of these, don't really like to touch them anymore.Please also take in consideration that all this was pre Covid-19 and who knows how hard it is to get parts quick.

[QUOTE=Behle;17707400]Hi Targameister. The shop I used is in Huntington Beach ( http://www.smseuropean.com ) 5842 McFadden Ave Huntington Beach CA 92649-1336 United States [phone removed]‬ Give Brandon a call and let him know Thomas recommended him. thank you so much! Sorry I just sent a pm as I didn�t get notified of your response here. Greatly appreciate it! yeah targas are tough to diagnose without having it apart. Mine was slowing down to the point where it wouldn�t close without a little �help�. Eventually it just jammed about half an inch down on the passanger side and wouldn�t budge at all. The motors still engage etc but it�s not going anywhere. This last shop actually had the roof off in anticipation for the new frame, poor guys. Just got the car back from my local Indy who did the water pump for me. He seems to think someone intentionally damaged it as the shaft was bent. I hope that�s not the case.