Hardtop leak question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Bought a hardtop last year for my 2001S, and after a little adjusting it seems to fit perfectly. However, i noticed on the passenger side that during a heavy rain i get some leakage on the right side just a little before where the window and the top meet. So today after washing it i was able to see some dripping inside and thought it might be the seal, so i loosened the top and moved it back just a hair so that i could see the seal, and it was dry, so its not the front seal (top feels tight when latched down good. then i noticed on the right side where the there is the narrow strip that runs from front to back is loose in the front, and i think this is where the water is getting in from. so the question is this: how do i get that piece to re-seal? if i grab the front i think it could be pulled off. i am wondering if this is why the P.O. sold the top !?1!? so - how do i re-seal this strip? Thanks - phil

This is not tightly stuck down like the other side is.

since I did not receive any comments on this thread a month ago, I thought I would post an update. Maybe because there are few of these out there, and even less that have experienced a leak at the front edge, but I did find the problem and the solution!!!! Turns out the P.O. must have tried to fix this problem. 1. seals were on the wrong side and backward! so they trimmed the edge of the seal so it would fit better. 2. The clips that hold it down are not reusable, but were reused by the P.O., and since they no longer work, he tried to use silicone sealant to hold them down since the clips could not do the job. 3. He did not use the proper product to seal the top edge gap underneath. The seals /gaskets are marked making it pretty hard to put them on the wrong side! but he still managed to do it wrong. - the fix was pretty easy. I ordered new seals/gaskets and new clips for both sides. Total was like $90 from AA. found the parts diagram on the AA website, then called their tech support to see if anyone knew how to do this. interesting that George H. himself answered the phone, was able to explain how to go about popping them off and replacing them, Thanks George! I actually found the Boxster manual on line from the UK, shows how to take apart and put back together step by step the whole car, about 300 pages . anyway go the whole thing back together in like 20 minutes. Just thought i'd vent about the P.O. attempted fix, but he did sell it to me pretty cheap, know I know why !/!#@!. Thanks

Awesome to hear you fixed it, thanks for the info. I had a leak before and that was with the softtop, i fixed that by moving the windows forward a few milimeters. (i had replaced the regulators before and probably the windows were a bit off afterwards) Now i've put on the hardtop its leaking again and it looks like it's comming from roof covers like you described. I was curious if each side just uses one clip (986 563 721 00), or if more fastening clips are required. Also, can the cover strip just be pried off without a lot of force using plastic prietools? It would be greatly appriciated if you could let me know. Thanks in advanced.

thanks for the update. i need to go visit those guys at AA

Thanks for posting the solution. It is likely to help someone in the future. I have often been able to solve problems based on information that a helpful forum member posted several years ago.