Hey All! I have a well-maintained
987.1
and the top on the driver’s side is causing me a conundrum. The lid doesn’t seem to close all the way; the lid panel isn’t quite flush with the bodywork when the top is raised, or when it’s closed. There aren’t any obstructions underneath, and no errors occur when raising or lowering it. I keep the joints well lubricated (once a year) with silicone grease.
Has anyone dealt with this before?
I’m attaching a couple of pics so you can see.
The panel is actually pulled down when the top is open or closed.
If you look there is a hydraulic connecting device coming off the bell-crank on the gearbox. The other end goes to a pivoting arm. It's PN 11 in the diagram below. The arm it connects to is PN 16.
I would be looking at that part #10 in the diagram above, or looking at the possibility that the top transmission has stripped a gear and the bellcrank on it (part 38 -4/7) isn't ending up in the right position.
The hydraulic part isn't cheap:
LEFT 98756157902
Was £246.40 Now £221.76
RIGHT 98756158002
Was £246.40 Now £221.76
I have seen them used at a semi-reasonable price on eBay. Best way to find it is Google the PN..
There is also a lot of troubleshooting available on the Pelican website at:
Porsche Boxster Convertible Top Repair - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article
If your convertible top is stuck up or down, the mechanism needs repair. In this article Wayne goes over all of the aspects of the roof and what is need to repair it.
www.pelicanparts.com
It covers the 986 and 987 tops - which are very close in design.
Agreed on potential misalignment of the transmissions...just a thought. I'm having something where one side of the deck lid was slightly raised -- and I was able to level it off by spinning the cable on one side to lower it.
Just remember - something caused the misalignment of the transmissions if that's what happened. If what caused it isn't found and fixed one might expect it to happen again.
Yup -- that's my thinking. Thanks for confirming,
@deilenberger
- As I said, I'm guessing it's the right side transmission -- so I think some exploratory surgery is in order -- as much as a PITA as it will be.
My
987.2
had the same problem (bought from the first owner whom I know).
Porsche
once had a recall of the soft top transmission/gear drive unit (on the screenshot of Deilenberger it is #1). During the complete disassembly, I noticed that the
Porsche
workshop at the time unfortunately did a sloppy job and didn't put #38 back on properly (teeth out of place thus damaged on #38). I ended up replacing a lot of parts: #3, #4, #7, #10, #11, #12, #19, #20, #24, #26, #28, #38. This set me back more than USD 1000 in parts, if I remember correctly.
The cover fits much better now. It was a lot of work that I hadn't looked for before. Actually I "just" wanted to run cables from the rear trunk (DME) neatly to the front making use of the cable channel (no way with the roll bar in place) and had the roll bar powder coat in anthracite. Once the roll bar was removed along with the top, it was clear that I would have to replace parts to account for the wear of 10 years (and did so very generously, see list above).
Good luck.
My top is currently in service mode (arms detached from convertible top transmissions to allow manual operation of top), and the lid panel sits the same way as yours. It makes sense that this would happen when the arms aren't able to pull it down into place, since mine was sitting flush when connected. I would guess that the plastic gears in one or both of your transmission(s) are cracked, causing them to slip and fall out of alignment.
