987.1 Convertible Top ball joint repair created new problems

This is a 2007 Boxster base , 987.1 . Went to an appt and dreaded bang occurred as I tried to close the top. Top was fully open but windows were dipped like it was closing. Message displayed was Convertible top not in limit position. It took some finagling to be able to pop off the motor ball joints (the two plastic ball joints were both broken) and manually open clamshell and top. Everything other than the plastic ball joints looked okay other that the clamshell track on the left (US driver side) had been popped out accidentally when popping other joint off. Popped that back in. Made the plastic ball joint repair on both sides though I noticed the driver side transmission was rotated about 90 degrees and did not align with the right. Disconnected the motor from the right side and used switch to rotate the left to the same position. Was able to connect that side's new plastic ball joint. Reconnected the motor cable and the two black motor rod ball joints. Held breath and pressed switch to close. Clamshell rose very jerkily but it and the top closed fully. Windows were still dipped and never returned to correct position. I pressed switch to open and... NOTHING. No movement. Error message displayed Convertible Top Failure. Stuck my finger in the microswitch and lots of clicks but no top movement or sound. The top is sealed tight. When functioning normally, when the latch is pulled open, the top releases and opens a few inches before pressing the switch to open. Now, when I open the latch- nothing. Top remains sealed tight to the windshield frame. Windows are STILL dipped, never returned to closed position. It is like the top thinks it is in a different position but from searches I don't think there is a reset or re-calibration. I think it failing as I started to close it "confused" it and the fact I was able to reclose it the few inches it had opened confused it more. Maybe? Aside from not functioning, I am wondering why the clamshell rose jerkily. It is uneven right now while closed, with the right side slightly raised. I am going to try and see if I can see the ball joints and if they are still on. If they are, may have to disconnect and re-examine everything. Any thoughts? Not sure what to do. First, I need to find a way to raise the windows. I saw someone said to put the key in the door and turn. Unfortunately, my key in the door doesn't seem to do anything- doesn't even unlock the door. Thank you for ideas and suggestions.

I redid my top assembly a few years ago, so I'm flying blind here and am admittedly very rusty, TBH. Just want to try and get you on the right path. Sounds like things clearly aren't aligned, and I was not aware of a recalibration procedure. If it was me, I'd likely do the following (total WAG), @PrebbleQMc -- Yes, I'd first disconnect the plastic ball joints on the rods and check to see how things are aligned. Keep in mind that those are the plastic joints are the "fuse" in your system" that will break before the rest of the metal stuff does. That's intentional and NEVER replace them with metal ones. I think the originals were black; replacements are white, inexpensive, and are thankfully easily replaced. I keep a spare set in my 987.2. It was quite a project, but realigning everything was quite a challenge and admittedly is not a project for the faint hearted. I want to say that I removed the rear trunk lid, and manually wound the transmission gears so everything aligned correctly with the top down, and then reassembled. You may want to search on YouTube for videos, as I'm pretty sure that I went by using 986 instructional videos on this -- that might help as they're incredibly similar. You're definitely going to want to go through instruction manuals and the like -- this is not a simple/easy project I'm afraid. Took me a good long while to get all that sorted -- but it works great once it does! I wish I had more to immediately offer for help, but hopefully this will point you in the right direction. Cheering you on here!

Just a quick guess - the transmission you adjusted was probably correctly adjusted before you touched it, and the other one really needed adjustment. At least one of the transmissions has a stop switch in it - that stops the movement of the top toward the header. I think that's the one you adjusted and the stop switch is never activating. This is off the top of my head and as @foodbiker suggested - searching for some videos will possibly be helpful (I believe one of our members made an excellent one for a 987.1).. If it was me (and it's not - so if this breaks anything - well I didn't tell you to do it...) I would: Remove the top-lid (4 bolts I believe underneath the lid - the pivoting arms stay on.) This is to allow you to align things. Nah, I don't think doing it based on my description would be a good idea.. I'm going to encourage you to spend a few dollars. AllDataDIY has a section on syncing the motors that goes on for about 5 printed pages, with some very excellent illustrations that I won't copy here (I sometimes will copy one illustration from another source to illustrate a point - but I won't copy intellectual property in it's entirety since that's really not passing my smell test for honesty..) but - one example illustration: That's showing the correct alignment of one of the gearboxes before assembling anything else... To subscribe to AllDataDIY (and they aren't an advertiser, but IMHO a valuable resource for any DIY'er on a Porsche) - with a discount they shared with me: Do It Yourself Automotive Repair Information | ALLDATA DIY - look for "Buy Now" - find your exact car - and when you get to the section where any discount codes can be entered - enter "Fall15E" - a 15% discount. They have a 1-month option for small money that will give you enough information to complete the top alignment. I suspect once you use it - you'll do like I did and take out a 3-year ($130 -15% discount) subscription. Just their color interactive wiring diagrams are worth the money - but the rest of the info is really priceless if you're serious about avoiding the dealer. Let us know if that helps. It will save you several thousand $$ having a dealership fix up what you broke.

Thank you for the advice... that may be the step I take: essentially undoing the four ball joints and starting from zero while checking track, all rods, etc. I had to step away yesterday after getting frustrated. Will tackle again this weekend.

This is great and I love visuals! I had heard of this site, maybe seen it advertised, but without referrals/recommendations it's hard to know what's real and real value vs what is not. I have just bought a month each for the Porsche and my hubby's vintage baby- an 04 Jaguar s-type. The Jag has been a PITA despite only having 60K on the speedo!

I totally agree with @deilenberger here, especially if you have the funds for AllData and there's no dealer anywhere around. This is a very tricky thing, and you don't want to screw things up per alignment. The motor has a TON of torque and could bend very pricey parts very easily. (Don't ask me how I know.)

I believe I have the same issue. Broke the ball joints the same way as the OP. So I replaced the ball joints and all seemed fine. However, when I closed and opened the top a few times for testing purposes the closing mechanism on the passenger side sounded like a pump sucking water, but only at the very end of the closing and opening process (i.e. when getting the top into the final closed or opened position). After two or three opening / closing cycles the top failed to open up again. The metal clam shell is now opening and closing unevenly and so does the soft top, although the unevenness is less noticeable with the soft top. I can no longer open it past the point of the second picture (or at least I'm not trying it as the metal shell would likely get bent). Based on the above advice I got the AllData subscription. Here’s my problem though: their process starts by putting the top into service mode. How do I do that with the top opened already and I can’t close it past the point of my second picture? Also, please do let me know if you have any other thoughts or tips.

I’ll let one the more knowledgeable folks on here respond but when my ball joints broke my top was fully open. To get it closed and/or in service mode I had to pop off the black ball joints that connect the tranny to the motor. That way all four rods were disconnected and I could manually operate the top. My problem now is trying to access all of those rods with my top closed and seemingly hermetically sealed to the windshield.

I posted here a few weeks ago where both ball joints broke due my not noticing I hadn’t opened the locking lever completely (ugh) and attempted to open the top with the buttons. I replaced ball joints with new ones (marking with tape the position on the rod where the old ones were). Then during testing the new passenger side one broke. It looks like there is approximately 1/2” between the broken passenger side ball joint and the “ball of the top”. I did compare the position of the arms on the transmissions. And they look to be the same. I was waiting for delivery of the next new sets. I haven’t gone to the step of adjusting the transmissions. Still digesting what I’ve researched so far. Anyhow, before committing to the service manual subscription, I’ve been searching for and watching more information. Google “how to set convertible top transmission gear for porsche boxster 2010” Here is a couple of useful videos on YouTube I found (hopefully the links post). One is over an hour long but useful and address some of your issues. Very detailed……long but good I hope these help. Good luck

Thanks! As luck would have it, the transmission in my car is different... it has the saw tooth gear not the bar across and looks like the one @deilenberger provided above. Took me forever to find alignment marking info for this style but finally was successful with the Alldata resource I purchased and also recommended by deilenberger! It is, indeed, a gem of a resource!

Okay- so an update. I am now an expert at getting the ball joints disconnected from fully closed top or fully open top. Oh, joy. I thought I needed to align the transmissions properly as @deilenberger thought I likely adjusted the wrong transmission originally and that made sense. Was very pleased figure out the correct markings on each transmission and readjusted accordingly. I wasn't sure what to do next... the first time the top was fully open when I fitted the ball joints. This time, after I did the adjustment the transmission was angled such that the clamshell rods couldn't be connected unless the clamshell was closed. I used the switch and ran the top toward open so move the transmission into a position where I could fit the clamshell rods on ( was this my mistake??? ). Once everything was on, I was thrilled to see everything move smoothly and I closed the top. All errors off windows closed! SUCCESS! Then I tried to open the top. Lots of banging and popping and the top would not open. Argh. It would not budge. So, I assumed the plastic ball joints broke and the rods were sticking up. I removed the windscreens and went through the painful process of accessing and disconnecting the black ball joints to open the clamshell and access the plastic joints. Shocked to see them intact. I disconnected them and am operating the top manually while I reassess. Any idea what I did wrong??? Was my mistake moving the top alone to position the transmission such that I could put on the clamshell ball joints? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

I think you want to isolate what's happening. The popping noise is not a good thing (BTDT). Something broke - when I've heard it there were broken ball joint sockets. If you operate the top motor with the switch do the two gearboxes move - in sync - through their entire range? I'd test this with both sets of ball-joints disconnected from the bell-cranks.. If they do we can hope they're OK. Then I would (leaving the lid open) attach the top ball joints and very gingerly try to see if it operates OK, and if the motor stops when the top reaches the bulkhead across the top of the windshield. If it does - then that probably means the transmission alignment is OK and it's time to look at the lid. IF it doesn't - find out what is happening.. let us know and we can think on it a bit. If it seems OK - disconnect those ball joints and put the top in the down position (just for ease of access and viewing..) At this point, I'd be tempted to remove the lid from the arms that move it, leaving the arms in place and connecting their ball joints to the bell crank on the motor. I'd get someone I trust to operate the top switch and then go around back and observe what the arms are doing. Do they move in sync? Somewhere something is broken - you have to try tracking it down by being very methodical in troubleshooting. Isolate one system at a time and observe what's happening. Hopefully, it wasn't something like transmission gears being destroyed.

This is excellent advice- thank you . I am out of town, but when I get back home on Saturday, I’m going to do exactly as you suggested.

Hi there, you wrote “removed the windscreens and went through the painful process of accessing and disconnecting the black ball joints to open the clamshell and access the plastic joints.” - how did you do that? I still have not figured out how to open my closed top (clamshell seems stuck). Did you find an instructional video on that by chance?

I googled and viewed a bunch of videos and took bits of info from different ones. The main info for getting to the ball joint with the top stuck in the closed position came from 986 Convertible roof stuck in the closed position. Any ideas? He provided a step by step for his 986 that I adapted. Instead of the clip removal he does on the last step, I pried the ball joint off each side. His steps: Step one: Remove the little windscreen between the seats. You need to do this so you have access to the little rain curtain at the rear. These things clip out easily but if you have never done it before you'll scratch your head until you figure it out. You lift the little lever on the clip slightly (until you feel it can't lift anymore), then you push the little windshield towards the rear of the car (use the clip so you don't break anything). The clip just pops out. Do the same on the other side if you need to (I didn't because as the first one popped out the other one came out by itself). I kept on trying to lift the little windshield but that's not the way it works - you push it towards the back of the car (German engineers do have a sense of humour it seems). Step two: Undo the little rain cover from the two clips on the rear firewall. Just push the bottom of the rain cover down and it will pop out of its little brackets. Once this cover is loose you can lift it up and access the motor and cables in the middle of the car and more importantly you can see the clamshell hinge mechanisms on either side. Step three: Undo the storage box (if you have one and slide it around to give you access to the sides). Look at the clamshell hinge mechanism and you'll notice that the middle of the hinge has a little clip. There are two exactly the same clips, one at the end, and one in the middle. You want to undo the one in the middle. I managed to undo the clips by putting my one arm under the roll bar - where the storage box stopped access until I moved it, and the other arm between the rollbar and side of the roof. Once you have removed these two clips you can lift the clamshell and get into the rest of the mechanism. The clips won't survive - just order new ones from Design 911 (£2.59 each). Now that I am in I can see that the one red ball joint has broken so I have put off working on it any further until I have the replacement ball joints and the clips. I'll put the roof in service mode properly and also inspect the drip trays - hopefully the broken ball joint has not resulted in the pushrod poking a hole in the drip tray. If it has then that's something else I will deal with whilst I am in there. For the moment the car is under a rain cover with a C-Tek charger on the battery in disgrace.

After taking the winter off and using the top in manual completely disconnected mode, I am tackling this project again. I am going to start with @deilenberger advice from post #13 above. Will keep you posted as I try and figure this out.

@ANDI_NYC