My car is a 2005
Boxster S
. The convertible top works just fine. However, it's making a noise that I thought was normal until I rode in another one just yesterday. When you raise and lower the top in the car I was in today, the top goes up and down smoothly with a nice humming sound. On mine, although I have had no issues with the top going up or down, it'll make a clunk or slight bang sound as the clamshell cover opens or closes. It's not severe, but now I know it's not normal either.
I suppose the plastic ball joints on the ends of the actuating arms on the mechanism need to be adjusted, screwing them in or out to adjust the arm length to time the whole mechanism for smooth operation. However I have no idea how to determine which arm to adjust, if I make it shorter or longer, etc. I don't want to try to fix it and make it worse and perhaps when I'm done the top is now jammed in an up or down position. Is there a procedure written somewhere describing how to set a baseline adjustment and go from there? Any tips or advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hi
@Doug427
- FWIW -- If you heard a very loud bang, it's your plastic ball joint that went on one side (or possibly even popped out of its socket). Check those out first very carefully to make sure they're both seated correctly.
Replacements are now very inexpensive, and I like to keep at least a single spare in my car. Should be plenty of threads online here how to do the replacement.
One thing that I do, is to mark things clearly with painter's tape and a marker -- let alone write down the exact number of screw turns one makes from the current position. Worst case scenario, you can always move things "back to start" because you marked everything down. Hopefully this alone should ideally alleviate any anxiety with this repair.
Whatever you decide to do, do NOT buy any metal replacement ball joints. They are intentionally plastic, so they'll fail and break BEFORE the other hardware does. If you've got a 2005, I'm amazed yours are still intact. The originals are black plastic and the new ones are generally white. Mine in my former 2005 failed about 10 years ago -- breakage and replacement is a part of Boxster ownership.
Again, do a quick search and you'll get this easily sorted (and adjusted). Regardless, consider just buying a cheap set of ball joints to have on hand as emergency spares -- so you're not stuck with a broken soft top. Let us know how you get on with this. Cheers.
Have you looked at the mechanism to see if anything is loose or out of alignment? The top shouldn't need "adjustment" once it's right. It doesn't really change.
