Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 (edited) Assistance with problem Analysis: roof not closing flush. I have already gone over each of the hinges in the mechanism with wd40. It often goes down fully after 3 tries or so, often with a light thump as the final portion falls into place. Any ideas or experience on this problem? Video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-tzx96MQoiQ Edited September 10, 2022 by Jimbo1998 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iborguk Posted September 10, 2022 Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 7 minutes ago, iborguk said: one of the PPI guys I went for a drive with thought it was the roof itself, not the clam shell that was the problem. The clam shell itself will open and close itself fine even now. It just seems that the roof isn't closing flush and it causing the clamshell to get stuck on top of it by extension on closing . The roof will close, sometimes with a thump. I just can't work out what's catching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iborguk Posted September 10, 2022 Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 2 minutes ago, Jimbo1998 said: one of the PPI guys I went for a drive with thought it was the roof itself, not the clam shell that was the problem. The clam shell itself will open and close itself fine even now. It just seems that the roof isn't closing flush and it causing the clamshell to get stuck on top of it by extension on closing . The roof will close, sometimes with a thump. I just can't work out what's catching. See @TROOPER88's comments in the thread I posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 "Common is for the cables to mangle; they are round along the run but square on the ends to take the drive from the motor / spin the gears." 2 gearboxes too. So should my first port of call be inspecting the drive cables to see if they are rounded off? is it possible that the cables have mangled and are no longer able to transmit enough power to close that final part of the roof? The clamshell isn't making any noise to suggest that the transmission gears are badly worn at the present moment. I'm going to take some more pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Jimbo1998 said: "Common is for the cables to mangle; they are round along the run but square on the ends to take the drive from the motor / spin the gears." 2 gearboxes too. So should my first port of call be inspecting the drive cables to see if they are rounded off? is it possible that the cables have mangled and are no longer able to transmit enough power to close that final part of the roof? The clamshell isn't making any noise to suggest that the transmission gears are badly worn at the present moment. I'm going to take some more pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 Took some more pictures and a better, improved video illustrating the problem here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROOPER88 Posted September 10, 2022 Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 James, you have posted this on the FB group as well? Why don't you get Nick Giles to have a look with you as he makes out he knows these cars better than most and you have already shown him the issue. Just out of interest, would I be correct in thinking that you have a pre-facelift 986 with a glass screened roof that is not a factory fit? Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 58 minutes ago, TROOPER88 said: James, you have posted this on the FB group as well? Why don't you get Nick Giles to have a look with you as he makes out he knows these cars better than most and you have already shown him the issue. Just out of interest, would I be correct in thinking that you have a pre-facelift 986 with a glass screened roof that is not a factory fit? Cheers Paul hey Paul, I met with Nick in Wales as I was doing a road trip with a good friend and it seemed like a good opportunity. He took a look and thought the clamshell itself seemed okay, and suggested that it was the roofs failure to fold properly that was causing the issue. I've since gone over each of the moving parts/ hinges with WD40. I have also checked the plastic ends to the push rods that attach to the roof that often seem to snap. All of this to no avail so far. This is a 2003 2.7, so should have been fitted with the glass window from factory. If its any help, the roof was functioning fine when I bought the car in April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROOPER88 Posted September 10, 2022 Report Share Posted September 10, 2022 11 minutes ago, Jimbo1998 said: hey Paul, I met with Nick in Wales as I was doing a road trip with a good friend and it seemed like a good opportunity. He took a look and thought the clamshell itself seemed okay, and suggested that it was the roofs failure to fold properly that was causing the issue. I've since gone over each of the moving parts/ hinges with WD40. I have also checked the plastic ends to the push rods that attach to the roof that often seem to snap. All of this to no avail so far. This is a 2003 2.7, so should have been fitted with the glass window from factory. If its any help, the roof was functioning fine when I bought the car in April. Hi James I would need to see it tbh to be able to have a good look. If it was working well in the beginning, I would possibly lean towards your motor failing slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shippers01 Posted September 13, 2022 Report Share Posted September 13, 2022 When my clam started playing up it was a combo of roof cable had snapped and also one of the rams had bent!!! Got secondhand ram from breakers and cable from Porsche. Have not fixed totally yet as it still in manual mode!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bferry70 Posted September 14, 2022 Report Share Posted September 14, 2022 I am following this with interest as mine developed the same problem at the beginning of the year. I checked everything over and all seems to be as it should be. I oiled / greased all moving parts to no avail. Interestingly, once I've driven a mile or so down the road the clamshell settles into position when the roof is down (no problem with the clamshell when the roof is up). Mine is a 2004 2.7 with glass window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted September 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2022 On 9/14/2022 at 11:21 AM, Bferry70 said: I am following this with interest as mine developed the same problem at the beginning of the year. I checked everything over and all seems to be as it should be. I oiled / greased all moving parts to no avail. Interestingly, once I've driven a mile or so down the road the clamshell settles into position when the roof is down (no problem with the clamshell when the roof is up). Mine is a 2004 2.7 with glass window. identical problem to mine. I'm going to set aside a day off to methodically work through the solutions suggested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo1998 Posted October 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2022 On 9/10/2022 at 9:37 PM, TROOPER88 said: Hi James I would need to see it tbh to be able to have a good look. If it was working well in the beginning, I would possibly lean towards your motor failing slowly. On 9/14/2022 at 12:01 AM, Shippers01 said: When my clam started playing up it was a combo of roof cable had snapped and also one of the rams had bent!!! Got secondhand ram from breakers and cable from Porsche. Have not fixed totally yet as it still in manual mode!!!! On 9/14/2022 at 11:21 AM, Bferry70 said: I am following this with interest as mine developed the same problem at the beginning of the year. I checked everything over and all seems to be as it should be. I oiled / greased all moving parts to no avail. Interestingly, once I've driven a mile or so down the road the clamshell settles into position when the roof is down (no problem with the clamshell when the roof is up). Mine is a 2004 2.7 with glass window. Just to update this thread, I was getting ready to change the drive cables, but totally by chance noticed that the glass rear window doesn't seem to be folding correctly. When I give it a yank by hand from the top of the window the top folds down nicely first time. Since this glass roof is not an aftermarket option, and all the cables and tensioners appear to be as they should, I really can't figure out why it would do this. Its like the bottom of the glass is getting wedged on one of the bows and is getting stuck up at a steeper angle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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