Convertible top motors, How to fix. with pictures! Options

[MaskedMan]

Ok so i've been meaning to post this for awhile now, but haven't had the chance till now. Well i've heard a lot of people having problems with thier convertible top opening and closing. And usually the motor is still good, except there is a part inside that is broken. What happened with mine was that one of the sides stopped working and my convertible top needed assistance opening and closing. But the motor was still good, cause it still made noise when i pressed the button. The problem was a pin inside. So if you are having this problem, and your motor still sounds good, then try this, and it may solve your problem...

First you'll need to remove your convertible top motor from which ever side isn't working properly. So first remove the bottom part of the seats, they just pop right out, they are held in by two clips in the front. Then you will need to remove the rear plastic panel on the side your trying to get to. Don't worry bout the seat belts, you can leave those attached, cause you just need to get the panel out of the way. After those are out of your way, You should be able to see the convertible top motors. They are held in by 4 10mm bolts, but you will also need to remove the rear speakers and cut a zip tie before you can unplug the wiring clip and remove the motor. After you remove the motor, you will need to take off 4 hex bolts connecting the motor to a black box that has gears in it. After you take that apart, it should look like this...



Now we can take a look at the problem. There is supposed to be a pin that keeps the gear moving when the motor moves. When this pin breaks, the motor will just keep spinning, but it has nothing left to turn the gear. This pin seems to break off since it happened to both of my motors. Im guessing its like a fail safe device or something, if there's too much stress put on the motor is just breaks the pin, so you dont burn out the motor? Thats my guess. Or maybe the pins just suck. Well anyways, it needed to be replaced. Here's a picture of the Motor with the broken pin removed...



Here's a picture of what was left of the pin...



Here's where your gunna need to improvise cuase i couldn't find a part number for the pin. I ended up cutting drill bits in half and using the solid end as the pin, whatever get's it done right? haha Im guessing you could use any pin as long as it fits in the hole pretty snug. I hope this helps

This post has been edited by MaskedMan: Aug 4, 2006 - 11:56 PM

[Beano]

Hi - I too have this prob - except that in my case the big alloy lift beam snapped clean in two when the soft top lifted 'skewed'. I had to dismantle the lift mechanism and take it to my local Tig Welder (wonderful man).
Back to the motor - I have tried and tried and cannot remove the 'broken bit of pin' from the shaft. It appears that the shaft is drilled in part way from each side, and therefore accepts a short pin from each side. the shaft is only a quarter inch diameter, so a hole all the way through would weaken it - right? ARE there shafts like this? Or do ALL shafts have a hole right through? I have supported the shaft and given it some hefty whacks with a hardened drift, which I'm sure would knock any piece of broken pin out - after all, it is less than 1/8" long and can't have THAT much of a grip! I tried inserting roll pins from either side - and the repair worked - ONCE.

Next I intend grinding a flat down the side of the shaft and a groove in the pinion and forcing a tiny piece of hex key or drill bit down the slot with a little Loctite.
I'll let you know how I get on - eventually - Meanwhile - its manual!
Roger