Clicking convertible top...

[MustangGT01]

I got a prob with my convertible top clicking but not going up or down. Anyone have any idea whats going on here? It's an 89 GT. It was happening before I took the top in for replacement so it's not related to the repair. Is my pump shot to crap? I've seen rebuild kits for them that are very inexpensive. Anyone have any expierience rebuilding them?

 

[RYC CUKR]

Mine is doing the same thing. Its the motor for the pump that is shot. What you hear clicking is the relay. I have been too lazy to do anything with it. I think new motors are like $100 but you can get one on eBay or something for about $50.

 

[HISSIN50]

the thing that doesnt make sense to me is, you said it clicks but top doesnt go up or down.
now does it click while you are holding the button in, or does it only click when you push the button in and then release it?
if it is the former, i would check the relay. pull the carpet piece out of the trunk (one that is under where the top stowes). you will see two relays there. check them and all their connections. i would esp look at the power supply to the relay that feeds the motor. if it is getting miniscule juice from a bad fusable link or other malady, the relay will energize but not have enough amperage to move the motor. kind of like when your battery is almost dead and you try to start the car, and you get the "click, click, click." same thing, the relay (or starter solenoid) is energizing but there is not enough juice to awaken the top motor (or starter bendix).
good luck. let us know what you find and what happens. hard to find good info on soft tops.

BTW, while you are in there, might want to check your hydraulics fluid level. (not that it is a problem here, just cuz you are in there messing with the relays).
good luck.

 

[MustangGT01]

Thanks for the info. What I'm hearing is the instantanious click after I push the top button to drop or raise the top. I had no idea there was a fusable link back there at all. It may be the source of all my troubles. Before it started acting up the top raised and lowered fine. Then one night, (about a year and a half ago), I think the top switch stuck in the raise position overnight. Being that there is a fusable link there then I would suppose that it may have overheated and burnt up. I'll give it a check and see what I find. I'll post back later with details.

Again thanks.

 

[HISSIN50]

i stand corrected. there is a circuit breaker for it. this is from the schematics in the back of the Haynes manual. now i have no idea where the physical location of it is. something to try would be to have someone hit the switch and you use a DMM at the relay to check for power coming from the feed wire (this should be down stream of the circuit breaker). this will tell you if the circuit breaker is kickin and if you have constant juice to the relay.
you could also carefully jump battery juice to the relay output (goes from relay to the motor). be sure you use a fuse on the jumper. this will tell you if it is a juice problem or a motor problem. i have had circuit breakers go bad.

if the switch was left on overnight, i would not think there would be much harm. i cant remember, doesnt the switch only work when the key is on? if so, it would be like hitting the power window switch when the key is off. no harm. and if it does have juice when the key is off. the circuit breaker should have been killin juice to the motor (if it was having to do so repeatedly, it or the motor could fry. the breaker should do its job and fry first-theoretically.

thats the best i got. good luck.
let us know what you find. us vert guys need to keep the info flowing-since there is not much out there.

 

[MustangGT01]

I checked the Haynes manual I had also and found the cb you mentioned. I checked the Owners Manual for the car, (yup still have it), and it looks to be a 25 amp cb located "lower I.P. flange, left of steering wheel, wherever that is. I'll see if I can figgure it out. You would think with all the convertible related questions in here we would have a section of the forum for us guys.



Update: the IP flange is the Instrument Panel. It is a resetable cb that will trip if there is an overload and reset itself after a set time. It should be able to check it with an ohm meter for continuity. The switch is also not active when the key is not in the ignition switch. It seems to me I may have a toasted motor. I'll check the cb in the morning if I can find it. lol

 

[HISSIN50]

let us know how it goes. before you write off the motor, check the relay and power inputs to the relay (you could actually check the CB function by seeing if juice is making it back to the relay). motors are pricey, so its nice to know.
sounds like the repair kit would likely be worth a try. i never really looked. where do you get them for cheap? future reference.

also, im sure you know, but in case. you can undo the hydraulics and operate the top manually (i havent done this, only what i read in here).

good luck.

 

[MustangGT01]

I got a catalog from my top repairer that listed the rebuild kits. From the looks of it they run around $15.00 but it's only for the hydraulic pump end not the electrical motor end. From what I've seen and read on the internet you can have an alternator shop rebuild the electrcal motor part of our pump but it looks pricey. Here is the address for the book I have. http://www.convertibleparts.comConvertible Service. The cb is working properly since the relay is clicking on and off in the back I would think. I'll hit it with a meter later today if I can. I'll also check the leads and look for proper contact as well.

For now we have the cylinders disconnected for manual operation but you know how us guys are about power. ARGHHARRGHH AHHRGGHH!! It's probably for the best anyway. I got a glass curtain instead of the plastic this time. I need to get in the habit of unzipping the curtain and placing it in the storage first, then lower the top. The top repair guys said not to follow the owners manual unless I just really want to replace the glass or bend the plastic windows to crap. They suggested by dealing with the curtain first a plastic window will last longer and a glass window won't get shattered. According to our owners manual it says just lower the top carefully... what a crock!

 

[87gtconv]

I have had my ragtop since 92 and have replaced the top and back glass once. I just lower the top or raise it and make sure the top is folding nice. Never ever had a problem with the glass back window it just goes into the well pretty easy! Never ever even crossed my mind to take the glass out first cause it folds so nice!

 

[87gtconv]

One other thought, I do have to wrestle with the toneau cover to snap it in place what a pain just to look nice!!

 

[HISSIN50]

thanks for the link. i will save it.
the relay clicking does not mean there is power getting to the motor. remember, when you hit the switch, power is sent to the relay, but only a small 'trigger' to energize the coils of the relay. this power being sent allows the real power (wire with the CB) to go through the motor and reach the motor. cool?

i never knew plastic rear window was an option. funny, yesterday i was gonna remove the rear window prior to putting the top down (it has been up once in a year). love arizona. anyhow, i did not see how the bottom of the window would detach. i didnt see a zipper or anything. can it be done (stock top and window)? or do you unzip the top part and set the window down in the trough, and then lower the top. i would be afraid of breaking the window. im stupid.

i wanted undo the window since the bottom of the window wants to tear off of the canvas when up due to the weight, and when down due to the top being flat, so the canvas needs to make almost a 180* bend to fold. make sense?

i also have to wrestle with the tonneau cover. pain to go on but works well, IMHO. easier in the sun.
GT, why are you walkin to work?

 

[MustangGT01]

Okay that sounds good with the electrical. I'll get on it first thing in the morning. I had a hectic day today but what you said makes sense now to me.

With the rear curtain thing what the top people were talking about was unzipping the rear curtain first and manually laying it down in the storage area first. To allow the frame to fold it down automatically would risk certain destruction of your rear glass eventually. With a plastic window you get folds in parts of the window that shouldn't get them and really put it in a bind. By physically setting the window into the storage area before lowering the top you avoid any of these potental problems. I think you would still need to make certain that the top folds properly when lowering it as well. I've seen too many times people get in the car and just flip the switch to lower the top and take off. Not taking the proper care to make certain everything is properly stowed. Untill the shop guys told me about how to lower it correctly I was one of them people. Learn something new everyday I suppose.

I'm still walking to work, when I have it, because of my present car situation. I work a home improvement/construction job for a new startup company. Being that we don't always have work which means no money. After I moved up to OH last year we unloaded my 1989 LX hatchback and I found out immediatly something was wrong with it. It was pulled up here from TX on a tow dolly properly. However, the toll of a 160,000 miles on the manual tranny added up badly. The syncros and bearings are basically going out slowly. As of now I only have 1st, partial 2nd, 3rd, and barely reverse. Instead of taking a chance at totally blowing the tranny I basically am letting it sit till either I can afford a new transmission from Summit or it sells. I love the car but $1,200 is hard to come by on a partial job. It also seems just when I get the momentum going to getting enough money to get the new tranny and get it in something blows up that takes the money from the tranny fund. As it is I wake up every morning wondering what will happen to kick me in the balls. I swear they have callouses by now. ROTFLOL. Either way it'll all work out eventually. The convertible is the wifes car that we split time between now.

 

[HISSIN50]

sorry to hear about work and car situation. have you considered rebuilding the trans yourself? if not, Liberty has some cheap trannies. if i didnt rebuild myself, i would go that route, most likely.

so for the top, you unzip the top, set the glass down in the bottom of the storage area, and slowly lower/watch the top fold up. i have never heard the correct way to do it, hence my confirming/asking. and doing this (with a glass window) is safe and is better for the top? i put the top up once a year, so it sits all compressed and crumpled up down there. the lower corner of the window is beginning to tear away from the canvas. sounds like unzipping it may help, then??

again, sorry to hear about the work and car situation. though im sure you dont have the money, sticking some synthetic ATF in the trans may help the synchros (on a lot of cars, it helps trannies that have worn parts). may help to prolong the life and improve it a bit. i dunno.
good luck, bud. if i lived near you, i'd give you a ride or loan you one of my POS cars.

 

[MustangGT01]

Yeap, you have the right idea about lowering your top. According to the factory ford owners manual it stated to just lower the top and make certain that it's zipped before doing so. As I found out from the upholstry/top shop they said doing that would lead to problems. Instead, I am going to do as they suggested, like I mentioned here and see how it works. To me it makes more sense to do it this way once I looked at it.

I was thinking about rebuilding the tranny and even downloaded an instruction guide on how to rebuild the manual tranny of a Mustang. It looked really straight forward but I lack some of the tools required for the job. I figgured I would just get the heavy duty tranny from Summit and have a tranny with a warrenty, then rebuild the original for a spare tranny or just sell it.

I pulled the circuit breaker today for the convertible top. I'll pick one up later tonight and see if it'll fix the problem. I checked the switch after I pulled it and I still heard the click of the relay in the back. I'm hoping what you mentioned about the power is the problem. It would be an easy fix then. I do remember before it went out it seemed like it wasn't getting enough power to the pump before it completely stopped working. Perhaps because of the cb it wasn't getting enough juice. *crossing fingers*

 

[MustangGT01]

I swapped out the cb for a new one. I had the same thing going on. It look like I'll have to bite the bullet and get a new pump sometime. Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[HISSIN50]

i had a feeling that would be it. however, once you have shelled out big bucks for a motor or something expensive, and it turns out that part was fine, and it was something simple, you dont forget it. an extra CB is nice to have. i use them in lieu of fuses on headlight relays for motorcycles, cars, etc. nice to have it reset rather than trying to find fuses.
why not do the rebuild idea?

and thanks for the window info. i will put it up, unzip the window and lower the top (should only take an hour, including fitting the boot, LOL).

 

[MustangGT01]

I am glad I checked the little stuff before getting a big ticket item like the pump. I plan on taking the pump out and see if I can troubleshoot the problem. Since it consists of an electrical motor and a hydraulic pump I'll have to check both closely. From what I understand the motor side is basically similar to an alternator and usually goes through the brushes when it goes kaput. The hydraulic end only has a few seals and rings to replace with a kit for fifteen bucks. If it's electrical and I can repair it I'll most likely rebuild the hydraulic as well. Who knows if I get good at it I could charge. ROTFLOL.