Convertible Top Motor Repair

Yay, I can post again.. My account got in a funny state for some reason, but thanks to Noobz I'm back.

I've been having intermittent problems with my convertible top motor. It works, then it doesn't. Then you can whack it with a wrench (don't laugh..) and it'll work some more.

Anyway... enough's enough so I'm thinking it's time to replace or repair it. Since it seems to be a hydraulic pump powered by an electric motor, I'm pretty sure I saw some where that it was much easier/cheaper to refurbish the electric motor than to replace the whole pump/motor-assesmbly. Anyone have any advise, or experience with this? Also, I'm located I Northern Virginia and I have no idea where I'd take the motor to get it fixed up if that's the way to go?

Maybe I over complicated my post, but basically what I was intending to ask was:

1. Since most electric motors seem to fail in pretty standard ways (commutator, bushings, brushes, sometimes windings) they can often be repaired to "as new" quite cheaply. I was wondering if anyone chose to repair their top motor, rather than replace it? Since the hydraulic part of the top motor is fine, it seems like it might be unnecessary to replace the whole thing?

2. Just on the off chance, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on where I might take the motor to effect such a repair. Always better to have a recommendation rather than just pick a place at random.

Great info. Thanks. Please either PM me the detail, or just post. Someone else may have the same interest and this tnread might serve as a tip for someone else.

7-UP BILL said:

Sure thing. The guy even gives a lifetime warranty on the motor. His email is Jimz466@aol.com He's very quick with a return. His name is Jim Weaver and he lives in Columbia, SC.

Click to expand...

Just to follow up on an old thread. With winter being what it's been I wasn't in any hurry to fix the top, but with spring looking like it's actually going to finally happen I decided to take care of it.

Based on the recommendation above I used Jim. His price is now $85 (shipped to you) assuming you send him back a core ($150 otherwise). Super nice guy, who shipped immediately, and was quick to respond when I had a stupid question to clarify something in the instructions. The motor he sent looks new and works great. Hopefully I'll never have to use his lifetime warranty.

I have very modest mechanical skills compared to most people here and tend to leave anything fiddly or challenging to a pro, but this is a really easy R&R that took about 30 min even for a first timer like me. So if your top motor is giving you problems I wouldn't have any hesitation to recommend Jim as a source and to just do it yourself.

Surprisingly very little fluid comes out when you remove the hoses from the old pump, and about the only thing I would warn anyone about would be to make sure you don't over fill the reservoir on the new pump. If you take the old motor out with the top up (which is easiest since there's no mechanisms or top to get in the way of your accessing the motor) when you put the new one in and take it down for the 1st time fluids from the pistons go into the reservoir. So the pump reservoir level is highest with the top down. The instructions recommended 8oz of fluid, but for me that was too much and I ended up having to loosen everything and drain a little out to get to the right level (about 1/4 in below the fill plug hole). I would suggest putting in about 4oz, lowering the top, and then filling to the correct the level at that point. It really is as simple as remove, install, fill, cycle a number of times, recheck the fluid level, and you're done.

The other useful trick to install the rubber mounts and fill plug are to stick something small (but not sharp) into the holes in their center and push them in that way. I used the long end of an allen wrench and it made what looked like an annoying task really easy.