Convertible top stopped suddenly

[triggz]

The convertible top on my buddies 91 went out today, it was halfway down and just abruptly stopped. The pump still gets power and is grounded fine, so its not electrical. You can hear a solenoid (I guess) clicking when you hit the top button. I did a search and it seems common for some kind of brushes on the inside to sieze up. We're going to disassemble it and try to clean it up, theres gunk around the hose connections so its probably been leaking.

My question is, how do you go about refilling the pump to reinstall it? Do you just top it off with fluid and hook the lines up, or do you need to purge the lines as well?

Any other ideas on what may have caused the pump to stop working would be appreciated too!

 

[5.0 con-vert]

From what I recall, you need to fill the pump with fluid and bleed the system by bringing the top up and down a few times with the cap loose to get the air out. kinda like brakes...but not really!

 

[PuterAmI]

You fill it up by removing the stopper on the side and filling it like a rear end - to the edge of the threads - with ATF. You then run the top up/down six times to purge the air and recheck the fluid level. Repeat as necessary.

 

[tmoss]

When my pump motor whent out that is what happened. The raise and lower relay picked up fine and the power got to the motor - problem was the brushed were worn out. If that's the case, you gotta replace the pump.

 

[PuterAmI]

You don't have to replace the pump. You can buy new brushes for a couple of bucks and try replacing them first. Could save you a lot of money.

 

[tmoss]

A lot of guys won't know how to do that, but if you do, some help on a brush part # would be helpful.

 

[PuterAmI]

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=565604