sixtyninestang

The title says it all. Goes down no problem. The motor is working, because to put the top up I have to turn the switch on while simultaneously lifting the top by hand. Quite the sight, because my arms aren't long enough to reach both the top and the switch, so I hit the switch with my toe. Anyway, how is this possible that it does one and not the other? My strong suspicion is that it is not leaking, because I put the top down all the time and there's no problems doing so. So from the posts I've read I'll need to remove the back seat to check for leaks. I'm just curious if anyone has experienced the same thing, and what their problem turned out to be. Thanks.

Mattie

mattdel

You dont need to remove the back seat. Its behind the back seat, yes, and with sufficient lighting you'd be able to see just fine.

Good chance it is leaking, though. The motor is retracting the fluid back into the reservoir when you put it down, and pumping out when you go up. No fluid = no up.
Also you're hurting the system by forcefully moving the top. Dry hydraulics are not happy hydraulics.

mjr46

either the motor is weak, or your out of fluid due to a leak or the rams are bad

sixtyninestang

I've got the seat out now and the motor and lines are dry. No evidence of leakage. I'll have to move on to the rams. I noticed that the front two rubber mounts for the motor were dislodged, so that they weren't completely back in the holes that retain them. I successfully got one back in, but it looks like I split the other. I'm going to try to re seat it. How do I get a look at the rams? Where do I check the fluid in the motor, where would I fill it if it needs oil, and what type of oil do you use? Thanks guys.

mjr46

there should be a fill plug on top of the motor resevoir/ on the end of it's case somewhere, I'd try adding some fluid first if you find it low

sixtyninestang

I saw the screw on top of the motor, but I didn't want to open it because I didn't know if the lines were under pressure. What do you fill it with, ATF? By the way, pulling the back seat was simple, replacing it with only one pair of hands was not. I should have listened to MattDel. Lesson learned. Now to see what the fluid does, WITHOUT taking the seat out.

mjr46

I'm not sure what it is......when you locate the hole dip a test strip of paper to see the color of the fluid

sixtyninestang

Gotcha. I'll check in tomorrow. I'm done with crawling in and out of it for the night. Is that a 66 Coupe in your signature?

mjr46

yup, but I sold it a few months ago in favor of purchasing an 89 vert project

sixtyninestang

Was it worth it? I am thinking about doing the same with my 69 Coupe. There's a couple of silver haired guys around here with fox bodied convertibles, an 88 GT and a 92 LX, both in the 50,000 mile range, and I was thinking about making them an offer sometime. First things first though, I gotta finish what I started here.