Convertible Troubles

so the motor/pump assembly stopped working. I havn't had a chance to look at it yet, but i would like to know a few things before i go poking around. Is there just a standard hydrolic fluid, or should i look for a special gauge or type? For any reason, could a cylinder crap out? To access the assembly all one must do is remove the rear seat?

also, is it an option to just dissengage the motor and bring the top up and down by hand?

When I had a 4-cyl vert, I had the same problem. I had two motors go out on me. For the first one I bought a new motor. To install this, put the top down (this pushes all out the fluid out of the hydraulic lines),remove the rear seat (pull the bottom out and take the bolts out of the back) and the motor is right there. Disconnect the electical parts (when you flip the switch for the top, the relays here should make a clicking sound. If not, it may be a wiring problem.) Disconnect the lines and then pull the motor out (can be difficult due to the rubber things that hold it there). Use automatic tranny fluid to fill the new one up (ATF-Dexron III/Mercon). I saved my second motor that went out and gave it to the guy I sold the car to. He told me that he took it to get looked at and a shop fixed a short in it. He said it worked fine after that so you might want to try it. I never took the first one to get looked at. As for getting rid of the motor, just disconnect the lines from the top motor and push the top up and down by hand. This will push the fluid out of the lines so use something to catch it. Work it until the fluid is out. When this is done, you can just throw the top back. It's a lot faster than using the motor. Putting it back up requires some more effort though. The only bad part is it put a few tiny holes in my top after a while. Hope this helps.

dude, you hit the nail on the head - thank you so much.

So I finally wondered over to the mustang forum ... looks like you were able to get some good info here, arent you glad I introed you to AF?

(Bigdan lives across the street from me)

for shizzle homie