Couldn't pass up on it...

[ItzaMe]

FAIL OF THE DAY.

I did an oil change and accidentally OVERFILLED because I was not THINKING.

Tried to crank the car and all I get was a click which now I'm assuming I fouled the plugs so it will not fire up. YEA I'M DUMB.

So I ordered a tool to help with removal of the plugs that should be here Tuesday possibly.

I hope once the plugs are changed it will all be back to normal, I was planning to change the plugs anyway.

Anyone have a good step by step guide on changing them?

My first time on these cars and would like it to go smoothER then the oil change.

Let me know.

Thanks guys.

(If someone in the LEXINGTON KY area wants to lend a hand to this fellow let me know..)

[lsf911]

Take your time and figure the car out. You will know her intimately soon and enjoy working on her and driving her. Congrats on your purchase.

[ItzaMe]

Video below for the click when trying to start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sVEVYDF3X4

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by lsf911

Take your time and figure the car out. You will know her intimately soon and enjoy working on her and driving her. Congrats on your purchase.

I'm trying but every little thing takes something special.

Even jacking the car up I don't have the side jack bars so will be interesting when I go to change the plugs..

[sugarwood]

So, you've been looking for a car to flip for at least 3 years now.
Looks like you got a lowball price on a non-running rebuilt title cab.

Are you keeping this car or planning on flipping it once you sort it out ?

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

So, you've been looking for a car to flip for at least 3 years now.
Looks like you got a lowball price on a non-running rebuilt title cab.

Are you keeping this car or planning on flipping it once you sort it out ?

Dude... I drove it 2 hours home so it was a running rebuilt title cab.

Anyway, my no BS plan for the car was/is

- Chance oil/spark plugs
- Fix non operating top/windows
- New plastic rear window in top
- Clean up the interior maybe new carpets
- Clean the frunk, messy wiring and mouse ***** everywhere
- Enjoy the car until i find something else I like or decide to use the money somewhere else

- Sell, for profit if course. Call it a flip don’t care

[Bigtoe32067]

So I guess everybody who's ever sold a car is a "flipper then. Some people's flips just percolated a little longer.
Don't let the crybaby's get to you. They're just jealous they didn't find a great deal.
Car looks awesome and if you bought it cheap, more power to you. I on the other hand always pay too much and lose money when I sell so I've discovered the secret to never losing money on a car I've bought again.
Never Sell!
Tony

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by Bigtoe32067

So I guess everybody who's ever sold a car is a "flipper then. Some people's flips just percolated a little longer.
Don't let the crybaby's get to you. They're just jealous they didn't find a great deal.
Car looks awesome and if you bought it cheap, more power to you. I on the other hand always pay too much and lose money when I sell so I've discovered the secret to never losing money on a car I've bought again.
Never Sell!
Tony

Yea idk what it is with people

But I like that secret haha

Noted!

[ItzaMe]

Didn't have the OEM tool kit so I ordered one that should work to pull the plugs.

Hopefully once new plugs are in I'll be back on the road!

[megerian]

I can help you sort out the issues with the power top. What are the exact symptoms?

[Autoban]

Even with fouled plugs, the engine should turn over. Did you try a different battery or jumper cables to turn the engine over?
Since you just drove the car, the engine should not be locked up, but you can try to turn it by hand by using a wrench on the crankshaft pulley (make sure the ignition is off!!!). Be careful to turn it only in the direction it usually turns (I believe its clockwise) because of the chain tensioners for the cams.

Juergen

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by megerian

I can help you sort out the issues with the power top. What are the exact symptoms?

So the PO sad it wasn't working at all but he was clueless that you have to have the key in the 'on' position to work the top. So once I knew that, I tested it and it looked like only the driver side motor was working so the top was going up sideways, ALSO the top will not go back down once going forward so I had to unbolt the linkage from the motor to manually set it back down. Now - anytime I press the switch for the convertible top, the driver side locking mechanism will open when I hit the switch one way, and close when I hit the switch the other way.

Any ideas? I inspected those safety things on the passenger side and non of them are being engaged but there is something zip tied in the center of the motor I will post a pic soon.

Appreciate the help!!

Originally Posted by Autoban

Even with fouled plugs, the engine should turn over. Did you try a different battery or jumper cables to turn the engine over?
Since you just drove the car, the engine should not be locked up, but you can try to turn it by hand by using a wrench on the crankshaft pulley (make sure the ignition is off!!!). Be careful to turn it only in the direction it usually turns (I believe its clockwise) because of the chain tensioners for the cams.

Juergen

That's what I was thinking today! Lots of people with similar issues but there cars would crank! I had a fully charged jump box on the car last night and still nothing. Also since you mention the crankshaft pulley, I read a thread where someone fixed there no start issue by turned it which unlocked the starter pin or something.

I am starting to think the starter might be having issues now since I had to replace one on my old 912. Should I try to have someone push start the car?

[ItzaMe]

Bump bump! any reason NOT to try to push start the car?

Wouldn't that cover turning the crank pulley also?

Might just use my lunch break and drive to the car and try it out.

[911obgyn]

No problem push starting, have you moved the crank by hand yet?
Squeeze the alternator belt to increase tension and try and move the motor clockwise

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

No problem push starting, have you moved the crank by hand yet?
Squeeze the alternator belt to increase tension and try and move the motor clockwise

Have not tried moving it by hand yet. I don't see why it wouldn't since it was running no problem before the oil change. I'm at work so might just use up my lunch and cross my fingers its just a sticking starter.

[megerian]

When I bought my car - I had a similar symptom, in that the power top was out of synch. This is not that uncommon. I was able to fix it twice. First, a couple of basics which you may already know:

With the key in the on position and the parking brake engaged, the little rocker switch engages the top to start moving.

You should always unzip the zipper between the two parts of the top itself before opening, then zip it closed when the top is fully closed.

There is a motor in the center of the car, behind the rear seats, that turns on with the rocker switch, and has two cables emerging from it, one on each side, to drive the transmission assemblies to close the top. In my experience, the motor itself is generally not the cause of failure.

Behind the speaker cover to the right of the passenger side back seat, is the transmission assembly that contains two white microswitches to stop the top when its fully open, and also in the other direction when its fully closed.

There is also a "brain" computer that controls all of this.

Since the top is moving forward (and I assume back) then you can likely rule out the rear motor and the brain module. The likely problems are

1) The cable on the side that is not moving, has the common failure where the cable itself, inside the plastic housing, is not protruding far enough from the end to fully engage with the motor. This can occur at either end; where the cable attaches to the rear motor, or where it attaches to the assembly mechanism. I have a short thread where I showed my fix for this problem.

Fixed Power Cab Top (again!)

2) The assembly on one side has seized or failed. This is a simple worm and sector, and you can easily take it apart to see why its not moving, but don't do that until you rule out other explanations. Note that the sector is only a partial gear, so that if it turns too far, the worm and sector will no longer be touching. That may have happened, but is probably not likely.

Its a bit concerning that only one of the locking motors is engaging. When the little microswitches that are in the front of the cab top are closed, both locking motors should close, irrespective of the closing arms. In other words, if that part was working, you could loosen the large bolt on the two assembly mechanisms, turn it into a manual open and close, and just have the rocker switch lock and unlock the top from the windshield.

Lastly, if you want to manually lock or unlock the top to the windshield, there is a plastic piece that allows you to manually turn the motors with a screwdriver. Note that this is a very slow and frustrating process, since the ratio is such that it takes about a thousand turns to actually move the locking mechanism. So either prepare to be very patient, or use a power screwdriver.

[MadeofOak]

Check your battery and terminals, probably just the starter. I'm assuming you removed the oil. Have fun, let the haters hate.

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by MadeofOak

Check your battery and terminals, probably just the starter. I'm assuming you removed the oil. Have fun, let the haters hate.

YOU GO IT!

MAN... The 68 912 I bought years back died on me half way home driving and it ended up being the starter.. not sure why I didn't try that in the first place.

So for some reason it wasn't clicking in my head that even if plugs were bad it should still CRANK. So yea I hustled a half hour to the shop had a couple guys push me and bam she's alive again! She cranks up every time also.

Maybe me pushing it around the shop upset something or just my luck.

Either way the initial 10 quarts I put in should have been OK since after I drained it, it was very low and I just added some and almost the initial amount is back in..

Thanks guys for helping me come back to my senses.

I'm glad I ordered the park plug tool however since the car still runs like crap. The plugs have been in there for maybe 9-15 years and I saw the ends are orange when I pulled one of the wires off and took a picture.

I am now thinking I should go ahead and replace the distributor cap and rotor also..

How hard is it to change those? I will probably do the cover gaskets next oil change.

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by megerian

When I bought my car - I had a similar symptom, in that the power top was out of synch. This is not that uncommon. I was able to fix it twice. First, a couple of basics which you may already know:

With the key in the on position and the parking brake engaged, the little rocker switch engages the top to start moving.

You should always unzip the zipper between the two parts of the top itself before opening, then zip it closed when the top is fully closed.

There is a motor in the center of the car, behind the rear seats, that turns on with the rocker switch, and has two cables emerging from it, one on each side, to drive the transmission assemblies to close the top. In my experience, the motor itself is generally not the cause of failure.

Behind the speaker cover to the right of the passenger side back seat, is the transmission assembly that contains two white microswitches to stop the top when its fully open, and also in the other direction when its fully closed.

There is also a "brain" computer that controls all of this.

Since the top is moving forward (and I assume back) then you can likely rule out the rear motor and the brain module. The likely problems are

1) The cable on the side that is not moving, has the common failure where the cable itself, inside the plastic housing, is not protruding far enough from the end to fully engage with the motor. This can occur at either end; where the cable attaches to the rear motor, or where it attaches to the assembly mechanism. I have a short thread where I showed my fix for this problem.

Fixed Power Cab Top (again!)

2) The assembly on one side has seized or failed. This is a simple worm and sector, and you can easily take it apart to see why its not moving, but don't do that until you rule out other explanations. Note that the sector is only a partial gear, so that if it turns too far, the worm and sector will no longer be touching. That may have happened, but is probably not likely.

Its a bit concerning that only one of the locking motors is engaging. When the little microswitches that are in the front of the cab top are closed, both locking motors should close, irrespective of the closing arms. In other words, if that part was working, you could loosen the large bolt on the two assembly mechanisms, turn it into a manual open and close, and just have the rocker switch lock and unlock the top from the windshield.

Lastly, if you want to manually lock or unlock the top to the windshield, there is a plastic piece that allows you to manually turn the motors with a screwdriver. Note that this is a very slow and frustrating process, since the ratio is such that it takes about a thousand turns to actually move the locking mechanism. So either prepare to be very patient, or use a power screwdriver.

First off, I appreciate you taking the time and explaining this all to me.

I basically have zero knowledge of these tops besides a few threads I've gone through and YouTube videos I've watched (went over the basics and the micro switches)

So far after going over all that you said, I saw no motor in the center that actuates both sides so that is a little concerning for me. Maybe I just over looked it and it's actually there. The locking mechanism only closes one side but I just realized that's better than nothing. I will try to look for all those parts you mentioned later tonight.

I'm limited with the amount of time I an spend with the car since I have a lot going on this month but staying up late isn't anything new for me so as long as I'm on the right track I will continue trying to figure her out!!

Worst comes to worst I can convert to manual.

[ItzaMe]

Side note: When the left side of the top went UP, it would NOT go back DOWN.

Now with the toggle switch the only thing that happens is the right locking mechanism opens and closes.

Thanks