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Temporary Top Question


Mstg007

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I do not have the money to purchase a pump currently. Is there a temporary way I can put the top up and down manually? (without hurting anything) until I get my new pump? If so, what would you recommend. Weather up here is spotty. It might be nice for a few hours and then pop up thunder storms. If not, that is ok too. Just a question.

 

Thanks

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Sure. It is best to have two people lift from each side so that you don't put too much stress on any one component and cause part of the top assembly to bend.

 

If you are by yourself I would stand in front of the back seat in the middle of the car and pull up so that both sides come up evenly.

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Ok. I gotta ask this. I have tried that before and I can not even get it to move / pull up. Am I missing something?

I think its by design, it wont go up or down if you stop pressing the button, you have to keep it depress to keep it going down or up so in your case you will need two people to do it, unless you have longer toes to do both at the same time.

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Lift cylinders seized? Can you undo them and still move the top? I'd imagine it seeming to be stuck is you fighting the hydraulic pressure. It might be best to leave the top up and locked in until you get everything sorted out.

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Lock top to windshield-Top Up

Disconnect negative battery cable

Remove rear seats

Remove (assuming interior) quarter panel trim

Remove Nut, washer, nylon bushing, and bolt attaching upper end of cylinder rod to folding top linkage

Nut and main pivot extension plate from main pivot bracket and remove hydraulic lift cylinder.

 

Undoing hose connections will cause the system to leak so be ready for that, removing some or most of the fluid should make moving the top manually easier, just make sure its even and don't bend anything, if you suspect something is bent then that NEEDS to be addressed.

 

You might as well pull the pump motor out while you do all of this and have it tested somewhere if unsure about testing yourself.

 

There is a certain air bleeding procedure that has to happen before completely reinstalling lift cylinders so post back before you do.

 

The manual also differentiates a newer Power Packer brand lift cylinder as opposed to the standard ones in 1994 so you might want to look into those as well.

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You will love your dealership service manual once you get one. It is a must have and has excellent exploded diagrams to go along with that style description. I remember those dark days before I got mine, I don't know how I got anything done right without it. Now I have this issue of trying to sort through all the post it notes bookmarking pages for quick reference. :lol:

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You shouldn't have to disconnect the lifts... However, you would have to drain the fluid and leave the pump open. I had to do this on my cavalier until I found a sunbird in the yard to steal the pump from

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Would it work to drain the pump, then disconnect the four hoses at the pump, put those hoses into empty milk jugs, raise the top up and down manually to drain out the oil so he doesn't have to take out the seat and side panels?

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I'd be tempted to get a dishpan, lift the top motor off it's mount, put it in the dishpan, then disconnect the lines to the pump.

 

Then, get a helper to manually raise and lower the top, while he stays in the trunk to make sure the lines don't pop out of the catch pan he's using the dishpan for. If he puts a rag over the top of the lines while the helper is flushing out the fluid, they should stop fluid splatter from getting everywhere in the trunk.

Would it work to drain the pump, then disconnect the four hoses at the pump, put those hoses into empty milk jugs, raise the top up and down manually to drain out the oil so he doesn't have to take out the seat and side panels?
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  • 6 months later...

3cf17dca79204d510e51b9994b4936ea.jpg

 

I just bought a top pump from eBay finally!! My question is. In the front of the pump there is a rubber plug with a what seems like a whole in the center of it. I can not seem to pull it out the rubber piece either.

I want to make sure that there is not a rubber blather in the pump. If I were to pull harder to try to get the rubber piece out that I will not damage anything.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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There shouldn't be a bladder in the pump, although I'm more familiar with the factory pumps. You should be able to pull the plug out to fill the pump with oil once it's installed. Maybe you could use fork type tool such as a trim panel removal tool.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Below are some pictures of my new project. I bought a rebuilt pump on eBay. I uninstalled my old pump, the one that has the plastic reasevor toit. I believe the pump I bought is an older model. I was trying to connect the lines to the new pump but the fittings will not work. Anyone have any suggestions how I could get these to connect to the new pump? The original pump has the TEE connection. The rebuilt one has a TEE with with what looks like brake line connection to it. Thanks for any help!!!!

 

 

 

 

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17e8f53dafe1e63389192c83a3ea4526.jpga67eeb9c5dd351def58fbf78243286b7.jpg

 

 

By the way... One other question. The fluid I drained from my original pump was Black. I am guessing it is break fluid. That fluid is still in my lines too. The rebuilt pump has ATF fluid in it. If I install the rebuilt pump in the car. Can I mix the two fluids together... What I mean if I can not perfectly clean out the lines or the rebuilt pump with its remains of the ATF fluid. Will that cause a lot of damage?

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Your pump probably failed because they used brake fluid instead of ATF fluid. You have to purge the lines completely so it won't mess up.

 

Also, that pump does not look like it is for a W body. The sad thing is that there's a vert locally to me, I would have gotten that pump out for you for the right price.

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I have another question for you. I was reading about mineral oil. I am unfamiliar with mineral oil. Does it look the same as brake fluid? I was reading you can mix mineral fluid and AFT fluid.

 

I wonder is it easier to flush the lines or just the pump from the ATF fluid, and leave the lifts and lines alone? Just a thought...

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Just wanted to give an update. After a 1hour and 1/2 at Autozone. We engineered a bushing type that would work using a brake line... The eBay pump had the brake size screw which was a SAE. The original pump screw was a Metric... So we made it work that way. hopefully install the pump today. I did get all the fluid out of the Lift Cylinders yesterday... So hopefully we will add new ATF, run the top up and down a few times, then drain flush , finally add the final ATF, and pray that it does not leak!

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