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This thread helped me out so I thought I'd post to pay it forward. My power top failed to close (would stop halfway through travel to close). I was able to find the allen wrench and release hydraulic pressure to manually close but figured out that the actuator D ring on the motor that pulls the tonneau down was stuck in the up position and wouldn't retract. Before buying a whole motor assembly, I pulled the old one out and figured out it was just the limit switch that was faulty and not "telling the computer" the position of the D ring/motor.
The limit switch is PN 16629927 but isn't shown as separately available on GM drawings as far as I could find. But you can buy it anywhere for about $20. It is held onto the motor/actuator by a single torx screw. To troubleshoot the motor, if you remove the limit switch, there are only two contacts for the motor. Apply 12V pos and neg to either side and swap them to run the motor in and out. If you are lucky like I was, you'll find the motor is good. At that point, I figured I'd gamble the $20 that the limit switch on the actuator was the issue and it turned out correct.
retcav1sg, thanks for the post. My 2008 convert had a similar problem and would not go all the way up. I looked everywhere and it took me a few months to find your post. It was worth the $220 I paid for the replacement from Rock Auto. It works perfectly again. As you say it is pretty easy and doesn't take a lot of time. It certainly saves a ton of money the dealer would have charged. Thanks a million.
Also, from the KillerMullet post at the end of your string, I am going to buy a replacement limit switch for $23 and replace the one on my old tonneau motor. It looks like the gears and motor are OK and for $23 I will have a replacement if the new unit dies. Probably won't need it, but for $
23....
for $250. Says it's genuine GM but it didn't come in a "GM" marked box. The part numbers match some of the older numbers I have found. Apparently GM has renumbered this item a few times. The part appears to be new and it works fine so its all good. And it was very easy to install.
My question is how often do these things break? I have a '13 427 Convertible which I bought last April with only 9,325 miles on it. I have a little over 18,000 on it now. I have the top down a LOT so maybe I use it more than some peeps. The bottom mounting point was snapped off of the motor when I removed the old one. It started not pulling the top down a couple days ago. I ordered the new one from Amazon and it arrived last night. I used to think the motor pulled the tonneau cover down pretty hard and maybe this is why it broke. I have adjusted the new one up some from where the original was. Still pulls the cover down quite a bit after the sides have closed completely and everything looks good. I am hoping having it raised a little will keep this from breaking again any time soon.
How often have people had to replace these things? Besides the mounting hole being snapped off I am pretty sure the gear internally is shot. The other day when it started acting up it appears to grab the cover and start to pull it down and then the center of the top kind of pops back up like the gear let go or skipped some teeth. The unit seemed to still be mounted solidly even with the broken bottom mount. It wasn't moving around or anything. I have added some pictures below.
Do I need to keep a spare one on hand? LOL
You can see the broken piece laying in the circle. This shows the broken piece set back where it belongs. This shows where the piece is missing from.
I had to replace mine about a year ago, and while it wasn't a tough job, I did notice some room for improvement.
The crappy plastic gears, not much we can do anything about until someone comes up with a brass gear replacement model, but, the mount, and how the plastic is stressed due to having one real contact point, is a quick and cheap fix.
I took some hardened Styrofoam (I had to get it at a craft store), not the cheap packaging stuff, but the more rigid variety, and cut it to fit snugly under the motor.
While I know it won't fix the gears, it took a bunch of stress off of the connection point, and should help to elongate the life of the motor due to less ability to shift during usage.
12-10-2021, 09:44 AM
