[Uncle Russ]

My 08's top motor gave out in early 2012 (I bought it CPO in Jul 2011) and the local dealer told me that it was most likely due to water damage from clogged drains and wasn't covered by the warranty. They knew the car was fairly new to me and even though I told them that there was no way the drains could clog in the limited amount of time I owned it (plus the fact that I kept it garaged at work and at home), their hands were tied, so much for CPO making sure everything is good to go prior to your purchase, eh? Anyway, I pulled the bowden cable and just operated the top manually, i.e. press the button to unlock the top and then manually lift it up or bring it down and then lock the top again. It bit of a hassle but worked just fine. I also pulled the rubber covers off the drain exits and did my best to clear them although I didn't see much debris fall out. A few months later, our local indy guys, RRT Racing, were working on my car and, unbeknownst to me, released the bowden cable and raised the top normally. It appeared my top's motor sorta resurrected itself. It will now open the top just fine but struggles to close the top so I give it a bit of an assist. It does move better (up or down) when the engine is running than it does just on battery power.