74 engine stalls on way up

[danjarrett1]

Hey! Been having a rime with my top,stalling on the way up. When it rises bout 2 feet out of the well, it stalls nd I have to manually assist while using a rod to push the button in the up position. I've replaced the motor, the relay, clean and packed that Mai gear driven joins, dive cable....it's ;ike it runs out of power and bogs down. The top is heavy, not a fan of six or top design, too many moving parts. Have a 67 electRA 225 THAT WAS HYDRAULIC AND WORKED GREAT. ANY SUGGESTINGS

[Big Fins]

Check all the joints for binding. Right at the outer edge of the rear seat back, if you look behind the valances, you will see 2 very large through bolts with Castle nuts on them. You will need to remove the valance and use a 1" box wrench and if I'm correct, a 15/16" box wrench on the Castle nut to tighten this set up. There is a 1/8" Cotter pin going through the main bolt and Castle nut.

For some reason the nut will shear the Cotter pin and back it's way off. My entire top almost collapsed because this had happened. It is the main pivot point in the up and down travel of the top and it supports all the weight. I ended up putting a case hardened pin in the Castle nut and this thing still wants to back off. The entire bolt assembly has rotated to the point where it is now tightening itself.

Check all these joints back there. Chances are, almost all will be loose and dry of lubricant. They are all shoulder bolts so you can't tighten them up to where they will bind the top frame.

Electrically, be sure all the grounds connections are good, tight and clean. All this is something owner rarely pay any attention to. Both of my Eldorado convertibles did the same thing. '74 is the same top system, so much of what I wrote should also apply.

[danjarrett1]

Thank you so much for that detailed response....ill look into it. It's kind of embarrassing that it won't come up alone.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Are you running the engine whilst raising the top?

What is the condition of your battery?  Battery Terminals?   How old?

One check would be to put a Volt Meter across the terminals, read the voltage, then operate the top, whilst having someone reading the Voltage.   If the Voltage drops remarkably, then your Battery could need replacing.

I am running the biggest battery that I can fit in the battery compartment, something like 880 Cold Cranking Amps, and have never had a problem with the roof.   Know of others who have though.

Lastly, are you trying to move the top whilst it is cold?   Nothing worse than cold, stiff material.

Bruce.