roro1

so i just bought my first convertable cutlass its a 1971, when i hit the switch for the top to go down the motor comes on for a few seconds and will lift the top about 6 to 8 inches and then stops,after you wait a few minutes you can push the switch and it will start again for a few seconds and stop again anyone have any info on what the problem could be,is the pump going bad?

Lady72nRob71

Welcome...
I am assuming the pump stops completely.
Try it with the inside courtesy lights on. If they dim excessively (some is normal), then the pump might have an internal short and the circuit breaker is opening.
The 71 might have a relay (72 does not). Find it and see if it clicks when the pump will not work.

If the pump keeps running but the top stops, then you may be low on fluid or it needs to be bled.

roro1

yes the pump stops completely, ill try it tonight with the lights on. thanks!

MDchanic

Or the top mechanism might be binding and overloading the motor, causing the breaker to trip.

- Eric

roro1

where is the relay or breaker located

MDchanic

I believe the breaker is a small box under the dash with a thick black and a thick brown wire going to it - I'm not sure whether it's plugged into the fuse block or separate.

If I recall, there is no relay on these models - the dash switch switches all the current to either the Up or the Down wire.

- Eric

roro1

i believe the pump is bad,any good places to send it to for a rebuild? has anyone used topmotorrepair.com

69 Ragtop

The failure mode you describe is identical to one I had on my GTO. The problem in my case was a faulty circuit breaker. It would be a good idea to verify that the breaker was not the problem before suspecting the motor was bad. If it's the breaker you'll save a lot of $$$s.

I'm not a Cutlass expert (yet), so someone please correct me if I'm wrong, or confirm if I'm right about the location and function of the circuit breaker as I describe it below.

There is very little info on the power top electrical circuit in the Chassis Service Manual (probably because Fisher Body affixes the power feed cable and relay, so it will be in the Fisher Body Manual that I haven't bought yet?) However, in the 1969 Assembly Manual on page 386 (I have the manual marketed by Millenium), upper left corner and lower left corner of the page ("Figure 1"), there is a circuit breaker. (Hopefully the '71 manual and car are similar to the '69.) On the '69, this breaker is directly above the fuse box connector on the firewall in the engine compartment (between the master cylinder and the driver's side fender). It has a rubber cover over it, and (in my case) one wire attached to the left terminal and one attached to the right terminal.

If it were my car, I would rig up a 30 amp fuse (using 12-gage wire) and jumper it across the breaker, then test the top again. If the top works, the breaker is bad.

Good Luck!

roro1

hey man thanks for your reply,i did see that breaker and i just took a piece of 4 gauge wire i laying around and jumped it from one side to the other,it didnt help anything! thats why i am now assuming its the pump. there is also a relay looking silver box right behind the brake booster that has 4 wires going to it do you or anyone else know what this is?

MDchanic

Sometimes these motors can be very voltage-dependent, and small amounts of corrosion at wire connections and inside the switch can reduce voltage just enough to cause problems.

I'd make sure the pump and battery body grounds were excellent, then jump the hot to the pump with a BIG wire (at least 10ga) directly from the battery and see what happens.
If it runs fine, you've got some cleaning up or rewiring to do.

- Eric

Lady72nRob71

If you have factory A/C, that is the high speed blower relay.