MY 1967 CAMARO RS CONVERTIBLE
CONVERTIBLE POWER TOP REPAIR AND BLEEDING
My 1967 Camaro convertible had been unused for so many years that the power top hydraulic pump had stuck in its housing. I tried to free it by turning the electric motor on and off in both directions to no avail. I finally took the motor and pump out of the car.
The pump and the motor are mounted as one unit with the armature shaft of the electric motor driving the pump. The electric motor must be taken apart in a clean and clear location so none of the springs holding the brushes against the commutator, or the thrust washers on the armature shaft will get lost.
When you remove the screw bolts and pull the end off the electric motor, the brushes will slide off the commutator with the end cap. Keep the pump side up as you remove the end cap because there is a ball bearing inside the cap that the end of the armature shaft rides on to keep it from rubbing the cap. when you move the end cap out away from the armature there should be something underneath to catch anything that falls out of the shaft/bushing area when they separate.
I was able to free up my pump by moving the armature back and forth by hand until it started to turn freely. I made sure that there was automatic transmission fluid in the pump as I was trying to free it. The armature can then be pulled out from its nest between the field coils. It has a thrust washer on its shaft next to pump. If it gets left on the pump housing it might fall off and get lost.
I found it easier to put the motor back together by pulling the armature out slightly while I was putting the end cap back on the commutator part of the armature. Before I even tried to put the cap along with the brushes, over the commutator part of the armature, I made sure each brush was correctly in its holder. I used a paper clip, which I straightend out and made a small hook on the end of, to pull each brush up tight against its spring. I made sure That I could remove the paper clip easily from the brush wire after I got the motor back together. I also used the paper clip to temporarily hold each brush high enough in its sleeve to clear the commutator when I pushed the end cap and brushes over the commutator.
The end cap over the pump part of the unit is also the oil reservoir for the motor/pump unit. I made sure there was automatic transmission fluid in its reservoir, and that both pressure hoses were connected before I tried the pump. My unit has a small rubber plug on the end of the reservoir for filling with oil.
The air must be bled out of the pump and pressure lines before the pump unit can be used to put the convertible top up and down. The actuating rods that connect each cylinder to the convertible top unit must be disconnected to bleed the air out of the system. The pump unit must be kept full of automatic transmission fluid, and the fill plug must be left off while you are bleeding the system. The air in the system will vent out from the fill plug hole as you bleed the system. To bleed the system you slowly work the power top motor to the up and down positions. This will move the piston in each hydraulic cylinder up and down to purge the air out of the system through the reservoir fill hole. The pump reservoir must be kept full of automatic transmission oil while the bleeding process is taking place. The pressure lines are clear plastic on a 1967 Camaro so it is easy to see if all the air bubbles are gone. When the air bleeding process is complete, the pump reservoir should be filled with automatic transmission fluid to the bottom of the fill hole with the convertible top actuating cylinders in the down position. The fill hole plug can then be put back on, and the actuating rods can be reconnected to the the convertible top mechanism.