I finally got back to work on the top tonight. I installed the cylinders and hooked up the lines.
I filled up the pump with ATF using my hand pump. A funnel would have been easier but there is no room back there. I tried to bleed the system by working the cylinders by hand. That worked but was really hard to move the piston so I gave up on it.
Here is my test rig to run the pump. The two circled wire ends can just be touched to my drill battery to run the pump.
I did not run the pump long Oil started running out of the upper fitting. Crap. I pulled the cylinder back out.
This is my own damn fault. I knew I should have replaced the o-rings in the cylinders. They are ancient and I should not have tried to reuse them. The picture above shows my small stash of o-rings. The three rings on the cardboard I fished out of the old motor and the cylinder. I hope I have replacements…
I think I lucked out. I found two rings that fit. Lucky for me the other side is not linking because I don’t have any more.
Success! Sort of. I ran the pump back and forth to get the air out of the system then ran the top all the way down. That part worked great. However when I tried to run the top back up the motor stalled. Hopefully that is because the little battery I am using can’t put out enough current. Nothing seems to be leaking so I think the hydraulics are fine. When I get back on this I will start wiring the relays to run the pump.