Stuck sunroof

[Jerry Atric]

I think this a common problem with Sciroccos ( and Audis ) that have sat for a long period of time unused ......

The sunroof sticks and becomes inoperable.......

Anyone have any advice as to how it might be possible to free it off and get the roof opening and closing again please ?

....and "no, I don't want to weld it up ! "

[mark1gls]

Guide here to cleaning the workings of the roof which will help.

http://www.timbox.net/technotes/sunroof ... -technote/

[Jerry Atric]

Thanks Mark for the link, but unfortunately this sunroof will do zilch at the moment.....it will not even tilt let alone wind back. Not sure the material will slide back at all, it looks pretty firmly fixed right now....as my car is immobile too , think I'd better leave it for the time being in case I get to the stage where the roof is partly in/out and I'm unable to close . And cannot get the car under cover either.

However, any suggestions still gratefully received.

[unknownmale]

Can you hear anything, clunking or anything binding when you turn the handle?

The lift slides are a common issue on these with them rotting out I believe.

Perhaps the previous owner has sealed it up?

Best off leaving it for now if it's outside.

[Jerry Atric]

Thanks for your thoughts on the sunroof, I tend to agree that it may well be the lift slides which are binding....I doubt they have rusted/rotted as the car was kept in a dry barn for approx 18 years, but the lubricants etc have most likely dried out in the worm gear and other moving parts. Definitely not sealed up.....it'll move about an eighth of an inch and then its rock solid !

Just wondering if I sacrifice the inner headlining of the sunroof, if that'll make the working gear and drives accessible ? At some later stage maybe able to source a replacement for the lost lining ?

I had asked the previous owner if the sunroof worked and he did say it tilted and that was all. Haynes manual say if the roof can be tilted, then the inner roof lining is removable, but if the roof won't even tilt ( back to the lift slides! ) then for the moment I think its fu**ed !!!

[james butler]

sounds like the mech is out of sync
we found this problem on any macs car when we tried to fix his sunroof.
theres 2 push pull cables that drive the sunroof into position against the metal runners.
if one cable moves even one notch out of sync with the other it all goes wonky and locks up.
you will need to tilt the sunroof in order to get it out so that should be your priority but unfortunately theres no access to it through the headlining as its all concealed inside a metal cassette welded to the roof.
once tilted you can remove the cloth panel on the inside of the sunroof which will give you access to the screws holding the sunroof in and access to the control cables and guide mechanism.
its a clever but horrendous setup, if mine ever starts playing up it will stay closed forever!!

[Jerry Atric]

Thanks James for your input.....I'm beginning to think your last sentence may HAVE to be the answer, , altho' I really enjoy these roofs ....when they work correctly! Obviously the main problem is how to tilt the roof and I fear in attempting that, other parts may get damaged/broken and I guess I could end up in an even worse position with it neither open or closed.

[Rocco2]

If you get yours opened and start to put the inner panel in, then there is one really important thing to check. I struggled with mine a lot because of it.
https://postimg.org/image/arzcy6otj/
The panel has clips that hold it tightly...but those clips somehow managed to get stuck around the "rod". On the picture is what is not suppose to happen.

And that caused the sunroof to get stuck.
It didn't move at all, it was real pita to get open again.

Maybe you find it helpful :)

[Jerry Atric]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/ma ... oledVW.pdf

Just in case anyone else has missed this link, I've copied it from another "sunroof thread"

Fantastic description of how the roof works and the fixes for various problems. Will be digesting this all over the next week or so and hoping it'll help me resolve my problems.

[Jerry Atric]

REF the above link....if you have sunroof problems, the link above I just mentioned is really superb. I printed off the relevant pages and then armed with them , went back to tackling the roof.

And the problem has been solved. Clue one was when , by chance , I found I could slide the inner roof lining back without the spring being connected. The workings were then revealed in all their glory and complexity. Choosing the correct diagrams from the link above then allowed me to wiggle this and that.....and being a bit geriatric, I finally realised that bits that should move were not moving because the parts were not CONNECTED CORRECTLY!!!

Someone had obviously been tinkering and not put it back together correctly. THEN of course could not tilt the roof to re-connect the spring.

So using the well drawn, and most importantly, colour coded manual pages, got everything back as it should have been and hey presto, everything worked perfectly.

Moral of the story is don't assume its right until you've checked everything over carefully and certainly don't force the roof as had I done so, possibly irreparable damage would have been done .

Lastly, huge thank you to whoever posted that link in one of the other sunroof related threads. It would have been impossible to solve without that diagram.

[mark1gls]

Glad you managed to find out what was wrong with it.

[james butler]

glad you got it fixed