Taking the sun roof apart

[turlock 0]

I've the usual tilt-but-not-slide sunroof and I'm trying to take it apart to figure out what's wrong with it.

I've searched everywhere but can't find a good guide and from sitting in and out of the car I can't see any logical way of taking it apart.

 

Anyone got any good guides?

 

How do I remove the plastic switch area inside the car? (the one with the overhead lights in it)

And how do I remove the glass / removable headlining?

 

Cheers!

[TimDoc 0]

Wait for a sunny day....

 

.....and then, wash your hands well, make sure the sunroof is in the down position...

 

....and then:

 

1. Get a flat table knife and push it in to the L (passengers) end of the light unit, lever it gently and it will pop out.

2. Take all of the electric plugs out of the back of the unit

3. Undo the two posidrive screws at the windscreen end of the hole you have just removed the lighting unit from. That middle panel should come away leaving the motor on view.

4. Undo the two (i think they are bronze on mine) screws that hold the motor onto the sunroof frame but be careful as these are all that holds it on and it will fall on you!

5. You now need to remove the headlining - wash your hands again as they will prob be greasy by now. Go to the back first, and yank off the plastic coving that meets both the rear window and the headlining, there will be a few plastic retaining clips fly off, and with come gentle persuasion will come free from each end.

6. Remove the rubber endging that actually lines the gap in the roof and holds the edge of the headlining onto the sunroof cassette.

7. The plastic coving that is between the headlining and both of the side doors will also come free with some gentle persuasion.

8. At the front end, I cut (with a stanley knife) a central line across the flimsy bit that is between the motor cover and the windsreen, this allows you to flex the headining easily with less risk of creasing it by mistake when removing it.

9. Once you have freed the headlining you can open the boot, drop the parcel shelf and it will slide out easily.

10. You should now be able to see the sunroof cassette easily, firstly get a bowl to catch water in and pull of all of the four corner hoses (with the bowl to protect your interior if there is any water in them)

11. Using a 10mm socket remove the 10 (i think) bolts that hold the cassette into the roof (get someone to sit in the car with you to help with the weight), the front of the cassette will then fall down but the back is supported by a shelf on each side.

12. Manouvre the cassette out of the car

13. Cover the hole left in the roof of the car as we all love the weather in the UK!

14. The cassette is then ready for you diagnosis

 

Cassette dissasembly:

 

I would advise you to do this on a lot of newspaper or a dust sheet as you get grease everywhere!

 

1. Remove the plastic plugs that are on the end of each of the runner's arms

2. Slide out the headlining of the unit - needs a bit of wiggling

3. Using a posdrive screwdriver - remove the four little black screws that hold the actual roof panel on, remember which way the panel fits on as it is tricky to work it out later when you try to put it back together, also remember (or mark) the level at which the little black screws were set - you will know what i mean when you see them

4. You can now slide the running components along their tracks individually and out of the end of the tracks, remember how the come out so u can put them back in easily.

5. You will now have to stare at the components for 10 minutes and work out how the system actually operates as it is not really something i can explain in words easily but here is an attempt:

-there are four components that run in the track, these are 1. The "arm" that has a flimsy extension who's role is to lower the noise baffler when the sunroof is closing, 2. The "main block", from which the "arm" is suspended and from which the routed "tilt piece" articulates, 3. The Pushing element which is attached to the furry coil that runs through the motor. 4. The "Rocker Mount" which has the sprung random shaped rocker on it with the wheel on the back.

6. These parts should all be intact and run (with some resistance) smoothly up and down the track, you may well need to completely wipe them down and regrease them.

7. If any components are broken, either take a pic and display on this thread and i can let u know whats up with them, or take them into a vw dealer as they have diagrams of what they are meant to be like.

8. If you think you have sorted the problem, re-insert both of the mecahnismsvinto each side, leaving the roog panel detached still, Make sure that both sides are completely equal and are flat and pushed all the way to the front of the cassette. Re attach the motor with the two screws and use the allen key to take the mechanism through its full cycle.

9. Diagnose any problems by this process.

 

Good luck with this, I did mine in a day but found that i had to put it all back together still broken as i could not get the parts to mend it that day. I now have the parts but am waiting for a day off work to do the deed again. Be careful putting the cassette back in afterwards, is a real struggle on your own. Maks sure you connect the hoses and also that the panel seats flush with the metal of the roof.

 

Have fun!

[turlock 0]

Top notch answer!

 

I'll let you know how I get on, might be a couple of weeks before I get my teeth into it though :(

 

Thanks a million, no idea how helpful this is!

[Mike Edwards 0]

Well, pretty much what he said (esp. the clean hands part*).

 

If you remove the edging strip around the sunroof 1st, you'll find that removing the sunvisors and centre roof-console will let you remove the headlining without having to bother with the rest. getting it all back in is more of an art tho.

 

If your roof will open and close on tilt, but not close on slide, you need a new 'water guide plate' - most likely on the passenger side.

 

If it won't close on tilt either, try a replacement motor 1st, b\ut budget on buying a new cable.

 

HTH.

 

*in the event that you forget, Vanish mousse and a flannel will sort most things.

[TimDoc 0]

thought i would share the wealth! Oh yeah - forgot about the sunvisors! Good luck, will have photos soon of me redoing mine. Tim

[VWRETROMAN 0]

Anyone actually done this yet, as i saw the thread was like a year old nearly now and wondered how successful everyones been with it?

[Mike Edwards 0]

I think I've done it 5 or 6 times so far (not including rebuilding a glass roof)

[VWRETROMAN 0]

Cool, obviously it could be different from roof to roof but what is the most common thing to have gone wrong when it won't slide?

 

It's just so i can get the parts i need, take it out, fix it, and put it back together all in a day.

 

1.Is this a feasible thing to achieve

2.Wheres the best place to get the parts?, stealers?

 

Cheers

[TimDoc 0]

You can do it a day - but u have to start early in order to work out what is broken in time to get to either the scrappy or the dealers and get the necessary parts. Stealers are prob the best place for the running pieces - motors from the scrappy, and possibly cables too.

 

Good luck

 

Tim

 

PS - i did mine the week after i bought the car and it is still working 1yr on!??

[VWRETROMAN 0]

Cool Cheers Tim,

 

Any idea on what prices i'm looking at from the stealers?

 

As detailed above it seems the 'water guide plate' is the most common part needed is this available from the stealers.

 

Also heard theres a sunroof repair kit??

 

Cheers

[Mike Edwards 0]

As it says earlier in the thread, if it will open and close on the switch using the tilt function the cable is okay. If the problem is just with the slide function, the 'waterguide plate' - usually the left one - has worn to the point where it's jamming (which is what leads to snapped cables...)

[awright182 0]

I did mine earlier in the summer. Passenger side guide plate caused the cable to snap. Golf Mk 3 mechanical parts are identical. Stealers will cost over £100. Golf sunroof off ebay is cheaper. Uselashing of lithium grease in the rebuild

 

 

Andy

[VWRETROMAN 0]

took mine out today and i could see anything snapped or anything?

 

I tryed to manually move it up and down i.e the the sunroof sliding, and it was stiff but it worked.

 

Tried it with the motor and nothing

 

Any ideas couldn't identify the water plate thingy

 

Was thinking about just getting a passet sunroof but also having difficulty with that too.

 

cheers

[Mike Edwards 0]

The 'water guide plate' is the rear-most sliding thing in each track. Lack of lube will make them very stiff, and more prone to jamming.

 

This might mean they work when out of the car, but jam to buggery when re-installed...

[Petaypan 0]

Hi folks,

Sorry to jump in on the thread, but my sunroof packed up today too - first drive out since collecting it! :(

The sunroof worked fine on tilt and slide when I drove it back after buying it 2 wks ago, but today I opened it on tilt and it seemed to stop and then restart. Once open it wouldn't go down again - now when I press the middle circular 'tilt' button it just makes a ticking noise. The front and rear slide buttons do nothing.

After doing a search on here I found out about the mechanical closure with the allen-key and closed the roof no problem. From there I was then able to tilt roof again but unable to slide it... :confused4:

I realise the sunroof failure is a common fault, but do different symptoms mean different problems?

Could it be the switch? Or is it always a case of removing & replacing?

 

Thanks from a Newbie :notworthy:

 

Pete

[Critical_Mass 10]

Got another DIFFERENT sunroof scenario. Mine does tilt and slide back. However, the slide back and forth is jittery - it doesnt do it very smoothly and then it sometimes needs a little help by hand. Also when i slide it back, the paint off of the rear passenger corner of the sunroof seems to get paint scratched off???

 

Does this mean something IS going inside the sunroof?

[Mike Edwards 0]

Yes.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yes.

 

Any chance you could be a little more specific, obviously you can only be specific to a certain extent. But any ideas what would likely to be going - cable, clips etc?

 

Cheers

[Toad 0]

I'm sure one of the more experienced sunroof repairers will confirm but I think that the rockery clip isn't engaging properly, and there is too much resistance to the sliding motion.

[Mike Edwards 0]

LHS water guide plate is worn - but not enough to cause anything to snap. Motor may also be tired.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Cheers guys!

[RaddoMan 0]

Driving home today and I managed to get my sunroof stuck open on tilt drivers side comes down but pas dose not , had a look when home and the ali part has snapped that pulls it back , looks like i need some parts , my sunroof wont slide back or forward , so now its dead , can i use mk3 parts to fix this?

 

please help me.

Raddoman

[Mike Edwards 0]

Yes - the bits are interchangeable (with the exception of a few items between the glass and steel roofs.

 

From the sound of it you need a new cable on the passenger side

[RaddoMan 0]

Hi Mike , you seam the expert on this :) , i am thinking of changing all the pas side , rocker and lets call it the slider , so that sliver shiny part comes with the cable ?

 

Thx for the reply I got it to close with some hardship lol took me 20 minutes .

 

Raddoman

[Mike Edwards 0]

Yes, the shiny thing is the bit that attaches the cable to the rest of the mechanism.

 

You'll probably only need the cable and the 'water guide plate' to fix it, but budgeting for the rest can't hurt.