sliding sunroof by hand

[jwakil]

If I disconnect the gear mechanism that drives the sunroof cables, shouldn't I be able to slide the sunroof back by hand? I did that and it won't move at all. Do I need to press down on the back of it from outside?

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by jwakil

If I disconnect the gear mechanism that drives the sunroof cables, shouldn't I be able to slide the sunroof back by hand? I did that and it won't move at all. Do I need to press down on the back of it from outside?

Don't press down from the outside. When the cables retract, they pull the rear of the panel off of a plastic/nylon wedge that pushes it up flush to the roof when in the closed position. If your motor is broken you may be able to turn the transmission gear by hand using the manual handle (which you likely don't have) or something that will fit into the hole in the gear. Once you move the panel back about 4", you may be able to use your hands to push from the front--never tried it though. If worse comes to worst, you could remove the transmission gear and pull on the cable ends by hand--that might work.

[jwetering]

I ran my sunroof for year by hand after the motor stopped working and I didn't replace it due to a strictweight savings regime. You have to remove the sunroof headliner panel to make it work though.

Really hard to describe in words, but I'll try...best is to slide the headliner panel back so you can see for yourself. It's easy...

1) open the sunroof a couple of inches.
2) unclip the headliner from the sunroof panel by pulling down on the headliner at the leading edge (front of car).
3) slide the headliner panel back towards the rear of the car. It travels in it's own seperate track.

The deal is that the mechanism is designed to push the trailing edge of the roof panel up at at the end of it's forward travel.

The spiral cables are attached to pivoting ends which bolt to the roof panel. At the end of the forward travel, the pivoting ends keep moving forward even after the roof is closed, and as they fold under, they also push the back of the roof panel up. Like I say - seeing is believing.

Anyway - the point is that you have to manually *flip* these ends back and the trailing edge of the roof panel will drop, after which point you will be able to slide the roof open quite easily.

Good luck -

[911jettat]

Originally Posted by jwetering

The deal is that the mechanism is designed to push the trailing edge of the roof panel up at at the end of it's forward travel.

The spiral cables are attached to pivoting ends which bolt to the roof panel. At the end of the forward travel, the pivoting ends keep moving forward even after the roof is closed, and as they fold under, they also push the back of the roof panel up. Like I say - seeing is believing.

Anyway - the point is that you have to manually *flip* these ends back and the trailing edge of the roof panel will drop, after which point you will be able to slide the roof open quite easily.

Good description jwetering!

I'm manually operating my sunroof right now also.

My sunroof headliner has just been reupholstered and I haven't put everything back together yet. What jwetering described above works for me ('90 C2). With the sunroof headliner removed...I just reach up and "flip" the two pivoting ends with my fingers and it clicks open and the back of the sunroof panel pivots down. Then I carefully slide the panel back. To close I slide the panel forward and push on the pivoting ends until it flips forward and locks into place.

One important note. To do this the sunroof cables have to be disconnected. The panel is still held in the car because it is still secured by the sliding track but the panel can and will slide forward under heavy braking. You'll need a stick or small rod to hold the sunroof panel back securely when the sunroof is open.

[Sunroof]

My headliner has been off for quite a while in order to replace many of my sunroof components. I have been manually sliding the roof open and closed for sometime. You just have to remove the transmission to let go of the cables and it a done deal. I almost like doing that then screwing with ever misligned parts, noisey mechanism and sometimes a broken line that fits between the transmission and the motor. I have the 1973.5T model, so the fitting is quite different then the newer models. In fact I was getting this high pitched metal against metal sound everytime I opened and closed via the motor and traced it to a bent starboard side cable holder. I think I bought the last OEM brand new one on the planet from my local Porsche dealer. It was found in a dusty warehouse in Germany somewhere. All the late models are black unlike mine.

These sunroofs either work perfectly or are a total pain in the butt!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob
73.5T