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Slippery Slope Expert
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A "Final" Sunroof Question
I've posted a few sunroof questions of late, but here's another one, lube related.
I know all of the conventional wisdom seems to be not to lubricate anything; I can see this when it comes to the tracks since they're exposed to grit and the like when the roof is opened. However when I pulled the cables from mine the cables were lubed the entire length on both sides. (One side has been replaced for sure, but I don't know about the other side) This would appear to be a factory thing, and I can see how it would be beneficial for the bend in the tubes and at the pinion. I don't know what the lube is; not particularly soluble in normal parts cleaners, and about the consistency of old grease gun lube, but brown and almost clear. So I'm thinking the best thing would be to leave the front part of the cables and the channels themselves dry, but keep the lube on the sections of the cable that never see daylight. Particularly since I doubt I can clean out the lube that is already in the guide tubes. Thoughts?
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“As new technologies become indistinguishable from magic, and I can no longer tinker, the magic goes away for me.” |
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09-09-2017, 06:20 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Marietta, Ga (Atlanta)
Posts: 2,970
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I have a spare set of sunroof parts including cables, cable tube assy, slides etc. This set came from a very low mileage, never molested wreck.
That said, there is NOT a speck of grease or lube on the cables, cable tubes or slides. I think someone greased the ones on your car, thinking they were doing a good thing, probably when they replaced the one cable you mentioned. I would clean off as much grease as you can.
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'80SC Widebody 3.6 transplant Anthracite "The Rocket" Long gone but still miss them all: '77 911 Targa, '72 BMW 3.0CS Coupe(finest car I ever had!) '71 911T Coupe White, '70 911T Coupe Blue '68 911 Coupe Orange, '68 911L Soft Window Targa Last edited by uwanna; 09-09-2017 at 07:04 AM.. |
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09-09-2017, 07:00 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: DTX
Posts: 2,409
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Pretty sure mine has that same stuff on the cables.
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89 Carrera 3.4 "There is a right way to go around a corner - it's called the line." -- PCA DE speaker bryteside.com - good things happen. |
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09-09-2017, 08:55 PM
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Slippery Slope Expert
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That's interesting; two diametrically-opposed experiences.
I can see a case for both scenarios. One thing against lubrication (other than the grit/debris collection aspect) is that I think in some cases grease could cause more problems than it (theoretically) solves because of it's viscosity. This isn't a high-speed, high-friction situation and the glueing effect of the grease could be counterproductive. I have all of the removable parts out and cleaned. When I reassemble I'm going to leave everything that's exposed when the roof is open dry dry, and let the grease stay (not much I can do about it anyway) in the guide tubes at the rear of the body where the cables make a 90 degree turn. One thing that hit me the other day is that this old design (and I'm sure it goes back much farther than 1982) is practically the same as today's "moon roof" models. The inner headliner corresponds to the contemporary sunshield that slides back into the body only in the 911 case it's attached to the outer roof so it moves back and forth with it. With the moonroof feature you have to pull it back out manually. So the more things change, the more they stay the same!
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“As new technologies become indistinguishable from magic, and I can no longer tinker, the magic goes away for me.” |
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09-10-2017, 03:43 AM
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