little white sunroof gears dont spin

[944kiddo]

hey guys my sunroof motor works well i think, cuz when i hit the switch i can hear it working but those white gears dont spin. Any one know wut part makes these gears spin or what i can do to fix this problem

[livewirevoodoo]

Early or late model 944?

Chances are that the little white sunroof gear(s) have some teeth missing, or the cable that drives them needs adjustment.

Clarks Garage - Sunroof Operation, Troubleshooting and Repair

[944kiddo]

its a late model, and no it cant be the gears are stripped because i just replaced them last night. What is this cable your talking about that drives the gears?, and how can it be adjusted?

[livewirevoodoo]

On late models, there is a motor in the rear hatch area, driver's side, behind the carpeting near the interior light there. The motor is covered w/ a black plastic cover. The motor drives a grooved cable which turns the sunroof gears.

If you bothered to check the link I posted in my last message, it goes in to far more detail (and a much better explanation) than I could provide here. Check the link, there is a link on that page for sunroof component testing as well. Exhaust those options (Clark's instructions should get you 90% of the way), but if any of it is unclear or uncertain I'll try and help with any followups.

[Cory9584]

once you figure out whats wrong i have every part youll ever need to fix a sunroof

[944kiddo]

hey live, i checked out clarks garage and i think i have to tighten the slip adjustment cuz the motor spins but dosent do anything. What im trying to figure out is that i have to loosent the lock nut but from the pictures since there kinda fuzzy i cant tell where the lock nut is. I tired loosining the adjustment nut without the lock nut but it spins the whole thing the spinning thing haha forgot the name

[livewirevoodoo]

If I recall correctly, the lock nut is either 9mm or 10mm. The adjusting nut can be turned with a spark plug socket, and it is the nut located closed to the motor. Its easier to see if you remove the black plastic cover over the entire motor assembly.

The pics in the write up are indeed fuzzy, I'll see what I can do to find some pics if you still can't make sense of it.

[thekidd]

Also check to see if the cable came out of the motor. That happened to me when my Limit switches werent touching the cable, so it could tell the cable to stop, or to send it to the gears and arms. The motor wil spin and make noise, but if there isnt a cable there to move, well... Thats another thing, check the limit switches to see if they are making contact with the cable. I have the motor cable and all from an '87 924S if you need anything or the whole thing if interested. Good Luck and definetly check out that link from www.clarksgarage.com

[944kiddo]

yyyyyyyyyyyeaah ok well sunroof isnt working still but pretty sure i know wuts wrong with it ok the motor isnt grabing the cable the tip is kinda stripped its like a little bit to short so how do i make the cable go in more? i know u guys said somthing about limit switches but could not find on clarksgarage what to do with my problem so can u guys help me out?

i really appreciate all the help you guys are giving me man i finnaly feel like im getting some were haha so thanks again

[944kiddo]

ok scratch all that besides the thank you parts haha i feel really stupid ok so i said that the wire was too short but all i did was just push it in and presto the sunroof went up well only one of my lifting arms went up so im gunna just mess with it and ill get back too you guys if i run in to problems or if u know a simple solution for me just let me know haha ok well thanks guys man im frikin happy i got my sunroor working !!!

[livewirevoodoo]

Trial and error. How I learned alot of what I know about these cars. That and this forum.

Which arm is lifting, driver side or passenger? If it is the driver side, then the cable may not be fully inserted and not reaching the passengerside gear. If thats the case, you'll want to remove the driverside gear and get the cable to where it moves the passengerside gear, otherwise you'll end up stripping the driverside gear (ask me how I know....)

[944kiddo]

yup yup trial and error and alot of help from the forums man i dont know what i would do with out these things haha

and yes it is the driverside gear, while im pushing the sunroof button it will go and lift the driverside then the motor itself will just stop and the cable wont get to the passanger side. So your saying to take out the gear on the driver side and keep feeding it threw to the passanger side tell it lifts? what would be stopping it in the first place? is it the limit switches thats stopping the motor from feeding the cable to the passanger?

[livewirevoodoo]

Originally Posted by 944kiddo

So your saying to take out the gear on the driver side and keep feeding it threw to the passanger side tell it lifts?

Exactly, otherwise you may strip the driverside gear trying to keep feeding it through

Originally Posted by 944kiddo

what would be stopping it in the first place? is it the limit switches thats stopping the motor from feeding the cable to the passanger?

Does the motor actually stop before lifting the passenger arm? If so, then it very well may be the limit switch. You would want to get the cable fed through all the way in (at which point both of the lifting arms would be fully extended. Its also possible that the cable has been pulled back so much that it is not being fed through the guide/tubing correctly near the passengerside gear. You'll probably want to pull the headliner and unscrew the black plastic covers holding the gears/lifting arms in place to inspect.