Sunroof -

[JK McDonald]

Well !#$$@ - As I opened my sunroof this morning and heard something go ker-ping, I knew this can't be good. When I got out to look things over, the panel was open just past the halfway mark and sitting slightly off square.

The maintenance manual shows a pair of drive cables coming from the motor - one attaches along each side of the sunroof that pulls on some kind of a skid looking gizmo. Now the sun roof slides manually forward or back but is obviously separated from the free running electric motor.

Is this a common repair ? Are parts available ? Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks, Michael

[stepson]

Yes, parts are available. Yes, it's a pretty common thing that gets fixed. Call Roger and he can help you : eight one seven four three zero twenty six eighty eight.

[Mrmerlin]

you probably had a screw come out of the track drive mount .
remove the inner liner with the roof open unscrew the 3 screws holding the front edge of the liner about 2 turns each.( leave the 3 front edge screws in place just loosen them)

then slide the liner forwards there are 3 metal spring blades pressing on the rear of the liner ( sometimes they can get caught on the backside of the liner material so be gentle)
so be careful sliding the liner out and also lift the rear edge a bit so you dont shear off the rear felt vibration pads.
Once this is done then you can see the mounts and drive connections.
Warning now would be the time to verify that your roof out erpanel isnt going to hit the inside of the roof and scratch the paint.
I like to put a clear piece of plastic over the center portion of the sunroof with duct tape the kind you find on magazine covers in the Dr offices

[JK McDonald]

I will break out the tools and remove the interior of the roof panel to look for what has actually broken or come apart. Thanks Mrmerlin for the warning about the paint. Hopefully I wont scratch anything in the disassembly process. I'll give Roger a call for parts -

There was one sunroof that I helped a friend adjust quite a while back - I seem to remember that many of the 928 sliding parts were black plastic. There has been way too many projects to remember exactly what I should be looking for - but I usually operate on the theory that with enough time and money anything can be fixed.

Thanks again for everyone's help, Michael

[Mrmerlin]

unless something actually broke in the sunroof track its probably just had a few loose screws

[JK McDonald]

After 1st going through all the easy stuff, I ended up having to pull the sunroof panel and the complete sliding mechanism out. The problem turned out to be the flexible drive cables on each side. I found that the plastic coupling molded to the end of both drive cables had broken. Evidently if one coupling breaks as the roof begins to move – the roof panel becomes wedged off center. Then, as the opposite cable continues to try and retract the roof, it also snaps from pulling on an immovable wedged load.

You will notice that the plastic coupling broke completely off from the end of the bottom cable while on the upper cable, the coupling has lost the short metal pivot pin (seen still in place on the lower coupling). I guess the age of the plastic was the issue because both sliding channels had plenty of track grease and the flexible drive cables moved very easily within their track tunnels.

Michael,

[Mrmerlin]

928 international might have a good set