L Reg VW Vento

My electric sunroof has gone doolally!

For a while it didnt seem very keen to close, it didnt seem to close evenly.
One side would stick as the other carried on moving normally.

Then, about a week ago it wouldnt close the last six inches or so! I
manually closed it and now it does nothing!
When i tried to manually open it, again, it does so skew wiffly...if you
know what I mean! One side stays still while the other moves....then it
gets VERY stiff so i stop winding. This happens when its only three or four
inches open
I'm afraid to push it too hard in case i damage something.
I'm hoping someone will read this and think "a yes, happened to me last
month...all you gotta do is......etc"

On Mar 14, 10:13 am, "Ade Evans" <adeev... (AT) totalise (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
I have had this experience -once- with an electric sunroof that came
to me at about 100,000 miles on the vehicle. The rails and wind-
diverter springs need lubrication or they bind. Worse, sometime the
wind-diverters crack and jam the rails. On some systems, there is a
clutch with a detent such that if you manually open or close the
sunroof, you have to re-align the system to the detent, a major PITA.
That system was far-enough gone that I took it to a specialist
(Mercedes) who, 7 years ago, charged me $175 to do what was needful.
All-and-at-the-same-time, he led me by the hand through the PM on
them. A long way of saying: All you gotta do is:

Some tools required:

Heavy-duty dental picks, something you can use to reach, push or pull
down a narrow slot.
Spray lubricant. You are going to get messy, so protect the inside of
the car as well. Spray white lithium grease is good.
A very good flashlight.
A ladder or way to sit comfortably on top of the car to work from the
outside and from the inside.
Good lighting and/or sunlight and good weather.

a) very carefully open the sunroof by millimeters. Look for binds,
projections, things that do not look right and so forth. At the time
it was _REALLY_ helpful for me to have an identical sunroof in proper
working order nearby.
b) look for broken guides, clips, or track liners. Look for popped
rivets or missing springs on the wind-diverter. Repair/replace as
necessary. Mercedes had a kit for this (believe it or not) that, at
the time, was $29.95 in addition to the $175 I paid the mechanic. I do
not know if VW has the same.
c) at this point, the sunroof should slide properly across its full
travel. You now need to align the slide to the detent on the cable.
Push/crank the slide to its fully closed condition, then bring it back
about an inch or so. "Free" the crank (get it in a neutral position if
possible). First, run the electric closer to fully closed. It may not
catch in this direction. Then run it to open. It should catch. If not,
you need to get to the motor and see if the clutch has sheared, or if
the motor is burnt out or the fuse blown. At that point:

http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1e/bl562e.htm

A LOT of work.

Note that the mechanic who fixed mine took about two hours to do so,
grumbling the entire time. Then spent 20 minutes with me going over
everything he did.

Haven't had the problem since on any vehicle. Twice a year, the
sunroof tracks get cleaned, lubricated, any loose parts secured, and
the fasteners checked. Also the drain blown out... bugs.

Good luck with it. It can be done.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Wow, SERIOUSLY helpful answer, friend!

I'll take a look at it over the weekend. Thanks again
Ade