‘86 Sunroof question
01-24-2019, 08:44 PM
#1
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‘86 Sunroof question
I’m in the process of replacing the gears in the gearboxes that move the sunroof arms up and down. I got to the part of the job where I was marking the arms that push the sunroof up and down (and of course retract so you can pull the sunroof). I marked one of the arms and then grabbed the other arm so I could transfer a mark to the second arm so they’d be in the same spot when I got them into the gearbox and closed up the gearbox. This is when I noticed that the radius, or curve, of the two arms are different. I can’t believe it’s supposed to be that way. It doesn’t look like either have been damaged. Has anybody run into this? The arms are pretty thick 1/4 inch (or 6mm) thick. I have a hard time believing they could’ve been bent without some type of evidence showing. But really I just see wear marks on the arms.
01-29-2019, 12:32 AM
#3
Burning Brakes
When I changed my gears I didn’t pull the arms out. I ended up stripping both gears and had the cable extended in the left wheel well. I was able to eyeball everything making sure they were even using Clark’s procedure.
02-05-2019, 03:45 PM
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Wanted to follow up on this. I got new arms from Porsche and indeed one was bent. Actually both were bent. One very slightly.
when I assembled everything I noticed that the passenger side housing moved around. Inspecting it closer showed that it was broken. There are two Allen head screws holding it to the body. The front of the housing slides into some tabs and the Allen head screws hold it in place. So I had to replace that as well.
Once the new housing, arms and gears were in the sunroof works and raises and lowers the roof. But I’ll need to work on adjusting it. Currently when the car is on the sunroof opens and closes. But sometimes, when the car is on, when closing the sunroof the arms continue to retract to the position that they would be in if you wanted to remove the sunroof (arms fully retracted). So microswitches might need adjustment or the switch at the front center of the sunroof is acting up.
By the way, when I purchased the car the sunroof was (and still is) a different color. With the broken housing and two bent arms my assumption is that the original sunroof was ripped from the car. My guess is that the issue I’m seeing (the arms fully retracting when the sunroof is installed and the car is on) was an issue previously and the PO didn’t notice. Maybe he/she went for a drive and the wind caught the sunroof and it departed the vehicle!
when I assembled everything I noticed that the passenger side housing moved around. Inspecting it closer showed that it was broken. There are two Allen head screws holding it to the body. The front of the housing slides into some tabs and the Allen head screws hold it in place. So I had to replace that as well.
Once the new housing, arms and gears were in the sunroof works and raises and lowers the roof. But I’ll need to work on adjusting it. Currently when the car is on the sunroof opens and closes. But sometimes, when the car is on, when closing the sunroof the arms continue to retract to the position that they would be in if you wanted to remove the sunroof (arms fully retracted). So microswitches might need adjustment or the switch at the front center of the sunroof is acting up.
By the way, when I purchased the car the sunroof was (and still is) a different color. With the broken housing and two bent arms my assumption is that the original sunroof was ripped from the car. My guess is that the issue I’m seeing (the arms fully retracting when the sunroof is installed and the car is on) was an issue previously and the PO didn’t notice. Maybe he/she went for a drive and the wind caught the sunroof and it departed the vehicle!
02-11-2019, 12:43 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
Not sure to clearly explain this, sunroofs have a lot of things going on to operate and adjust.
Try not to adjust the micro-switches on the motor drive in the rear pocket. But do check them to see if someone has moved them around, or the screws that hold them are loose. Generally, they sit in the middle of their adjustment range, which is a good position to start if they're loose or tampered with.. Also, check the plastic arm that the cable moves, it sometimes cracks. Porsche could not have made it any more complicated!
To get the sunroof arms to stop correctly, unless the motor drive micro-switches are really mis-aligned, try adjusting the lifting arms in respect to the plastic gears. Think of it this way, the motor is driving the cable to the micro-switch limit, to synchronize the micro-switch trip point with the lifting arms, you should keep changing the relationship between the lifting arm and the plastic drive gear.
The Porsche factory service manual is a good reference but doesn't cover the silly adjustments at the sunroof.
This probably won't make much sense until you get into it, but it will work once you understand how it all works.
Try not to adjust the micro-switches on the motor drive in the rear pocket. But do check them to see if someone has moved them around, or the screws that hold them are loose. Generally, they sit in the middle of their adjustment range, which is a good position to start if they're loose or tampered with.. Also, check the plastic arm that the cable moves, it sometimes cracks. Porsche could not have made it any more complicated!
To get the sunroof arms to stop correctly, unless the motor drive micro-switches are really mis-aligned, try adjusting the lifting arms in respect to the plastic gears. Think of it this way, the motor is driving the cable to the micro-switch limit, to synchronize the micro-switch trip point with the lifting arms, you should keep changing the relationship between the lifting arm and the plastic drive gear.
The Porsche factory service manual is a good reference but doesn't cover the silly adjustments at the sunroof.
This probably won't make much sense until you get into it, but it will work once you understand how it all works.