mroberts

I know my car is an '86, but how do I tell if it's an "early" 86 or a "late" 86 ?

I'm asking because half of my sunroof is broken - the driver's side lifter arm is in the fully retracted position and wont move. Before this happened, I noticed it would click a few times at the end of it's travel.

In hindisght, and after reading all abtou the sunroofs, it appears I may have stripped a gear, but onyl if I have the "later" model setup.

At the moment, no matter what I do with the button, the drivers side lifter remains in the same spot.

Is there a way to manually lock that side of the roof ? The passenger side works fine.

Thanks,
Mike.

Dave in Chicago

If I'm not mistaken, the PET shows a division at S/N 57875 for 944 and 54212 for Turbo. Not really clear, but could provide a clue?

mroberts

The last 5 digits of my VIN are 56232, and it's a Turbo. What is the PET ?

Dave in Chicago

Porsche's Electronic Parts Catalogue. This, along with shop manuals, provides a pretty good idea on how all this stuff screws together.

inactiveuser92616

your driver's side sunroof gear is stripped. The clicking you would hear was the teeth chipping off of it. There's a couple of online parts dealers that sell the gears, go for $4-5 a piece. I would recommend replacing both while you are in there. I think pelican has a tutorial. First time it probably takes an hour, but later attempts are 20 minute jobs.

inactiveuser92616

also, the year division was 85.5, not 86. You have a late model.

mroberts

Thanks for the help. At least I know what I'm dealing with now.

I'm going ot an Autocross tomorrow. Is there anything I can do to lock the roof down until then ? If the hgear is stripped, should I be able to move the locking arm ?

Since I'll barely be over 30-40, do I need to worry if the other side is locked ?