BeerBurner

Hi.

Does the upper sunroof microswitch serve any function other than to disable the lifting arms when the sunroof is out? I just replaced that microswitch because the old one died, and everything worked fine when I tried it with the sunroof out. When I put the roof back in, it would only lift up about a half inch before the microswitch tripped. If I pushed the flapper with a screwdriver, it would open the rest of the way.

I took the old flapper (I bought an extra one because I was told I'd break the old flapper taking it out, but I didn't) and glued a little piece of plastic to it to act as a spacer, since I couldn't find a way to adjust the microswitch. When I put it back in, I heard a "snap", and I think I broke the new microswitch.

So, my question is can I just bypass the microswitch and solder the two leads together and maintain a working sunroof? I don't want to have to buy another switch, and I'm sure I have enough self control to not raise the arms when the sunroof is out...

Thanks,
BB.

Randy_J

Was it a "SNAP" or more like a "BANG"??

Sounds like you stripped one or both of the lifting arm gears... don't ask me how I know....

BeerBurner

Nah, it was a snap from when I was putting that little flapper piece on. The lifting arms still work fine.

Although now it would seem that I was after the wrong microswitch. Even though every indicator said it was the central one, I went ahead and bypassed it. It worked fine for a couple of tries, and now it's dead again.

Oh well, if I keep replacing parts, I'm bound to come across the problem, right...?

BB.

BeerBurner

Ok, so I read thought Clark's garage site on the sunroof, and I found the info on the three other microswitches.......confusing...

Simply put, there are no problems whatsoever when I am lowering the lifting arms. The sunroof always closes, and when I want to remove it, the lifting arms always retract. However, the problems always occur when raising the lifting arms, or locking the sunroof back in place.

Likely problem?

Thanks,
BB.

adrial

BB, I am having a similar problem to yours...I haven't dug into it yet though...I will probably in the next few days. I'll keep you posted it.

Let me know if you figure it out

thanks,
Adrial

BeerBurner

Thanks. If I resolve this issue before you, I'll let you know, too...

Anywho, while fiddling some more with it, I managed to strip one of the gears because I hit the button when I didn't quite want to. Not a huge deal since I had one lying around.

<sigh>

Back to "square one"...

BB.

Sam Lin

I wedged a small wad of paper towel in there to hold that switch closed, have heard of others just bypassing it and tying the wires together - I don't see why not.

While we're on sunroofs though, I fixed mine, but now when the car starts moving, it raises itself to the extended position - what's wrong?

Sam

BeerBurner

I've got the microswitch bypassed. Now, I just need to make it so that the arms go up.

BB.

86-951

Sam, your switches are out of adjustment. It sounds like the switches are indicating the arms are retracted when you have them in the locked position. When the car starts moving, the arms are automatically moved to the locked position (if they're retracted and the front switch is made) for safety. Check the adjustment procedure at Clark's Garage.

Jeff928S4

The switch between the visors tells the car if the roof is in or out.

If this switch is constantly held down (or the owner sticks it down or bypasses it), the car will think the roof is in and when you drive with the roof out, the car will automatically move the arms to the "lock" position (because it thinks the roof is in and wants to lock it). Same thing will happen if you try and lock the car with the roof out.

If the arms retracts for removal fine and the arms open and close the roof fine, then all microswitches are set. If the roof will not open more than an inch or so (or less) - then the microswitch on the backside of the motor is getting hit too soon. The two switches on the top of the motor are basically for closing/removing the roof. The switch on the back gets hit when the roof is open to it's peak - so if the roof isn't opening as much as you want - adjust the switch on the bottom/back of the motor.

Sometimes this switch can be fine and then you hit a bump and the roof won't open all the way anymore - next day you could come out and the roof will work fine. These switches are very touchy.

Also, if the switch between the visors is bad, it will make the car think the roof is out, when it really is in (switch not getting hit) - and it won't open the roof. If this switch is cutting in and out, the roof will sometimes open all the way and other times it won't.

944S Boyeee

BeerBurner

Cool, thanks for the clearer info.

I had gone ahead and bypassed the sunvisor switch yesterday, and I'll go ahead and leave it as such to eliminate that variable. I'm going to go ahead and check all of the other microswitches and the operating switch and try and track it all down from there. The back switch is the next one on my list of candidates.

I think I know what my problem was when searching yesterday... I was drinking diet ginger ale instead of beer. Big mistake, methinks...

BB.

Kurt

Nothing's wrong, you just got a rare late-in-the-model-year Factory-only option used to create extra lift when driving in reverse!

i'd imagine that would be pretty hilarious to see, kinda like the 996 spoilers deploying at speed! the real question is would it go back down when you stopped?

xsboost90

i need to check mine out, it was making a plastic-teeth-grinding noise when i would raise it up too much, now it will only go up like an inch and doesnt like to lock all the way. THink i stripped the gear cuz the microswitch was prolly out of adjustment.

BeerBurner

Ok, after buying a new multimeter because the one I had decided that this was the time it was going to die, I pulled out a beer and got started.

What I have found so far:

* There is power going to the harness that plugs into the motor assembly. I verified this by turning the sunroof switch to it's various functions (up and down, both in raise/lift and remove/install sunroof) and checked for voltage at the various terminals. Each position had a different terminal that had power.

* the sunroof motor itself does operate in both directions (hooked it directly to a car battery).

* The relays on the assembly seem to be fine, since I swapped them around with no change.

* The sunroof motor gets power when closing, but no power when opening. (checked for voltage at the plug into the motor.)

* The two upper microswitches keep the circuit open until they are pressed, at which point they close.

* The back microswitch keeps the circuit closed until it is pressed, then it opens. For grins, I disconnected this microswitch and ran a jumper to bypass it, but it didn't work.

* I'm drinking beer, but that does not seem to be helping.

* I wish I had the keys to my roommate's 951 because I'd just pull the assembly off his car and try it out...

Is everything, so far, working the way it's supposed to? If so, perhaps I have a bad connection within the sunroof assembly itself. Any thoughts before I tear into that?

Thanks,
BB.

BeerBurner

Hrm...

It seems to be working now. I fiddled with everything again, including all of the plugs on the microswitches and the overhead microswitch. I did notice that microswitch I did have a crack in it, and I squeezed it back together, but at first, that did nothing. In fact, it didn't start working again until after I pulled apart the overhead microswitch just to see if the jumper was still holding. I put it back together, and suddenly everything works the way it did before! The roof will raise about a half-inch and then I need to press the flapper in with a screwdriver to get it to go the rest of the way (which has me a touch confused, because with the jumper, it shouldn't matter. but there it is, so...). I can bend the microswitch tab out to give it a better contact with the flapper, but for the moment I'm going to take the "don't f$#& with it!" approach and see if it works properly over the next few weeks.

It has me concerned that the problem suddenly went away... It could have been as simple as a bad connection or that cracked microswitch, but I'd feel a whole lot better if it fixed itself completely after replacing a part.

Oh well... <crosses fingers>

BB.