zogster

I have an odd electrical problem that hopefully might be familiar to someone... my sunroof motor runs for a few seconds when I lock the doors, and sometimes when braking. Doesn't happen when I unlock the doors.

A loose connection, cracked insulation leading to wires touching, or something along those lines seems the likeliest culprit, but my first troubleshoot didn't turn anything up. Basically I just wiggled the sunroof motor mechanism and gave it a few light taps, to see if wiring or an out-of-adjustment microswitch might have been at fault. Nothing. Then I fiddled with the sunroof switch at the console to see if anything happened. Again, nothing.

[The clutch in the mechanism is on the loose side right now, as I've replaced the sunroof seals and in all the messing about to get it to fit properly I've been wary of stripping any sunroof gear teeth, so loosened it up for safety. So the few seconds running the motor isn't actually moving the roof, which with the roof in the locked position I guess means that the motor is running in the direction needed to open the roof]

auto2043

This probably isn't going to help you much but in some really cold days, my sunroof will go up when I put the car in reverse. Weird stuff! XD

marc abrams

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Do You know what the brake lights, reverse lights, and sunroof have in common?
They all share the same ground at the rear of the car.
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zogster

Ooooh, that could be very useful information, thanks Marc! Sounds awfully like a solid lead, fault-finding-wise.

I'll try cleaning up the grounds and checking the wires to sunroof and brake, see if it makes a difference.

Arominus

That ground is easy to get to, just pop up the carpet and its along the back edge of the hatch on the floor.