[s-cars] Sunroof in need of exorcism

[Steve Eiche]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003, Paul wrote:

 >  I am now the proud owner of a possessed sunroof!

<snip>

Paul,
Yes, I have seen this exact thing on a coworker's car. His failure also
coincided with a dying battery.  The prognosis is  not good.  It seems
when the voltage gets too low, the sunroof circuitry (in the motor
assembly itself) "freaks out" (engineering term), thus causing the motor
to run in the open direction continuously.  The problem is, it will not
stop as it normally would once it hits the end of the travel, causing a
plastic gear in the sunroof motor assembly to strip out.  Now we know
where the design team for the type 44 door handle ended up...

Not surprisingly, this gear is NOT available as a separate piece so you
are forced to buy a new or find a used sunroof motor assembly.  The
motor assembly also happens to be '95+ S6/A6 specific part (the ones
with the preselector knob), so finding one used is not easy.  It took us
four months to find one. If you wonder why one would wait so long to fix
the sunroof, check the dealer price on it.  Although it _should_ come
with a generous supply of assembly lube, it does not, if you know what I
mean.

I sincerely hope you problem is elsewhere, but my guess is upon
disassembly of the motor assembly you will find a well stripped gear.

Steve