[V8] Sunroof woes

Sat Dec 9 01:04:26 EST 2006

Nice looking V8 Scott.

91 and later has a feature that will close the sunroof if you put the key in
the driver's door look and hold it in the lock position for a couple of
seconds.  This requires the relay and extra wiring, but can easily be retro
fitted into a 1990 car like what has been done to yours (and mine).  The
only change required is that the thick + power feed has a different
connector on it, so you need to either match the old one or the new one.  If
you do this swap on a 1990 from a 1991+ wrecker, make sure to get the motor,
sunroof switch, and other half of the + power connector.

I had a failed micro switch so my sunroof would allow you to 'close it' when
it was already closed; this makes a hell of a noise as it ratchets past
where it should be and you eventually sync up again.  I went after a micro
switch from a buddy's wrecked '91 and found it easier to do what your PO had
done than de-solder / re-solder a micro switch to a motor with more miles on
it...  Not sure if I deserve the baseball bat, perhaps the steak knife guy.
Hee hee :-)

The power window switches are notorious for going bad.  Many have had luck
opening them (carefully) and cleaning them with contact enhancer, however
there are a ton of used switches available so this may be easier.  If you
think you might have a bad one, try a known good one from one of the other 4
windows.  If you think you have a bad window motor (regulator) remove the
windows switch and you will discover there are 4 wires; 2 go to the window
motor.  Apply 12+ (I use a Makita battery) to the motor and it should go up
(or down); reverse polarity to make it go the other direction.  If it
doesn't do anything, it probably needs new brushes, or simply to be
replaced.  Audi doesn't sell just the motor, so you have to buy the whole
regulator for ~$160 IIRC.  You can buy used for around $40, but how many
months will it last before you are in there again?  I would be more
comfortable buying used for the rear, but new for the front (operated more
often).

P.S. If you are looking for an excellent product to turn your grey bits back
to black (rocker panels, mirrors, etc), this stuff works great:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_1000&L2=L2_1007&L3=L3_1500&SKU
=11183

Word of warning: don't use it on the black part of the bumpers, the body
side moldings (that hide the aluminum side impact bars), or the rubber that
abuts the mirrors.  Don't let it drip on anything, either.  :-)

Cheers,

- Jeremy
www.MyV8Q.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of
Scott Simmons
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 8:59 PM
To: Kneale Brownson
Cc: V8 Audi Fans
Subject: Re: [V8] Sunroof woes

I dug out the sunroof motor that came in the trunk of my car.  It looks 
similar to the one I have installed but carries a relay attached to the 
sunroof where you can see that mine 
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/indischrot/audi/sun_motorposition.jp
g)  
does not.  The family album shows the one in my car to be a later model 
motor?  And since the relay holder is on the cover, I assume that the 
cover too is from a later model V8.  I can only guess that the previous 
owner tried to jury rig a later model motor into a earlier model harness 
and ended up with spare wires (Gee, ya think?).  The motor in the trunk 
was 443 877 795B.  Which ETKA says is for models up to 44-L-15000.  
Since I have a 44-L-013222, I can only assume it applies.  Cannot see 
what number is on the motor in the car.

Motor in hand:  has a 5 pin relay.  Wires come out of relay and up into 
4 wire plug in (red/blue, blue, red/black, red/yellow) with an extra 
red/blue sticking out of the harness.  The two red/blues have been cut 
as it appears that they connect where the DIY crimp connector is in this 
pic: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/indischrot/audi/sun_wires2.jpg 

So why the change?  Why do later model V8's (or whatever model the motor 
is from) have a relay that has twice as many pins?  I'll take another 
look over the weekend, but that one crimp-connector appears to be the 
only change in the OE harness so I'll plug in this motor and see what 
happens.  I can only assume it's bad.

I want to take a baseball bat to people who crap like this.  Just 
replace it with the right part and you won't have to "make" it work and 
you will have a functioning sunroof again---not one that continuously 
wants to retract.  The same wiring genius is the one who probably did my 
window wiring---only the driver's door works: the passenger's will 
sometimes go down but not up, the rear ones never work.  All the wires 
in the door jambs appear to have been crimped before.  I'm gonna have to 
go clean up someone else's mess...

But then again, the car shines up really nice 
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/indischrot/audi/v8frontleft.jpg)  
and drives like a dream.  Now, someone out there make me a 25mpg 
plug-and-play magic box...

~Scott Simmons

Kneale Brownson wrote:

>Can't help you with the electricals.  If you get the metal panel so it's
>level with the roof, you have it in the optimum position.  The seals around
>the sunroof are not water seals.  They're more like wind noise seals.  The
>sunroof system takes care of water seeping past those seals by way of the
>drains in each corner of the opening.  They're tubes that run down to the
>underside of the car.  Or, actually, the front ones go to the bottom of the
>door hinge area.  The rears exit behind the rear wheelwell.   The only
>reason you'd get moisture inside the car from the sunroof opening is if a
>drain is plugged.  Audi suggests passing the innards from a speedometer
>cable through the tubes to make sure they're open.  Probably better would
>be a larger size weedwhip cord.  I've heard of folks blowing compressed air
>through the tubes.  I'd think you'd want to do that from the top if
>possible rather than from underneath.
>
>
>
>At 04:16 PM 12/6/2006 -0600, Scott Simmons wrote:
>
>  
>
>>What I want to do now is get the sunroof sufficiently closed as not to 
>>leak water/snow for the winter and possibly fix the wiring. 
>>    
>>
>
>  
>

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