W124 Estate sunroof

[Deleted member 11979]

Hi, sunroof has stopped working on my W124 Estate, the motor is turning but nothing is budging.

Could it be the cable, if so does anyone know how to replace it, presume it goes up the c pillar from the boot and attaches to the mechanism somehow, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[230K]

Hi

I will watch this thread with interest, wifes sunroof will tilt but not slide, just noticed at weekend and never thought about it again till i seen your post.

230K

 

[swannymere]

If you use the search function there are many posts about this. Mine tilt's but won't slide, i need to remove the headlining and 'help' it but can't be ****d!

 

[Deleted member 11979]

I can't find anything about the cable on here, I have found a thread somewhere else which says you can quite easily replace the inner cable....in less than an hour, but it goes no further, anyone?

 

[swannymere]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/69407-w124-sunroof-there-god.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/56630-sunroof-jammed-w124-500e.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/interior/23920-sunroof-stuck-w124.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/interior/14006-w124-sunroof-diy-fix.html

 

[grober]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/83569-w124-estate-sunroof-dead.html

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Thank you for the above links, but couldn't find any sign of how to chanve the inner cable

 

[grober]

This is how to do it theoretically-

1. remove the sun roof inner lining---unfortunately to do this you have to able to open the sunroof to access the retaining clips at the edges.
2. that allows access to the guide tube the inner cable attaches to.[ 2 bolts]

3. once this undone in theory the cable can be wound forward till it clears the winding gear on the motor and can be pulled out.

4. the new cable is greased and replaced by a reversal of the process.

5. if the cable won't wind forward you have to strip the actuating gear on the motor in the boot to free it.

I suppose a bit of judicious prodding on the sunroof lining might locate said guide tube followed by "surgery" on the sunrooflining you could access it???? You would then have to renew the lining later or get it repaired by a trimmer.

Sunroofs a very tricky things to work on. The guide tube could be damaged, certain brackets could be broken, motor gears could be stripped, it may not be the cable that's faulty?? At the moment you have a car with watertight sunroof with an unmolested roof trim- think carefully before embarking on a course of action which might end up with a hole in the roof which will be expensive to restore to normal.

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Thank you very much Graeme, I am a brave fool and am restoring the car (that's the fool bit) so I'll give it a go and see what happens, many thanks for your help, if it all ends in tears (which it is likely too) then it's my own silly fault!

 

[mattc]

Thank you very much Graeme, I am a brave fool and am restoring the car (that's the fool bit) so I'll give it a go and see what happens, many thanks for your help, if it all ends in tears (which it is likely too) then it's my own silly fault!

Thats the spirit!

 

[Deleted member 11979]

After a deep breath and 3 hail mary's I got round to looking at the roof today.

On the offchance I tried to move the roof with the manual method in the boot, and it moved! Hooray! Then stopped, boo!

Turns out the cable has disconnected itself from the roof at the front and the sunroof moves freely when pushed and pulled.

Time was against me so I left it and am going to look at fixing it back to the roof next weekend.

 

[Sorry Pete]

I know this is after the event, but much of the sunroof woes that have been experienced is due to neglected maintenance: keep those roof rails lubed!

There are many pieces of felt that will have worn and dried-up (like the stuff in the window glass channels) causing slow operation and failure. There are six with this part number: 126 782 01 30, and four with this: 124 782 00 30. Replacing them requires removal of the sunroof; it's within the spec of diy though it's a time-consuming job. You don't want to get it wrong as any misalignment means a leaky roof.

MB use a unique jelly-type grease: MB Slide Paste part # 001 989 14 51. It's really good stuff, but last time I enquired it was silly expensive and only available in 500g tubs. Way too much for my needs. I use Molykote 33 with good results, and clean and re-lube annually.

Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Thank you very much Pete, that is very useful, I have given my 126 a good oiling and you're right, it slides back and forth much quicker! Good advice.