W124 sunroof - DIY fix?

[MB250D]

Hello again.......

My cheapo mega-mileage '87 124 250D has a dead sunroof. Having swapped around fuses and the like I have now got the motor to work - it buzzes away happily in the boot with no nasty sounds - but no sunroof movement! Turning the emergency cranking knob (the white one, same size as a wheel bolt) has no effect either and seems too easy to turn, to be actually doing anything!
I'm guessing I am looking at a broken cable here. Is this something I can replace myself (given that as far as I can see I have no way of opening the roof to get the headlining section off to get at the cable fixing!), or is it a case of "don't even bother!"?
I'm competent with the tools, but if the cable is going to be megabucks or the fitting involves destroying the entire car with an oxy torch in the process, I may give it a miss!
Any ideas, knowledgeable people?

Thanks in advance!

 

[andy_k]

don't even bother - if you can't open the roof then everything has to come out the inside of the car - all of the roof trim. Even then there is no guaranteed "quick fix"

These roofs are a pain - there is a way to open them even if the cables aren't working but it involves some fairly serious persuasion and if something is jammed then it can do more harm than good.

I'd be surprised if the cable has snapped what is more likely is that the gear has stripped (you should be able to see that behind the white nut) because something has got suck.

Andy

 

[MB250D]

Ah- thanks Andy! I won't attempt to replace the cable then, don't fancy pulling the whole interior apart for the sake of a sunroof!
I'll have a look at that gear you mentioned, and perhaps try replacing it with one from a scrap motor, or see if I can free things up - not holding out much hope though!

Cheers,

P

 

[PJH]

Will the roof tilt ?

 

[MB250D]

It'll do absolutely nothing, whatsoever!
(Well actually, it fills the hole in the roof quite well, but that's about it..... :-D)

 

[Howard]

It'll do absolutely nothing, whatsoever!
(Well actually, it fills the hole in the roof quite well, but that's about it..... :-D)

Lol - your're not easily pleased are you !!

you've got a hole in your roof and this fills it almost perfectly, what more do you want ?????

 

[MB250D]

It would be nice if it could un-fill it occasionally and then fill it again, at my command.....
On closer inspection the rear "tilty up bit" of the sunroof seems to sit a few mm higher than the rest of the roof skin when closed, ao I'm thinking it may be an idea to take out the motor, replace the stripped gear from a scrap motor, and then try and get the roof to tilt up - then perhaps I can sort out whatever is causing the roof to sit a bit "up" in the first place? Which may be what stopped the roof from opening originally, and stripped the gear?

 

[andy_k]

there are a couple of little plastic guides in there which are known to snap - If it's not leaking I'd leave well alone or let a sunroof specialist have a look - any webasto roof tech will give you a quote and probably save you money in the long run

Andy

 

[MB250D]

That's most likely the case, then - I've just noticed that if I push the sunroof upwards from inside, it can be "jiggled" upwards a fair bit, which would sugest it's popped out of a (broken?) guide of some sort! It won't be getting any professional attention though, as that wouldn't really be financially viable given the price of the car - it'll just have to stay closed unless I can sort it myself.......
Still, I have windows, I suppose......

 

[Ian B Walker]

I concur with Andy, leave well alone or you may end up with a bill you do not want. Scary things sunroofs, well when they malfunction that is.

 

[MB250D]

On further consideration (err, not much!), I think I will do as Ian and Andy suggest and leave it to sit as it is. Come summer, I may rip it out (and probably end up welding a 3mm plate in it's place!) and have a look - but till then, it's not leaking so it is filling that hole in the roof rather well.........

Cheers for the wise words, fellas!

P.