Re: Sunroof Cable was Reasons Not to Commute in DC Traffic

[Chuck Van Pelt <cvanpelt@aracnet.com>]

My '95 GLX suffered the "Click o' death" and the sunroof cable broke.
Basically there is a "pawl"on each side of the sunroof track (looks like
a little see-saw) that engages and locks the sunroof in place when it is
closed. There is a rubber ring on one end of this pawl that acts as a
spacer. When ythe ring wears thin, the pawl no longer lines up properly
and you hear the "pop" as the sunroof tries to slide past the pawl. When
the ring wears thin enough the pawl can't engage at all and the cable
can break if you try to force it.

Any type of spacer will fix this...try a thin strip of electrical tape
wrapped around the rubber ring.

I had to replace my entire sunroof mechanism because the cable broke.
Luckily, I was able to locate a sunroof mechanism at an "auto recycler"
for USD $325 and swap it myself. I can see how the labor plus new parts
from the dealer would easily be over USD $1K.

Chuck Van Pelt

David Herlihy wrote:

> Matt- The diesel injectors gaskets are actually little
> rubber 0 rings that they install in the cable assembly
> that somehow allivates the problem. Having owned a
> diesel before I envisioned what they looked like since
> i had to put these things in my old 1975 Peugeot 504
> Turbo Diesel. The rings are very tiny and aid in the
> movement of the cables in the sunroof.
>
> He also said to keep the sunroof oiled bigtime and
> that should help. The pop should be more like a snap i
> would imagine. He emphasized that if you hear it once
> to leave it alone though. The sunrood will keep on
> working, BUT it is one step away from the $1k cable
> install rebuild. Can't imagine anyone wanting to pay
> that. :)
>
> He also said that the biggest thing they look for when
> inspecting these cars for VW certification was the
> sunroof. The rest of the car is a brick.
>
> Hope that helps out some.
>
> David
> Former Peugeot 504TD Owner
> Current '97 GLX
>
> --- Matt Zajac <MTZajac@beloit.com> wrote:
> > Also a special little warning. He said if you hear
> > your sunroof POP when closing to not open it again
> > and
> > bring it in. He went on to say that if you open it
> > again you risk paying up to $1k for a new sunroof
> > cable. The solution: install a couple of diesel fuel
> > injector gaskets into the track and cable.
> >
> > ???
> > Can you please explain a little better??
> >
> > Thank you.
> > Matt Zajac
> >