Jammed Sun roof motor

[Rev Jules]

Went to open my sun roof got halfway and stuck, thankfully no rain.

Got home and tried to wind it back with a Allen key would not budge an inch, even with ignition off the motor was red hot, anyway took the motor out and even then it would not move by the Allen key, managed to slide the roof back to a closed position, the trouble is because it is a tilt and slide the back of the glass wont pop up level with the roof, what would cause the motor not to turn by hand even off of the car.

Rev Jules

[Harrygsi]

Went to open my sun roof got halfway and stuck, thankfully no rain.

Got home and tried to wind it back with a Allen key would not budge an inch, even with ignition off the motor was red hot, anyway took the motor out and even then it would not move by the Allen key, managed to slide the roof back to a closed position, the trouble is because it is a tilt and slide the back of the glass wont pop up level with the roof, what would cause the motor not to turn by hand even off of the car.

Rev Jules

Did you ever sort this at all please. I am having exactly the same problem. Roof jammed part way & motor smells! Fuse has blown.......this happened with car in 28deg.C
Thanks
Peter

[Rev Jules]

Did you ever sort this at all please. I am having exactly the same problem. Roof jammed part way & motor smells! Fuse has blown.......this happened with car in 28deg.C
Thanks
Peter

Hi Peter.
No I never did, put a new motor in and it started to do the same thing so I pulled the connection out, there is something jammed in the runners, I had to take out the blind and see what was in there could not see anything, but I did manage to get it wound up flush again.
There was another problem with it leaking, so in the end not being a handy man, I sealed the roof up with a narrow bit of gaffer tape.Some on here have said you might have to take the whole unit out.
Sorry I cant be of any further help.

Julien

[Ozjensen]

Typical sunroof failure unfortunately - and happened to me too a few months back.

The clips holding the shade fail and then jam the glass halfway back, and the 25A fuse does not blow but cooks the motor instead - plenty of electrical smoke which did not help the situation. As I was a long way from home and rain was on the way I pulled into a B&Q, bought a screwdriver and allen key set, removed the motor and manually wound the glass to the closed position.

Nick of Austin Garages sells new clips and I got him to fit them and a second hand motor - all working as it should.

Somewhere I read the 25A fuse should be replaced by a 15A fuse so that when the motor jams it blows the fuse rather than cooking itself.

[Harrygsi]

Thanks Guys,
I had a chat with Brian at Dreadnought and he told me how to get to the motor.
I removed it and found circuit board cooked! I could slide the roof nearly shut but not get the back to 'lift'.
As motor now NBG I hack sawed off the wormdrive shaft from the motor. This meant I could put it back in position and use an allen key to fully wind the roof into position as the 'worm drive wheel' moves freely.
Found a used motor on ebay but will check glass sliding ok first.
I think cover is a bit loose so clips could be broken and need to check as the glass may jam again.
Motors from Rimmers are over £400 new!........but s/h seem to be getting hard to find.
Thanks for the fuse tip.......it is 20amp but will try a 15 with new motor.
I think there is a posting somewhere on how to replace the clips.

Do not open your sunroof if the car has been standing in 28degC for sometime.......better wait until it is cold & wet before doing so!
I will let you know how it goes with replacement motor.....

Many thanks
Peter

[Thunderbolt]

I just had a similar problem with Dads car sunroof.
The blind had slid back and come off its runners. This jammed the sunroof at about 2" from fully open.
With the excellent help from the forum, I got the blind free and the sunroof closed.
There seems to be an issue with the blind and its clips.
If you can get it free, I hope you can wind it forward.

[klarzy]

If you need one I have a new motor on the shelf...

[Harrygsi]

If you need one I have a new motor on the shelf...

I am interested in a new one ......please send me details via a PM.
Many thanks for that.
Peter

[Harrygsi]

I think I have a broken clip or clips on the slider. I did find a very comprehensive picture guide somewhere on the forum on how to repair these but cannot find it now.......can anyone help please?
I see Rimmers do two sizes of clips......what size do I need, does anyone know?
Thanks
Peter

[neilll]

Hi,
If you look on ebay there are plenty of clips (look for bmw e46),there are two types early and late. The later ones are harder to find (and dearer),there's a guy from Turkey selling them at a decent price and only take a couple of days to arrive.

Neil

[neilll]

You need to look at the clips, on the later ones the hole spacing is a lot bigger (22mm about)
Neil

[Harrygsi]

You need to look at the clips, on the later ones the hole spacing is a lot bigger (22mm about)
Neil

What car is an 'early' and what car is a 'later' one please?
Thanks for all help.
Peter

[Harrygsi]

Hi,
If you look on ebay there are plenty of clips (look for bmw e46),there are two types early and late. The later ones are harder to find (and dearer),there's a guy from Turkey selling them at a decent price and only take a couple of days to arrive.

Neil

Thanks for the tip Neil. I did find the 'Turkey' man and his order did indeed very quickly......to my surprise. The s/h motor has yet to get to me from the UK!
Peter