[Velocity]

My sunroof had been lifting "unevenly" (passenger side higher than drivers) and not sealing well on the passenger side since I bought the car.  Decided to tear into the sunroof lifting mechanisms and documented the effort via photos in case it helps anyone else here.

 

My original issue - passenger (left, since I'm in US) side would lift higher than drivers side.   As a result, when the sunroof was closed, the right side would "sit higher" than the left when viewed from the exterior of the car.    Didn't appear to be enough to let water leak in, but was noticeable.    A few people here mentioned potentially mis-indexed lifter arms (one of them being at a different "spoke" from the other in the lifter mechanism gears).   I thought I could test this by retracting the arms fully with the sunroof entirely removed - the arms matched the same position, so I thought that meant the indexing of the arms matched.    Spoiler alert --- you guys were right, I was wrong.  :-)

 

Initial issue shown in picture below (my Cayenne making a cameo in background) - note difference in gaps at red arrows :

 

   

 

I went ahead and removed sunroof from the car, and removed the interior headliner trim piece behind the sunroof (all small phillips head screws under black plastic caps).  I've done this 4-5 time now trying to track down rattles (turned out it was the "ever popular" glass delamination issue) so I think I could do that part blindfolded by now.  :-)   Once the trim is removed, you can clearly see the two lifter arm mechanisms :

 

   

 

Each mechanism has the lifter arm held into place with 5 phillips head screws:

 

   

 

Once you remove the 5 screws, the cover comes off exposing the lifting arm and the plastic gear - the lifting arm will drop out fairly easily, and is not shown in the below picture.   You can also see where the gear engages the cable in the tube just below the gear.

 

This is a NEW gear, will show my older ones in later pictures:

 

   

 

Once I opened up each lifting mechanism, I removed the gears and arms for inspection - here's an old and new gear side by side with removed lifting arm and cover:

 

   

 

Here's the underside (where it seats back into the lifting mechanism) of an old gear and new gear - be sure to move the metal washer over to the new gear:

 

   

 

And here's both my old gears (you can see one is chewed up) and one of the new gears:

 

   

 

When reinstalling the new gears, I used some specialty sunroof mechanism grease.   This is also the point you want to ensure you count the teeth on the lifting arm to where it engages the gear to match to the other lifting arms position.

 

   

 

Also, be sure that if you run the motor while the gears are removed (you'll have to manually depress the microswitch at front center of sunroof opening to get it to run) you do NOT retract the cable too far that it doesn't appear at all in the passenger side lifting mechanism!   

 

   

 

Good news is that if you do, you just need to run it back out so that it's a few inches past the passenger side lifting mechanism.

 

Once I completed reassembly of both lifting mechanisms (again, being VERY careful to "index" both lifting arms identically) and reinstalled the trim piece and sunroof, I now happily have an "aligned" sunroof that opens evenly and seals much better.

 

   

 

   

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[netopyer]

Good thing is also  to check the stop switch  in the boot to see if the range is OK,  with gears removed, nothing can break.  i had my  mechanism bent  and it was not stopping which caused  gears to strip the teeth

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[RDKeysor]

Thanks to Booster for the excellent photos of the sun roof mechanism.  Before I dive into my car's mechanism, here is what is occurring on my '92 968.  The sun roof has always worked, has never been removed in my ownership, and now raises to only about half the distance it originally provided.  This condition seems to make removal of the sun roof not doable.  Any guess on why I'm getting only limited movement, and, yes, suggestions for tackling the issue?  I assume that taking out the 10 screws that hold the two lifters will free the roof so it can be removed.

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[94SilverCab]

Thanks to Booster for the excellent photos of the sun roof mechanism.  Before I dive into my car's mechanism, here is what is occurring on my '92 968.  The sun roof has always worked, has never been removed in my ownership, and now raises to only about half the distance it originally provided.  This condition seems to make removal of the sun roof not doable.  Any guess on why I'm getting only limited movement, and, yes, suggestions for tackling the issue?  I assume that taking out the 10 screws that hold the two lifters will free the roof so it can be removed.

 

His screen name is Velocity - Booster is his member status...LOL!

 

And yes, Thank you Velocity for the great write up!

 

Jay 

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[Waylander]

I would suggest you press the micro switch in the centre at the front, while pressing the up button

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[Velocity]

 

His screen name is Velocity - Booster is his member status...LOL!

 

And yes, Thank you Velocity for the great write up!

 

Jay 

 

Hah - I've been called worse! :-)

 

You're welcome on the write-up - I certainly ask my share of questions of the group, so when I DO figure something out, I like to try and document for others to contribute back.

 

@RDKeysor - as to your question, if I had to make a guess, I suspect either:

• your gears have stripped a bit and the cable that drives the gears (yes, it's a "threaded cable" type of system that drive the gears that in turn drive the lifter arms) isn't able to extend the arms fully, OR
  
• the motor is wearing out and having a hard time lifting the roof fully.
  

 ...could be something else entirely, but those are two guesses as to why it wouldn't lift fully.    However, to remove the sunroof the arms actually retract DOWN out of the lifting slots on the roof itself and you manually lift it out.  If the arms won't retract DOWN, the same two root causes COULD cause that I suppose.

 

In any case, yes, if you remove the screws from the covers of the lifting mechanisms, you can manually remove the gears and lifting arms and roof should be able to be lifted up manually at that point.  removing the two front catches will allow you to then totally remove it.

 

I'd go ahead and order two replacement gears before you get to that point so you can recreate what I did and swap them out if they've been damaged.

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[Waylander]

The clutch on the roof can be adjusted, that could also be a issue

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[RDKeysor]

To restate my original issue with my hatch lifter system, it lifts reliably with operation of the switch, but does not open to the original maximum.  I've removed the covers and the two lifting arms and found the gears appear to be in good condition.  I'm now contemplating the next step.  Where is the "microswitch" that one contributor suggested that I operate simultaneously along with the dash switch in an effort to restore full motion?  I think I will be removing the hatch, reinstalling the two lifting arms with covers, and operating the switch to lower the arms to their down position, then again operating the switch to raise them to their highest position---if that actually happens. Since I should probably remove the gears to examine them more closely for damage, do the steel washers that retain the gears simply pull off?  By the way, where did you purchase your gears and at what cost? Thanks to contributors to this series of articles.

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[Waylander]

The gears come directly from Porsche



There are a few micro switches the distance control is on the back of the plate holding the actual roof motor, the other is in the middle of the roof at the front under a triangle shaped black plastic plate



I would follow the guide on clarkes garage as the 944 is exactly the same

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[6speed]

Here is a list of parts which I used to correct the same issue.  











944.564.501.02

Segment (Left)

50.46

Sunset



944.564.502.02

Segment (Right)

50.46

Sunset



944.564.430.01

Sunroof Drive Gear (need 2)

8.29

Sunset



944.564.161.02

Guide - Porsche (Left)

60.12

Sunset



944.564.162.02

Guide - Porsche (Right)

60.12

Sunset

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[RDKeysor]

I have managed to knock a tooth off one of the gears that raise the lifting arms and will have to replace it.  How do you remove a gear?  I tried to pull it off, but it didn't yield and I didn't want to try to force it off.  Also, when reinstalling the lifting arms, any suggestions on whether to start with the operating switch activated in the raise position, or lowered?  Ultimately, I think I will have to use the instructions in Clarke's Garage to adjust the limit switches located with the sun roof motor.  Appreciate the suggestions from other forum members.

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