W126 Sunroof Help
 

Guys,

Could do with a little help here.....

Opened the sunroof all the way tonight, went to close it and it wouldn't close. It jams and stutters and moves VERY slowly or stops completely. It has to be helped along to close.
Any ideas as to what I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance

I have the same issue with my w126 - 300SE.
Now it won't even activate.

check your fuses, and motors. i have a spare motor if that is the problem. i'd replace the fuse first tho, although it might look okay sometimes theya re bad. explaining why i have an extra sunroof motor.

Open it all the way. If you have to help it along with your hand while you motor it, do so. Then, clean and lubricate the "U" shaped rails on either side. Mine did the same thing as yours. Thought the motor was shot. Now it works just fine.

I'm pretty sure the motor isnt shot, because the sunroof will open, it just won't close again! That is why I am confused about the whole thing: why would it bind going one way and not the other?

The cable is probably binding or popping out of the track somewhere. When the roof is opening, the cable is being pulled by the motor, but when the roof is closing, the motor is pushing the cable, which is in turn pushing the roof. If there's enough friction, the cable will bind when closing (but pulled taut when opening)..

-anthony

I had the same problem on my 420, it turn out to be the machanism. One side angle bracket was broken and it will misalign the sunroof pannel when it is closing it. These are attached to the the pannel on both side and slide in the railings. If they are Ok, then lube the palstic rails on both sides.

Good Luck.

benzmatic,how do you remove these angles as 1 of mine is broken?

You have to take the Sunroof out to get to the brackets. Here is the procedure for my w126, hopefully it will work for your car.
First of all the headliner has to come out, There are 4 snapon plastic clips at the front of sunroof. Here is the pic, I copied it from Thoms's website which is a great tech. resource.
http://www.pindelski.com/cars/W126/W126_sliding_roof/imagepages/Pic00083.html
Once you take those clips off, pull down and then slide the headliner from the front. You have to have your sunroof half open so you can pull the headliner out. Once it is out, now you can see on both sides of the sun roof pannel 2 screws attaching the pannal to the angle brackets or lifters. Unscrew these screws on both sides and then slide the sunroof out from the front. Now you can reach to these angle L shape brackets, they are attached to a central piece which is attached to the motor cable.
These are fairly expensive parts, about $140 US dollars a piece, hopefully they are cheap in Australia. I end up buying the whole sunroof from a junkyard for $100.00 and replace the machnism.
I hope it help to solve your problem, feel free to ask any questions you have.
Keep us posted.
Thanks