Went to open the roof the other day and it seems something in there has come ungimbled again.

First of all, this problem came suddenly with no known external influence (no trash slid back with the roof, etc)

I opened and closed it one morning, no problem. Went to do the same thing that evening (opening to drive home...) and I heard the motor running... but nothing moved.

I've been afraid to try to move it ever since, I just put it back to the "Closed" position and I heard the motor run a second more and then sounded like it closed normally. Tried it once more, same result.

Neither the cloth cover on the inside nor the solid metal sliding part outside seem to move at all -but I can hear the motor (sounds normal for the 2 seconds i've had the nerve to run it).

What to do? Any idea other than "seal it shut and forget about it" is appreciated; I know that's the practical solution (it's given trouble once before already) but I can't stand the thought of that, the sunroof was a major buying point of the car and I can't stand the thought of another 100,000 miles without it.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

If it's like the 124 sunroof, with the small panel that opens for the tilt feature, you can push this panel up to feel around for what's happening. It sounds like possibly a broken or disconnected drive cable.

If the clutch were slipping, the motor would continue to run as long as you hold the switch, likely the cable or connection.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Can you hear anything coming from the roof area at all? Mine had both lift arms broken (severely), and you could hear the cable pulling the transport bridge back (and dragging half the arms) but the roof wouldn't move because it wasn't connected to anything but broken bits. The broken arms became more obvious when I tried to tilt it ... half would go up, crunching sounds rang out, and it wouldn't go back down without a fist pop on the roof cover. But if you're not hearing anything but the motor, and it isn't making any effort to move in any direction, I'd have to go with babymog's assessment on the drive cable ... although I'm not sure how much you can tell from feeling around with the panel in. You could try manually opening the roof from the trunk ... if the cable is intact and attached to the bridge, that function would work, right? If it doesn't then I think that points to the cable being the culprit.

I was kind of lucky that my problem was the arms and didn't have to deal with the cable, but disassembling and reassembling the roof was easier than I thought (time-consuming and patience-demanding, though). So you may not be up the creek.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I'm on a vacation at the moment, won't be back at the car until Wednesday, I'll update on the sounds and things then if I have the nerve to push the button. Last thing I need is for it to get stuck somewhere...other than closed

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL