A3 8p stuck sunroof

[Jakeklein]

my sunroof is stuck closed it has as far as i know been at least 3 years since it has been opened it has never opened since i purchased the vehicle.

I believe the seals have “glued” themselves to the glass and the motor isnt able to break that seal. I had a similar issue with the trunk seals with the rear hatch. Ive tried using the manual key to open the sunroof manually but that stripped out i have a new motor but have not installed as i dont to burn out or strip the manual key way incase of emergency and i have to close it in the future.

Does anyone have advice or tips on cracking the seal so i am able to clean the tracks drains and lube the seals and tracks along with installing the new motor?

I was not concerned till now as i only recently started seeing a water line after heavy rains down the driver side of the dash near fuse panel

 

[Jakeklein]

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[Paskal]

How about publishing AutoScan?
Does he at least try to open himself - if you help him with your hand from the inside, help him open?

 

[Jakeklein]

I can post an auto scan only reason i didnt was its not throwing codes it does try to move i have tried to help it but these seals are very stuck. I live in florida and i believe the sub tropical heat has sealed that glass to the weather stripping.

It took all of my effort to get the trunk to open and i had to lube the seals some to prevent that so im assuming its a similar scenario with the sunroof.

I believe the sunroof motor works but got a new motor because the allen key manual operation paart of the current motor is fully striped out

 

[Paskal]

I believe the sunroof motor works

Well, that's good news.
So now just play with it, I would take a plastic spatula and lift the seal and spray a little silicone oil or WD under the seal.

 

[TTT]

WD might be bad for rubber long term. Silicone, don't come in the vicinity of engine bay. If you still like your oxygen sensors working for some time more.

 

[Jakeklein]

Unfortunately im unsure how i could get either near the seal possibly from the out side? There is a plastic finish piece around the entirety of the glass on the inside of the car im unable to see the seal at all

 

[Zenerdiode]

@Jakeklein sunroof seals have a fuzzy felt type edge to prevent this. It is attached to and moves with the sunroof glass - rather than the other way around. If you want to try and break it free, use a blunt butter knife vertically between the roof metal and the seal. I can’t imagine it being stuck though. The seal itself is more of a wind seal, it does not seal against rain as there are water drain tubes fitted to the four corners of the sunroof. It sounds like the mechanism itself is seized.

Under motor power, can you hear if it is bogging down? It may try one direction, then the other as the finger-pinch protection activates. It sounds like the drain tubes have blocked and the water has overflown the catchment lip and corroded the mechanism and as you say, running down inside.

They are stiff to turn with the manual crank as the worm drive has a clutch, but not so much as to round off the hex. If the panel itself was stuck by the seals, there’s enough backlash in the mechanism for you to turn the manual crank half a turn either way. If you can’t, that is sounding more like the mechanism is seized.

I think your next step is to drop the headlining to see everything or even to drop all of the sunroof. Lubricant used is a special paste, Part No. G060751A2. Yes, it is that expensive for a tube o’ lube.

Glass sunroof seal Part No. 8E0877297 if you need it.

 

[stefdds]

Please post a complete Auto-Scan , other than a "A3 8P" we have no idea what you have. You may get lucky and someone will post a few screen shots of your sunroof assembly from a erWin manual.

Are you comfortable with this type of repair? I guess it all comes down to how curious you are regarding this SR.

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