# Sunroof motor replacement?



## Spitzbergen (Sep 10, 2010)

The dealer tells me the gear on my sunroof motor is crap and the whole unit needs to be replaced. I've searched for a DIY in the 8P and Audi forums in general with no results I can use. How hard is this to do once I get a new motor?


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## Spitzbergen (Sep 10, 2010)

Hard to believe I'm the first one to have sunroof motor issues. I guess this will be an opportunity for me to create a DIY. Stand by....


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

Spitzbergen said:


> Hard to believe I'm the first one to have sunroof motor issues. I guess this will be an opportunity for me to create a DIY. Stand by....


opcorn:opcorn:


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

It just happened on my car too, April 2012 w/ 55K Miles. The metal gear on the motor is worn. Looks like there is a new motor that supersedes the old one. 8P4959591B is the new one. The replacement process is fairly easy; underneath the dome light assy on the ceiling. One needs a torx bit set and a Philips screw driver. The motor can only be replaced in the closed position (very important). If the sunroof is open or tilted, then you need to manually crank it to the closed position. These motors have built in potentiometers, and they dont communicate with the rest of the modules or any other controller. remove or replace in the closed position at all cases/times. Im curious to know if this is becoming a common problem, please report back here. It is either the motor or the sunroof drive cables that are too stiff causing the gear to wear out.


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## UTE (Nov 12, 2011)

Good info, ma2kster - and welcome to the forum.

Bill


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

ma2kster said:


> It just happened on my car too, April 2012 w/ 55K Miles. The metal gear on the motor is worn. Looks like there is a new motor that supersedes the old one. 8P4959591B is the new one. The replacement process is fairly easy; underneath the dome light assy on the ceiling. One needs a torx bit set and a Philips screw driver. The motor can only be replaced in the closed position (very important). If the sunroof is open or tilted, then you need to manually crank it to the closed position. These motors have built in potentiometers, and they dont communicate with the rest of the modules or any other controller. remove or replace in the closed position at all cases/times. Im curious to know if this is becoming a common problem, please report back here. It is either the motor or the sunroof drive cables that are too stiff causing the gear to wear out.


thanks for that!

what year is your car btw? -just to see if there is a correlation between car year and motor used or something like that, motor wearing and car year, etc

how do you "manually crank" it into the closed position? would one realize how to do it by simply looking at the assembly under(above?) the dome light?


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

The instructions are in the Owner's Manual. The crank is on the fuse box cover.


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

it is a 2006. There is a build date on the sunroof motor, I think mine said April 2005. I'm not sure when they started using the -B version in our cars. Once I get the new motor in, I will be able to compare and report back. At this point I'm assuming they either used a different alloy on the driver gear or changed the angle of its threads. Mine is pretty badly worn, and I looked inside the motor cover only to find the internals in excellent condition. BTW, I suggest using the black screwdriver handle on the sunroof crank tool (this is how the manual shows it anyways). Also, you need to push up with the tool, to bypass the motor drive gear. If you don't push up, then you are turning both the motor and the cable guides which is not desirable. If you push up, then you will be only turning the crank to move the cables/sunroof rails, not the motor...


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## Spitzbergen (Sep 10, 2010)

Update: I ended up replacing the motor myself. Worked great for about a week. Now the dealer tells me it's not the motor but the frame itself that is causing the binding. The price for the frame is about $1,400. No thank you. :banghead:


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

replaced the motor, and used the Audi lubricant for the sunroof guide rails and a good cleaning of the general sunroof area. It is working for now. I will update if the new motor gear fails in the short future time...


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

Further update; I've used the new motor for over two weeks. I just removed it today and the metal-on-metal gears seem to be fine. On the old motor the metal gear was worn-out. I applied grease to the metal gear on the motor and the sunroof glide cables that mate with the drive-gear, performed fine adjustments to the sunroof glass (in the back-side glass needs to be 1 mm higher than the front; to prevent wind noise). 

There is the following task in the scheduled maintenance chart ( at miles 15-35-55K)
Sunroof – clean guide rails and lubricate rails with grease spray

Since I took over most of the maintenance needs after the warranty ran-out, I haven't been doing this. Perhaps this is what caused the sunroof motor gear to fail. I will include this clean-up/lubrication in my list every other oil change...

So far no issues; I will update if the same problem comes back.


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## ninety1zx (Mar 11, 2013)

Sorry to revive this, but I'm going through the same thing right now. What did you end up doing? Did you just close it and never open it again? Did you replace it outside of the dealer? 

Dealer just told me $3,500 to replace the frame and the motor, which is pretty absurd. I have to sell the car due to a upcoming move, but not sure I'll get anything with the sunroof the way it is. 

Cheapest option possible is obviously preferred.:facepalm:


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## ma2kster (Jun 4, 2010)

we are closing into a year since i've replaced the motor and lubed the cables/guides. So far, working like a charm. I believe the trick is in getting the new motor, 8P4959591B. I bought mine from Germany, used... From these guys; they don't have everything listed, so I suggest emailing them with the part#. It was over $300 at the dealer...

http://stores.ebay.de/Dudu-Autoteile-Vw-Audi


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