Lately, I have been thinking about the corrado sunroof and why it tends to

fail so frequently. I have come up with a theory I would like to share.

Not only will it help people fix broken sunroofs, but will also

help people who have not yet had a problem to PREVENT future sunroof

failures!

This recently come to a head for me. Having fixed my

sunroof two years ago, I thought I was out of the woods, but a few days

ago it broken again--it would tilt but not slide back. As those of you

who have done it can understand, I desperately wanted to avoid removing

the sunroof assembly again, so I decided to do some experimenting.

Tilting the roof open, I inspected the rockers (see the Corrado-Club

website and Mike Dobbs excellent moonroof procedure for pictures of the

parts I am talking about). A broken rocker was my problem last time, but

both were fine. With this failure, I had heard (and felt) a loud pop when

I tried to slide the roof back. I thought this might have been the sound

of a cable breaking, and then it dawned on my that I could check for

broken cables WITHOUT removing the assembly! I simply removed the sunroof

motor, and probed the cables with a screwdriver. There ought to be some

play in a broken cable, there was none.

Now I wondered what could have caused the popping sound. There is

normally a moderately loud click when the rockers roll out of their slots

in the track. I believe that these rockers are the source of most all

sunroof failures. I suspect that the motor/assembly is under the most

stress as the rockers disengage from the slots. The rubber coated tabs on

the rockers need to be in good condition and the rocker wheel needs to be

round (the slot tends to flaten it) otherwise there is even more stress on

the system, and it tends to cause cables to snap.

But what was happening to me, with the cables in good condition? I

believe the loud pop may have been the sunroof motor cog skipping a tooth

on sunroof cable, for when I reinstalled the motor, the sunroof

suddenly worked fine! Now, I started to think about what was causing

this. Inspecting the rockers again, I noticed that one of the rockers had

a stronger spring than the other. AAHA!! Think about it, if one side of

the sunroof assembly is offering more resistance than the other, there is

a good chance that the motor cog could skip a tooth on one of the

cables. With the two sides now uneven by a millimetre there is no way for

the sunroof the slide back (the rockers can't disengage).

What's the solution? Loosen up those rocker springs. I took a pair of

pliers to my rocker springs and loosened them up so that they have enough

energy to force the rockers into their slots for tilting, but not so much

energy that the motor has to struggle to get them out again. Now my

sunroof opens almost silently! No more moderately loud click as the roof

begins to slide back.

Folks, I think I have solved the sunroof problem.