Genius - Or Gonzo... Open Air motor thought

[simonineaston]

Hi folks, I have a busted Open Air on my '04 Lupo. The most common problem I know about with Open Airs is the motors struggling with increasingly gacked up roof runners and eventually stripping the plastic cogs that connect the motor to the cable drive gear. I've dissembled a couple of roofs and motors recently and at the week-end I noticed that the plastic cogs are assembled as a pair, one on top of the other, connected by a simple shock-absorber. As commented above, the plastic cogs simply give up the ghost when the effort of moving the roof becomes too much. The most obvious solution would be to buy a replacement plastic cog, pop it in the otherwise healthy motor assemble and screw it back on to the roof, however as far as I know, the plastic cog is not available as a spare from VW. so, what next?? Most people (me included) simply wait for a decent second-hand motor to appear on eBay, and hope it's not too worn.

However, at the week-end, I had a closer look at the plastic cog pair and I noticed that they are symmetrical which means you can pop the 2 cogs out together, give them a clean and re-grease them and then pop them back in the other way up, which means the worn section, which is usually formed by the worm gear, is now the other way up and the worm gear is now acting on an unworn set of teeth, so providing you have cleaned up your roof cables and runners so that the roof slides to and fro' as smoothly as poss. you might, just might, get another few years out of your motor assembly...

NOTE: I haven't tried this yet, it's just an idea!!

Edited March 25, 2015 by simonineaston

[Skezza]

If you can get a part number, I'm sure VW can order them in.