open air not working

[kr1s77]

i have a 6n 1.4 16v open air (fabric roof), today i drove it with the roof open. when i went to close it it wouldn't close . you can hear the motor humming but the roof don't move. i had to wind it manually. do you think the motors knackered or belt (or whatever it uses) has come off.

Thanks

[kr1s77]

i just thought, would a blown relay have this affect, is there a relay for the roof???

[Polo Paul]

doubt its a belt or mechanism as your could have wound it manually. Shot motor or bad connections likely

[kr1s77]

checked the motor yesterday, its fine it moves freely in both directions. do you think it may not have enough power to move the roof

[polo boi]

it shud have enuf power 2 move the roof or else it wudnt be fitted, have u checked everywhere 2make sure nuthin is nippin an gettin caught

[LeMeph]

Hey minde doesnt work either! We looked att he motor and that is also fine, well it is now anyways. One cog had come loose but thats all fixed and so it should be working. However mine is closed shut and hasnt been opened in a while so we think its just ceased up. We know this ebcause when you press the open button you can feel the roof start to pull but it stops in place and the motor keeps on trying. My suggestion is maybe somthings got caught up, if its fabric then maybe somthign has hooked it? Or perhaps somthigns got stuck in there while it was going along? Then again you say you managed to wind it back manually.

Have you tried re-attaching the motor now you have wound it back again? If it was caught then perhaps the mototr did not have enough power to pull it back, but manually winding works because youve got some arm strength in it over puny mechanical thing!

Speaking off the winding mechanism mine doesnt bloody work! The arm itself looks like its only able to wind the rook closed, which seems ridiculous to me. I think this ebcause off the way it has a thread, it tightens in one way but if you try turn it the other it just unscrews the arm and comes loose!!! Im stumped, so were gonna have to take the entire roof out and try to clear whatevers causing my roof to fail! Ugh effort. lol.

Mines only an 8V P reg aswell so the mechanism might be different.

Chris,

[kr1s77]

yeah i put the motor back in but nothing happens. i can just hear it moving.
think i might have to take the roof off, but don't know where to start.

[alclark]

I also have a similar problem - which I probably made worse by not knowing what I was doing! My roof was stuck so I used the manual closing mechanism in an attempt to shift it but probably only made it tighter (why don't they make a manual system you can use to open the roof?). The motor still ran but couldn't move the roof. I removed the motor assembly to see if anything needed freeing up. Then refitted it. Now the cog on the motor doesn't seem to be biting on the belt. Any Ideas?

I spoke to someone who runs a VAG service dept and he thought it was probably just seized up and if I'd just lubricated the runners from inside it might have freed up enough to move with the motor.
Apparently replacing the toothed belt etc. is quite a large job. Hopefully this isn't required.

Does anyone know anyone able to help in the Sussex area?

[polo boi]

unlucky, shudnt of got that type of polo, hard tops always

[LeMeph]

BURN THE HEATHEN!!!!! i think thats how you spell it, satanic bar-stool! Open Airs rock.

Chris,

[kr1s77]

Stil haven't sorted it, well i aint really tried. spoke to a guy at VW he said there is a crank surround that the motor goes into, that might have gone. it's worth a try, for about a fiver cos i don't really wanna pay 215 for a new motor and its not that!!!