Sunroof won't close

This has happened a couple of times now, and always when rain is threatening.

I use the sunroof a lot to vent the interior heat out. I installed some side window wind deflectors on all 4 windows for the same reason. I can keep my windows cracked all the time and no one can tell that they're open. Great for rainy/snowy days too, to allow in some fresh air. I also bought a trunk liner and new floor mats a few years back too, all from WeatherTech.com. Well worth the prices.

Anyway, one morning a couple months back, I was heading home from my older daughter's house, in Ft. Collins, CO, when I saw my sunroof was still open. It had been open all night, which is a bummer. I was sure I had shut it the night before, as I always check it before going in the house at night. With the rainy season upon us, and the moth infestation this year, as well as spiders getting in my car, I've been making sure I close the car up tight at night. I climbed in, turned on the car and tried to close it, but it kept popping back up. Several times, I turned the knob to open it completely then to close it and it just kept popping back up to open.

So, I got out and inspected the edges for debris, but couldn't find anything that might be interfering with it. Seeing nothing, I went back in the house and looked here, but got no answers either. As rain was imminent in the next few hours, I began calling repair shops, but they all said they couldn't see my car that day, no surprise. I decided I'd better go to the VW dealer to get it fixed.

I pulled in, parked and headed into the service area and spoke to a service agent. After explaining the problem, he looked out at the parking lot and said, "Which is your car"? When I said, "The silver Passat wagon", and pointed to it, I noticed the dang thing had closed on it's own. He went out with me and I opened and closed it a bunch more times and all appeared well. So I drove off, having been charged nothing. It didn't happen again until this past week, when it was actually starting to rain. Luckily, I was near the free parking garage for the Whole Foods store on Pearl and 30th Streets in Boulder. I pulled in there and fiddling with the switch and it finally closed after about 10 minutes of swearing and turning the knob back and forth. Now, I'm afraid to open it at all for fear of it getting stuck open again.

Anyone else had this happen?
Anyone know why it's happening?
Got a fix for it?

Your car is haunted or maybe needs an exorcism.

Not really (maybe a faulty switch or comfort control module).. Can you run a VCDS scan and see what codes are stored?

aja8888 said:

Your car is haunted or maybe needs an exorcism.

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Hahaha!. I thought of that too.

aja8888 said:

Not really (maybe a faulty switch or comfort control module).. Can you run a VCDS scan and see what codes are stored?

Click to expand...

Would if I could, but I don't have a VagCom scanner. Might be heading to aNut's Diesel Land in Golden, CO soon for the TB and BSM work, so will likely ask him about this too.

Mine has done this once. You can always remove the trim cover and manually crank it closed with the tool provided. Its an offset allen key that snaps into clip under the cover.

My sunroof also does an odd thing, if you are not moving, it will close the tilt then go back open. If driving, it will function normally and close. I have had the concealers off since I adjusted it to be flush with the roof years ago. I think the sunroof has a feature that stops operation if it senses higher than normal current, say if it was obstructed by a hand or neck. It may well be that the tracks or mechanism are dirty. I use generally a spray dry lubricant for sunroof tracks after cleaning them so as not to attract crud. Its easy to remove the concealers to look.

This thread has some interesting info on how to reset the sunroof and other possible solutions... It is old and they are talking about A4s mostly but I think it would apply - http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=210536

I have seen this a few times and have found the contacts in the rotary switch get dirty, then causes eratic behavior. You can take it apart and clean it. If it works then great, if not, you may have something binding and like TS said, is causing an overcurrent which reverses itself.

The 98 and 99 B5 sunroofs were really bad about breaking and cracking plastic pieces and jamming the guides. Since then VW has changed suppliers and have not seen many problems with the sunroof itself.

I'd suggest disconnecting the switch electrically and using De-oxit 5 on the connector and switch. Plug them back together. Turn the key to on and operate the switch to both ends of its range allow the sunroof to go full tilt up and full open. Then close before it rains.

A reboot of the convenience controller might help. Pull out fuse 14 for several seconds and then plug it back in. This is the equivalent of an exorcism.

my experience

I'll describe what happens to my sunroof periodically and see if it helps your problem.
From time to time when I go to close the sunroof it reaches the front edge wind deflector and then reverses course and opens back up again. It is as if the roof has a detection system to prevent injuring a finger when closing all the way. I think the leading edge of the sunroof meets too much resistance at the black plastic pop up deflector at the forward part of the roof opening. The simple fix has been to use some silicon spray on the deflector reducing the friction against the black plastic wind deflector by the leading edge of the sunroof. I have had to reapply the silicon spray about 2-3 times a year as it dries out. I use a cloth to contain the over spray.

Spray dry lube is ideal for sunroofs as it does not leave a dirt catching wet surface.

I used my hand to help push the roof closed.

Does it stick just when it's popped up or when it's slid back?

I see this is an old thread, but here's the latest spooky thing.
MY sunroof, which I rarely use open, decided to open all by itself, sometime in the night.
It was raining.
Not hard tho.
Got in the car and attempted to get it to close. Had to cycle the ignition switch and door locks a bit to get it to pay attention to me.

Next time, is the car going off by itself to drag-race in the wee hours or what???

thundershorts said:

Spray dry lube is ideal for sunroofs as it does not leave a dirt catching wet surface.

Click to expand...

Would something like this work?

https://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Teflon-Non-Stick-Dry-Film-Lubricant/dp/B018FTA5WA

Or other suggestions. My concern would be not to damage the weatherstripping.

I also hold it in the close position as it nears the edge. It makes a loud pop but still closes for me