Had to replace entire pano sunroof frame, motor
I too had the same problem with my 2012 JSW. I purchased it in June 2012 and it worked fine all summer. In April of this year I tried to open it from the complete closed position and only the passengers side popped up to open. It also made a very loud grinding sound, thinking the worst I left it alone and scheduled an appointment. The tech at the dealership said it just got "out of sync". Not knowing any better I said okay whatever.
One week later it would not close after being opened and sitting in the sun for a few hours. This time the dealer learned from a VW rep that happened to stop by that there is an issue with the gasket kit and it swelling and activating the pinch protection. They ordered the kit and got it installed. I dropped my car off on a Thursday and it was ready by Tuesday.
So far no additional problems have come up. Time will tell.
My 2010 JSW pano sunroof got stuck askew at 78K miles while I was opening it, leaving it with one front corner up and the other remaining down, as if the motor was able to engage the cable on one side but not the other. I brought it to my local independent garage (I'm through with dealer service departments!), and he ultimately came to the conclusion (if I understand correctly) that the motor worm gear was worn and that the worm drive that moves the passenger-side cable must have some broken teeth. This meant replacing the entire frame and motor assembly, which cost $2000 (and probably resulted in a loss for the mechanic, since it took him way longer than the 6 hours labor he quoted and charged).
After reading the above post about a gasket kit issue, I wonder if my JSW was suffering from the same problem and that a "replacement gasket kit" might have been all I needed. But I'll never know. Has anyone else had my experience, where the issue was diagnosed as a worn gear and drive?
Also, should I have attempted to get VW to pay for this at 78K miles? I'm one of the unfortunate JSW TDI owners:
- Four failed door latches between 38K - 45K mi, three paid by VW
- HPFP failure at 47K, paid by VW
- Cracked valve cover at 61K, 75% paid by VW
- Incomplete weld seal on rear (D) pillar, resulting in water leaks into wheel-well at 57K, not covered by VW (mechanic basically ended up caulking it)
- Repeated replacement of the O2 sensor in my first months, probably other things I'm forgetting right now
But hey, my wife loves the car! And it IS fun to drive.