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Roof motor dead, then brought back to life.... *updated*

r.a said:
Here's the inside of my pump with the peg (top photo below). Compared to the photo provided by GuidoK is seems mine is missing a part (the metal tube/sleeve that surrounds the peg). I think I may have lost this part as there is a lot of play when the peg sits in the hole in the white plastic. Please can someone confirm?

My pump


Photo provided by GuidoK.

To me the inner seal looks damaged especially just below the fig.4 Perhaps this is how air is able to enter.
 
I think it's just maybe how it looks in the photo, I don't think the seal is actually damaged, I will however have a double check tomorrow.
 
UPDATE:

Drained out the fluid and re-topped up. No more bubbles now.

However the roof seems to work perfectly when the motor is positioned as in the photo below. (opens and closes in around 9-10 seconds)

If the motor/pump assembly is positioned straight up or at the opposite angle to the photograph below the roof struggles to operate in both directions - up and down.

Is this normal? If not, any suggestions what could be wrong.
 
is there anywhere that would provide a clean out of the drain and check over of a roof? Mine pulls fine and has been replaced a while back but it would be nice to keep on top of things before they go south
 
r.a said:
UPDATE:

Drained out the fluid and re-topped up. No more bubbles now.

However the roof seems to work perfectly when the motor is positioned as in the photo below. (opens and closes in around 9-10 seconds)

If the motor/pump assembly is positioned straight up or at the opposite angle to the photograph below the roof struggles to operate in both directions - up and down.

Is this normal? If not, any suggestions what could be wrong.

Possibly a dodgy electrical connection on the motor?
Have you tried rotating/moving the motor assembly while it's working to see if you can find the angle it has a problem with?
Did you get plenty of WD40 or similar into the motor and soft bake it to purge any moisture?
 
nice idea on the rig ....

how did you get the wiring wrong? from what i remember on mine it the plugs only fitted one way around and each connector had its respective counterpart that was different to the rest?
 
The wiring to the actual motor is two simple spade connectors. Unless you take a photo or make a note it's very easy to get them switched round... :)
 
oh i see yeah obvious. what was the symptons of that when you tied to power it up? i guess the motor was running in reverse ... wondering now if i have done the same which is why it will only go half way up
 
oh i see yeah obvious. what was the symptons of that when you tied to power it up? i guess the motor was running in reverse ... wondering now if i have done the same which is why it will only go half way up
 
Roof motor UPDATE:

OK So got back working on the roof/motor again today after not been able to give it any time over the last few weeks because of other commitments.

The roof closes fine now with the motor however it struggles to open and the roof needs a push before it will start to go down.

Any suggestions?
 
It still looks like bleeding problems/ too little oil in the reservoir. If I look at your rig picture, the oil level in the reservoir doesnt look like that high to me, maybe 1/3 full max.
If it's mounted that way, a part of the pump isn't under the oil level. the complete level must be something like min. 1cm above the aluminium.

The pump sucks oil from the reservoir, so where it sucks the oil it has to be immersed by some amount. Otherwise you get air in your system
 
The oil level is at the top of the + marker as advised by the TIS and a little above the aluminium. However I have just added some more fluid into the reservoir so that it is 1cm above as instructed (see photo). To be honest I think the system may be overfilled now. After topping up tried again but no luck, the roof won't open the motor just spins but no action. Still fine when closing though. :headbang:

 
I dont think you can overfill it as long as air is visible in the container. When the top moves, there might be fluctuations in the oil level, and there has to be enough room (air) to cope with that fluctuation, but that second photo looks good.

It is strange that one way goes and the other doesnt. They both require the same pump (spinning in different direction though).
It almost sounds that there are valves in the housing (not that strange but I don't know for sure) and that 1 side is sticking or something like that.
Have you tried with the banjobolts removed if oil comes out spinning one way and spinning another (this is probably a bit messy to test and you need to top up the reservoir a few times maybe).
 
Thanks for the reply. I will try with the banjo bolts removed tomorrow. It will be messy but worth it if I can get it working. So frustrating since the car has been off the road for around a month now and I am getting closer and closer to getting the roof working again!
 
OK, so I conducted a test by running the motor in both directions with the banjo bolts and hoses removed as suggested. The fluid does seem to be coming out of both ports but when the motor is set to close the roof there seems to be a fair flow of fluid leaving the port. When the motor is set to open the roof the rate of fluid is poor and just spits out, this would explain why the roof closes fine but doesn't open. So it seems as though there may be a sticky valve as suggested.

I've detached the fluid reservoir to get a closer look, any ideas of any way to try and get the port freed up? Would cleaning it with some brake cleaner be good idea?



 
I think it even might be a case of that something is clogged maybe with some dirt (or a broken off piece of rubber seal/metal etc) the way you describe it.

I don't know how much you can disassemble it, but in theory the best way to clean is to completely disassemble the valve/pump housing.
Chances are very low that whatever clogs the valve is dissolved by break cleaner but not solved in the oil.

Just be methodical, use the right tools and assemble again with all the valves, springs etc in the right place.

If you've gotten this far, you don't have 2 left hands, so it's worth a shot. At the moment it doesn't work properly, so the other solution is to get a different pump. So you've got nothing to lose as I see it.
 
OK, thanks for the advice, I will strip apart pump as much as possible and clean up.

One question before I do so though. Do the holes on the banjo bolts need to be lined up with the holes on the banjo clip attached to the hose? If so then bolts must have to be tightened up to an exact toque?
 
No they don't need to be ligned up.
Inside the banjo bolts is a groove/cavity all around that forms a channel, so the banjo bolts can be installed in every direction and there will always be a passage.
The groove can sit in the bolt, or in the banjo part. You do need to check for leaks once installed. The copper/aluminium compression washers deform to the surfaces shape and give a tight seal. Reusing the washers can give leaks, but a lot of the times they're ok (but you do need to check).
 
Keeping going mate, your roof may not be straightforward to fix, but at least we're all learning a bit more about the enigma which is the Z4 roof... :driving:
 
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