roof motor has come back from the dead

[tug]

Hi guys, just got to tell you about my roof motor. Bought my zed about a year ago and 1 week after the 3 month warranty ran out the roof packed up working Gutted after learning about the s**t design and water ingress etc. But soon learned how to do it manually, could live with that until i would eventually get the motor replaced.

The electrics still work perfectly so was able to unlatch and lock back down using the consul button when the weather permitted

Now the best bit. After frequently washing and cleaning the roof i suddenly noticed that the water was draining out from under the car from the drain hole. It left a brownish green stain on the floor with thick greasy looking debris in it. I knew that there was water build up inside, you could just see it when the roof was down looking down where the motor sits (you need a torch cos the roof motor housing prevents much light getting in) I was gonna sort it eventually

Now a week or so ago the weather turned nice enough to have the roof down, so pressing the button on the consul i heard the roof motor humming away like a goodun, not heard that since it packed up! Quickly i went into the boot re-seated the boden cable, checked the parcel shelf, got back in pressed the button and the roof went down! i thought BRILLIANT! Pressed the close button and the roof closed and locked i thought EXCELLENT! Really chuffed.

Have opened and closed it loads of times now. The operation is smooth and fast like it had never packed up. Sooooooo chuffed!

So anyone with a dead roof motor, i would make sure the drain hole is clear and give the motor a chance to dry out before shelling out for a motor replacement and hopefully your motor comes back from the dead like mine has.

Thanks for reading. Cheers.

 

[ranski]

We had exactly the same while on a roadtrip in Switzerland (right ball ache as the rood was down when it stopped working)

Left it a few hours and it then started working. I put it down to the fact it was 32c for the best part of three days running, opening and closing the hydraulics lever (red handle in the boot) released build up of pressure

that was over a year ago and the roof motor is still going strong (now 12 years old)

 

[Midhurstman]

That's great news for you and has got me thinking a little. Many years ago I served an engineering apprenticeship and daily used a coolant, made up of a solution of water mixed with a special oil that is water soluble. This mixture allows copious amounts to be pumped on the workpiece that is being machined, to cool things down. This invariably also floods the bed and tables of whatever expensive lathe/milling machine etc is in use, but cannot cause any rust whatsoever due to the protective in the water.

It is still readily available cheaply(eg Ebay) and it would be interesting to experiment with a failed motor in situ, as had been described in this post, by pouring this solution through and therefore over the motor/cover. It appears that just a flow of water alone has flushed the motor in this instance so something that also lubricates surely must improve things.

The downside would be that when the additive is introduced to the water to make the solution it becomes milky white, which would cause a bit of a mess as it flushed through.

Tug, entirely for you to decide, and I don't want to encourage you in any way, but I think your motor may well have rusted quite badly and may play up again. If this happens and you are back to considering a replacement, it may be worth trying. For best best results however, I guess the most important aim is to dry the motor out and keep it dry

 

[tug]

Good thinking Midhurstman, if you could somehow devize a way of producing a spay and nozzle to slip down into roof motor compartment and completely coat the whole area and make it completely waterproof, at the same time permanently expelling water, then i reckon you could make a fortune mate. Worth a thought

But for now i am just gonna make sure the drain hole is regularly inspected. Cheers mate

 

[ezraharvey]

Morning chaps,

I've also joined the Z4 roof club, after ignoring all the warning signs, my motor packed up yesterday, on the first sunny day in UK memory for an age. Typical! Managed to siphon about a pint of muddy water out of the drain top using a Wilko homebrew siphoner (handy!) and dislodged some of the material blocking the drain. I'm resigned to a visit to the local indie for a replacement, but I have nothing to lose if you need a guinea pig to trial this magic formula.

 

[Marco]

Exact same thing happened with mine, it stopped working, then miraculously started working again one day....unfortunately it has stopped again!