General Sky roof faulty help!!

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General Sky roof faulty help!!

Travis9599

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Right so when I bought the car last December the sky roof worked fine(as in all panels and blind opened ok) except you had to fiddle with the round switch a little (press it in a couple of times and rotate both left and right). But now it seems the switch will only open the first glass panel and that’s it. The blind moves absolutely fine and the buttons for it all work fine, it’s just the round switch. Am I right in saying the switch could be faulty? I can hear the motor in the front clicking so it’s obviously trying to do something? Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.
 
The relay might need replacing, although the clicking you hear suggests it's still alive.

Can you open and close the roof manually (either turning a screw or by disconnecting the motor and moving it by hand)? If it's not jammed, then it's either the button, relay or the motor.

You can try connecting the relay to a bulb and see what happens when you press the button. In my experience though, it's the relay that fails before the motor does.


Ralf S.
 
Hi ralf.s,

How exactly do I move the roof manually both by turning a screw and by disconnecting the motor? And also how do I connect the relay to a bulb? Sorry I’m just hopeless with stuff like this, it’s like a different language to me lol?
 
I'm not familiar with the Stilo roof... but if you have a User Manual have a look.

Sun-roofs often have a way to close them if the motor fails. There will be an access hatch on the roof (probably by the rear view mirror) where the motor lives. If you remove it, you will see the motor and the wiring to it, including the relay.

If there is a manually close option, you'll see what looks like a big screw head (circular with a slot in it) and in the hatch there will be a "key" of some sort, although it's essentially a broad and flat piece of steel that fits into the slot.

You can use that to turn the screw and wind the roof open and closed. It's useful to prove that the roof is not physically jammed.
If you don't have the manually-close option then the only way to close the roof will be to disconnect the motor from it (unless someone knoes different) and then the roof panels should be able to move freely (the motor is stiff when it's not powered).

Either way once you know the roof moves freely then it's time to look at the motor and/or relay.

The relay is likely to be a strange shape/size which will be a complete Mo-Fo to source.. it's probably made by Webasto or some other firm good enough to put their name on it.. so you can go searching/begging for another one.

Bear in mind that any car with a pano' sunroof might have a suitable relay, so if you end up round the breakers yards, you don't need to only look for a Stilo with a roof... Compare yours, for example to this Alfa GTV one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/94-05-AL...189606&hash=item4d6557fe45:g:MMsAAOSwi2ZZ4kC2

With the motor out of the roof and disconnected from the roof glass/panels you should be able to test it (being careful not to get your hair caught in the machinery) using the button. If it works with no load on it, that will prove the button is probably okay.

Here you will probably need to get some help from an auto electrician... They'll be able to rig the relay/motor to the car's power directly.. by-passing the button. That will prove whether the button is the problem or not.

If the button is off the hook, your sparky would also be able to rig up some other kind of relay in place of the original one/by pass it altogether, at least to prove that the motor is okay.

If you have the roof closed (after disconnecting from the motor and closing it by hand... or after manually winding it shut with a key) then the sparky guy won't need much time to test which bit works or doesn't. I doubt you'll get far without assistance (or at least a wiring diagram) and I can only advise you generally, since I dunno about Stilo apart from its electrics are generally a git.. :D

Ralf S.
 
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Thankyou so much Ralf S, extremely helpful I’ll soon get around to fixing it hopefully.
 
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