Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

The electric sunroof on my 1994 220 plays up whenever its a hot day.
When i used the sunroof yesterday it kept on cutting out as i tried to open or close it using the switch,
today it wont move at all.
I can hear a relay clicking in the roof when i press the switch, and the fuse looks ok

Anything else to try before i take out the headlining and check the motor?

Have you tried winding it manually to check it's not sticking?

There's a round plastic cover near the rear-view mirror that gives access to a square/hex drive. You may be lucky enough to still have the winder in your car toolkit in the boot. If not you'll have to find something else to do the job.

If it moves easily then it maybe the motor that's not got enough torque or maybe the relay isn't working properly

As John said, try a manual wind. This will at least allow you to close a partially open sunroof, and if you wind it the other way it will get the roof past the point it's sticking at.

It's a current cut-out - the sunroof is jamming. There was an article in The Viking a few editions ago where someone showed the pertinent grease points, but you could start with the runners. Hot weather caused the same problem with mine until I reached for a lithium based grease.

Might be the black rubber seal around the edge of the glass. It can swell in the heat if some one has previously greased it. Try washing the seal with hot water & washing up liquid.

If it is temperamental and its a power issue try the power plug where it connects to the underside of the fuse board - mine came loose several times giving me the impression that the switch or the motor was dead. However it would often open full one way but then never shut. Manual wind is wonderful in these cases. You can also have the dash rocker switch apart carefully and clean the contacts but it does not sound like hot weather would affect this.
You should have some grease or similar on the spring operation "rods" accessible from the open back roof and standing in the door apertures to access.

Thanks for the replies.
Now ive got a few ideas i will have a good look at it over the weekend. Hopefully next time i post it will be fixed

Hi Cromp85,
I Just wondered if you ever managed to get to the bottom of your sunroof issue or not, as mine does exactly the same thing. It works fine in cold weather, but it wont move when its been sat in the hot sun. I did think it might be the sunroof motor relay sticking when it gets hot, but i'm reluctant to take the headlining out to get access to it

It's the UV protection sensor. It's to stop you getting sunburn!

I finally got round to fixing it this weekend. After opening the sunroof with a ratchet i cleaned and greased the runners and closed it back up manually.
It did seen smother than when i opened it, but when i tried the switch all i got was the same clicking from the roof. Id had enough by now so left it for another day.

Yesterday as i was about to start pulling out the relays, i tried the switch and it worked
Two bloody weeks of just clicking and now it decides to work. Im still none the wiser as to why it stoped but at least now it seems ok.

Cromp85 wrote:I finally got round to fixing it this weekend. After opening the sunroof with a ratchet i cleaned and greased the runners and closed it back up manually.
It did seen smother than when i opened it, but when i tried the switch all i got was the same clicking from the roof. Id had enough by now so left it for another day.

Yesterday as i was about to start pulling out the relays, i tried the switch and it worked
Two bloody weeks of just clicking and now it decides to work. Im still none the wiser as to why it stoped but at least now it seems ok.

I think it was just a lack of grease. Just takes time to work itself in. Pretty sure it's a current cut-out on the sunroof motor - unlike the window motors which keep going even if they hit the top of the door frame...