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Targa roof runner grease

Zen1

Member
Joined
16 Jul 2019
Messages
22
Not had the car too long so not had the chance to use roof much but I've noticed the Roof runner channels have been greased by the previous owner. Is this where the cables run also ?

It operates perfectly and doesn't rattle either. The previous owner was very proud of this fact as he said a lot of them do.

The grease is a little tacky and I've read on here I could get problems later on due to the grease attracting dust and general crud.

Should I really be looking to remove this stuff and if so what might I use to clean it up the best?

 
Fear not deMort will be along to explain all shortly :D
 
Double post
 
First off i'll start by saying there are a few people that swear that lubricating these has kept their roof working just fine ..

I'm not going to argue but that grease is far too thick and it's also what i've seen several times before on roofs i've been doing rebuilds on ...OPC perhaps ?

Link here all about these roofs and the " covered in grease" picture of the mechanism had this grease all over it .

http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=116450

The cables are below in the channel so under where this grease is .. if its been sprayed in that area then its already on the cables and as such in the guide tubes .

You can clean it off but there's nothing you can do to actually clean it off of the mechanism and cables ...

Paper towel to wipe off what you can but to be fair you can already see that most of the grease doesn't actually touch anything in that area ... hence its still there .

Please don't try something like brake cleaner as the cables end up at the motors .. that stuff is flammable and WILL catch fire if you operate the roof .


Lack of use is what tends to jam these up .. i tend to say open and close the roofs several times a week to keep everything moving and im afraid thats pretty much all you can do .

For the roof to be quiet then that's a bonus .. they tend to creak a lot as the rubbers dry out .. i have plenty of fixes you can diy if needed for noises though so not an issue going forward .

Just use it .. keep an eye on it and if it ever , at any single time slows to the point you have to pull it closed whilst pressing the button then stop using it and get it repaired .. far far cheaper than if you spin the motors on a jamming roof system .
 
When I got mine it had loads of old grease and direct attached to the grease. It was very slow and really struggled to close. I wiped it all clean, including using cotton buds to get into all the small spaces.

I may get shot down for the next bit, but it made such a difference.... I used dry silicone spray on the runners (not the cables) and this doesn't attract dirt and makes it run very smoothly and quickly. McLube spray is good (but expensive), or the WD40 profession silicone spray is good too.

I also treat all the rubbers with gummi fledge on soft roof trim; Mclube on the hard stuff this stops the sweaks and rattles.
 
stefant said:
I may get shot down for the next bit

Not at all ... what works .. works.

I only ever see them when they dont work .. 30 rebuilds so far and a lot are due to either wear and tear or grease , as such i can only comment on what i have seen .

The biggest problem .. the surface of the frame wears away .. the non slip surface is replaced by the ally underneath .. that's a replacement frame which is not feasible ... i do what i can there with new parts .

This is often due to a grinding paste of grease and dirt buildup .

I will say .. a rebuild which isn't cheap will imho last the lifetime of the car .. well 10 - 15 years as no roof i've ever rebuilt has come back so far .. and that's over 10 years that i have been fixing these .

Our garage or Northway in Reading are the only garages i would recommend to fix these roofs ... and whilst i don't like recommending our garage on these then i have to as i've had to repair other garages attempts at fixing these .

There is no simple fix though.
 
Right. I will try my best to get this stuff off and maybe try the dry lubrication
if that won't attract dust and clog the mechanism up.

I'm a little concerned now that the cables in the guide tubes as you say could also have been affected.
Not at all questioning you're expertise but just trying to learn. How is this so when they run underneath the guides?

I was hoping to try and access the cables to at least take look and attempt to clean but it sounds like they're not easily accessible.

Also couldn't figure how to pull back the side material there to look.

Cheers

:thumb:
 
Im happy to help as best as i can but most of the info is in this link ..

http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=116450&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Same one as above .. have a good read of it and have a good look at the pictures .. they all can be expanded .. chrome and open in a new link for a much larger image ..

The cables are in the base of the roof ... so look at the gutter underneath where the grease is .. mechanism can be seen from the link above and what it looks like when its contaminated with grease ... you can not see this unless it's all removed .

Again from the link you can see the motors .. these are connected to the cables .. never ever remove both at the same time .

You simply can not clean these cables .. you can't remove them with the roof in the car ..

i would assume someone has greased the front section but hopefully not sprayed it into the channels .. if so you should be ok ..

Clean off the grease at the front , use the roof a couple of times a week and fingers crossed you will be fine .

I will add .. if the guide tubes the motors are bolted to are gold then they are the original cables the car came with .. if silver then they have been replaced .

I am more than happy to chat and explain this in detail on the phone should you wish .. just let me know via pm and i'll send you my number .. 7-9pm only though :)

EDIT .. you can pull back the fabric but it wont help .. you can't see any part of the mechanism that drives the roof or indeed the cables with the fabric out of the way .. i can tell you how to do this should you wish though .
 

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I had seen that thread but didn't realize the pictures could be expanded to see that level of detail.

They're invaluable so many thanks
 

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