Sunroof \ sun shade

[venport]

I've got a 2001 vw beetle.

My sunroof and sun shade wont slide back however sun roof will tilt. I know there are a few threads out there about the sunroof but they talk about taking it apart, i'm not sure I'm ready to do that. I'm wondering if the sun shade is the issue. If this is the issue how do would you go about fixing it? I've attempted pushing and pulling but I fear breaking it or making the problem worse.

Thank you for any help!

[D2Beetle]

Off the top of my head you have one option ... take the headliner down to get a look at it; which means that you will be taking something apart.

[mark_gober]

My guess is that the sun rook guides have broken. I've been working on my nieces and two of hers were broken. If it pops out of the rail that it rides in (because of the broken guides), it won't slide open or closed. The parts cost me $32 from the dealer. They are small metal fingers with black plastic guides on the end. From what I've seen Volkswagen made all their plastic pieces from the cheapest, least durable materials ever. I can't tell you how much stuff I've had to epoxy or repair because of broken plastic.

My solution involved removing the headliner, then the entire sunroof assembly and replacing those tracks. I'm not going to say that it can't be done without removal, but thats what I did. Removal made it a much easier job...and frankly, removal of the headliner and sunroof is pretty straightforward and easy.

Good luck.

Mark