Rear window adjustment

252 Views 17 Replies 4 Participants Last post by KICKB0X, 9 d ago

jarilehtinen

Discussion Starter · 11 d ago

I'm having an issue where the right side of the rear window is higher than the left side, and doesn't sit flush with the trunk lid chrome trim. There's a noticeable gap. Is there any way to adjust the rear window? I looked at the service manual, but it doesn't clearly say what adjusts what.

Ps. What happened, you might ask... This might have caused by a unlucky event of a dark gray helmet being left on the right side of the trunk and (my beloved wife) opening the roof without checking the trunk. That might have caused the next issue where the right side flap was left open while the whole roof was closed, except for the rear window which was open about 2-3 cm because the mounting clamps weren't open enough. I fixed that by gently (gently!) lifting the rear window up by hand just a bit, getting the flap closed, and then pushing the mounting clamps in with a wooden stick. So... Although I didn't use any excessive force, I could have bent the window frame, or the helmet caused this – or it might have been like this for a while... Dunno.

Pps. Tried searching this forum for similar issue, but had no luck.

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voxmagna

· #2 · 11 d ago

Adjustment isn't a good idea if internal parts are bent and it sounds like more than one part may be distorted? However, you may be lucky on the window that the glass has moved on its clamps. There are bolts tensioning the glass clamps that can be loosened allowing some adjustment. You should find some info here if you are up for a challenge:

www.vweosclub.com

EOS Rear Window Remove/Install Post1 of 2 long posts

EOS Rear Window Remove/Install Post 1 of 4 long posts On a difficulty scale of 1-10 I regard this operation as level 8, with a high possibility of collateral parts damage. These are my instructions, I think there is not much in the VAG operation procedures and of course EOS rear windows are...

www.vweosclub.com

www.vweosclub.com

jpf321

· #3 · 11 d ago

jarilehtinen said:
I'm having an issue where the right side of the rear window is higher than the left side, and doesn't sit flush with the trunk lid chrome trim. There's a noticeable gap. Is there any way to adjust the rear window? I looked at the service manual, but it doesn't clearly say what adjusts what.

View attachment 25259

Ps. What happened, you might ask... This might have caused by a unlucky event of a dark gray helmet being left on the right side of the trunk and (my beloved wife) opening the roof without checking the trunk. That might have caused the next issue where the right side flap was left open while the whole roof was closed, except for the rear window which was open about 2-3 cm because the mounting clamps weren't open enough. I fixed that by gently (gently!) lifting the rear window up by hand just a bit, getting the flap closed, and then pushing the mounting clamps in with a wooden stick. So... Although I didn't use any excessive force, I could have bent the window frame, or the helmet caused this – or it might have been like this for a while... Dunno.

Pps. Tried searching this forum for similar issue, but had no luck.

It sounds like someone should figure out how to put a simlple sensor in the "no step" zones and wire it into the luggage compartment microswitch perhaps. I know it's only a matter of time before someone in my family leaves something where it shouldn't be. Stickers are fine, but sensor lockout is better.

Would something like this work? 10PCS TCRT5000L TCRT5000 Reflective Optical Sensor Infrared IR Switch infrared | eBay or does that only sense motion?

I'm thinking of the photo-beam+reflectors that I've seen for doorway bells .. or the photo sensors I have at the bottom of my garage (Chamberlain® Garage Door Opener Safety Sensor Photo Eyes).

Would love to hear other POVs.

voxmagna

· #4 · 11 d ago

I already thought about IR and laser sensing but it would be quite complicated and have to disable for the roof hinge to drop into the space. A proper design job would including sensing across the trunk to allow the cover to be removed completely. You would use red laser because it can be seen and could look like that heist film with red laser beams criss crossing the trunk looking quite cool at night. You could put a smoke generator in the trunk to puff up a bit of smoke each time the lid was opened and have it pulsed by sub bass.

. A rotating laser allows easier and more precise beam alignment and mirrors precisely adjusted can bounce it about. There's a challenge for you to take on.

I would favor a simple approach of a cover or blind normally closed over the forbidden area that lifts away when the roof was lowered. Laser has the big advantage you can use all the trunk space on a trip where you won't take the roof down.

jpf321

· #5 · 11 d ago

voxmagna said:
I already thought about IR and laser sensing but it would be quite complicated and have to disable for the roof hinge to drop into the space. A proper design job would including sensing across the trunk to allow the cover to be removed completely. You would use red laser because it can be seen and could look like that heist film with red laser beams criss crossing the trunk looking quite cool at night. You could put a smoke generator in the trunk to puff up a bit of smoke each time the lid was opened and have it pulsed by sub bass. . A rotating laser allows easier and more precise beam alignment and mirrors precisely adjusted can bounce it about. There's a challenge for you to take on.

I would favor a simple approach of a cover or blind normally closed over the forbidden area that lifts away when the roof was lowered. Laser has the big advantage you can use all the trunk space on a trip where you won't take the roof down.

This is why I suggested tying it directly to the luggage compartment micro-switch .. this should be an easy enough go/no-go that the roof already reacts to. No reason to reinvent a lockout mechanism when there's a perfectly good switch right there that already does it. The luggage switch AND the 2 photo sensors would need to be "closed" to allow roof op.

We'd need a bit of splicing (into the luggage switch), wiring, photo sensors and a small power source for the photo sensors (could be AA battery I suppose). Once you've figured out 1, you could add 2 or three as needed.

If you could live without the luggage divider altogether, you could rig the sensors to sense horizontally across the trunk provided you put a "dummy lug" to handle the microswitch of the divider which would be missing.

KICKB0X

· #6 · 11 d ago

Apart from the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner once in a while, don't put anything in that area - ever!
How hard can it be?

voxmagna

· #7 · 10 d ago

My wife had the car before me and she managed to keep the forbidden areas clear but it takes discipline. But I can see the issue, you open the trunk for others and kids to put in their stuff and they treat the trunk space like any other car and CRUNCH serious damage caused.

There have been at least 2 (now 3) issues putting things there: 1 - A wide golf umbrella, 2- A disability walking frame (Ugh!) and now 3- A helmet. The problem is made worse because the driver gets no dash warning when operating the roof button except when the cover is raised. One simple to implement (but not foolproof) work around would be to add an electronic timer to the trunk cover switch - pushing a hidden button inside the trunk gives you say 2 minutes enabled time to operate the roof? This would force the driver to get out of the car, open the trunk, look around and push the enable button before operating the roof. Getting out of the car may be too inconvenient for some!

voxmagna

· #8 · 10 d ago

jpf321 said:
This is why I suggested tying it directly to the luggage compartment micro-switch .. this should be an easy enough go/no-go that the roof already reacts to. No reason to reinvent a lockout mechanism when there's a perfectly good switch right there that already does it. The luggage switch AND the 2 photo sensors would need to be "closed" to allow roof op.

We'd need a bit of splicing (into the luggage switch), wiring, photo sensors and a small power source for the photo sensors (could be AA battery I suppose). Once you've figured out 1, you could add 2 or three as needed.

If you could live without the luggage divider altogether, you could rig the sensors to sense horizontally across the trunk provided you put a "dummy lug" to handle the microswitch of the divider which would be missing.

What you say sounds simple but involves more than you think writing it down. Batteries are a no-no for me - They go flat! IR sensing beams like those used for garage door openers don't work well over very short distances because the beams won't collimate well and an always active IR TX/RX system will take a relatively high battery power.

Put your ideas into some hardware, do some tests and post your results?

jarilehtinen

Discussion Starter · #9 · 10 d ago

There should be sensors on the motors that would stop the operation if enough resistance is met. Perhaps it would have increased the cost of the roof a lot, and caused new possible issues, but still...

I can't get my head around how the roof managed to fit in the boot with the helmet there – especially when the whole roof was closed. Not going to test that again, so I'll leave that as a mystery. 😄

KICKB0X

· #10 · 10 d ago

That's true.

You have them in electric windows to stop fingers from getting chopped off.

voxmagna

· #11 · 10 d ago (Edited)

You have them in electric windows to stop fingers from getting chopped off.

In theory also on the sunroof but despite testing I can't prove it works and it has a strange funtion where (in theory) pinch protection is by-passed if you keep pressing the sunroof switch and don't wait 10 seconds each time? You can always test your sunroof by sticking a block of wood in the way and let us know if your sunroof motor gear gets its teeth ripped off which is an expensive repair?

There should be sensors on the motors that would stop the operation if enough resistance is met.

Not so easy: Here's the approximate dead weight load of EOS roof segments when sitting on top of the hinge mid. roof cycle, without considering moments of inertia:

1. Sunroof glass & frame: 12kg (actual, measured)
2. Rear window glass & frame: 15kg (Est.)
3. Center steel panel: 10kg (Est.)
4. Top painted side members: X2 12kg (Est.)
5. Roof mechanics, + hydraulics: 15kg (Est.)
Total: 64 kg (140lbs).

That's what the roof pump & hydraulics are normally lifting up from stowage boxes (fish tanks) and possible minimum force if there's a jam when raising or lowering the roof. That force is sufficient to crush roof parts if sensors don't pick up a jam in time or malfunction before timing out. Now you know why safety props are essential for roof service operations and 2 people are needed to hold and move roof parts manually to stop the package moving and crushing body parts that get in the way!

The roof pump is fitted with an overload bypass valve, but normal working pressure is so high it will crush most parts that get in the way. Side flaps crush easily and can be the first casualty after a collision. As a human you have eyes and a finger on a switch that can stop the roof once you learn what's normal and what isn't. If you use Smartop remotely then nothing will help you!

There's more to learn about an EOS roof system than might seem obvious.

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KICKB0X

· #12 · 10 d ago

voxmagna said:
You can always test your sunroof by sticking a block of wood in the way

You say the strangest things sometimes 🤣

voxmagna

· #13 · 10 d ago

If I was buying a car with a sunroof from a dealer and had kids, I'd want to know its pinch protection worked. How would you check it?

KICKB0X

· #14 · 10 d ago

My kids are all grown up now, but if I have young kids I wouldn't buy a very small car like an EOS.

Not sure how small kids could get their fingers caught in a moving sunroof anyway. One would have to be pushing the button while the other had their fingers in the sunroof, and all this because you left the keys in the car, (ignition still switched on!), with small children inside unattended.

If the kids are going to release seatbelts and climb about pressing buttons then it says more about the parents than the kids.

voxmagna

· #15 · 10 d ago

but if I have young kids I wouldn't buy a very small car like an EOS.

I thought the EOS was the largest cabriolet for cabin size? It's downside is 2 door making child seat manouvres difficult and limited trunk space to carry their survival kit needs? The EOS isn't as bad as my friends Audi TT.

V.W try to think of every (even unlikely) scenario. Some parents allow their kids to stand between the rear seats with their heads stuck out and the driver thinks he'd like the sunroof closed and can't see them. I've seen cars on the road like that and they can't be wearing a seatbelt. From the passenger seat a kid can reach up and wiggle their pinkies through a part open sunroof which could be closed by the driver. Not sure what would be noticed first, the child screaming or the rollback? Auto closing (One touch control) is the issue because it can't be stopped. If my car was parked with a kid sticking out the sunroof saying Hi just as it came on to rain, even with ignition off, RLS would auto close the sunroof. Kids have a strange illogical mentallity which drives safety thinking. If kids see something closing they stick themselves through or dare their little friend to do it. My windows pinch protect works and is quite sensitive, but I've not been able to see it work for the sunroof having nervously tried foam pipe insulation. I think the sunroof needs so much motor torque to overcome friction variable with seal lubrication, that it would be a troublesome feature. Some with crunched and seized sunroofs say theirs rolled back from the jam position?

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KICKB0X

· #16 · 10 d ago

My Wife took this a while ago while on Her lunch break at work.

That truck IS moving in the photo, and there were five kids in the back.

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voxmagna

· #17 · 10 d ago

On private land I suppose they can do what they like until the kids get hurt and social services step in?

KICKB0X

· #18 · 9 d ago

This drove in off the road!
Doubt it had TAX, insurance etc either.

Anyway, think we've gone a bit "off-topic" here, my fault - sorry...

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