Left Darlington last night and decided to go back the a68 to Edinburgh, it was mild, I've got a hat, it was dark, so put the hood down. Wife was at home so even had my own choice of music, yipee, Bose got a good work out and didn't realise just how loud it was till I saw the neighbours peeking out on my touch down. Shut off Dancing Queen, gave them a wave and went to shut the roof, 'click' followed by a sickening silence.
Panic ensued as rain was on the way. Ripped off the bumper trim, no idea where the clips flew off to, got the side trim partially unclipped but couldn't get to the motor because of the roof box so there I was running in and out of the garage looking for stuff to bang the motor with. Brush handle reached but didn't work. Eventually calmed down enough to carry out my first manual close which actually wasn't too bad apart from the obvious embarrassment factor (there's probably a video on YouTube) so decided there and then, @&£x it I'm getting a new motor.
Phoned TPS today £188 plus vat then Audi, £11 cheaper - that's a first.
Stripped my old motor right out of the car this time but before binning it in disgust decided to have another look at it. Commutator was quite dirty again and one of the brushes was stuck. As I had already decided it was scrap I was a bit more forceful with the brush carriers this time, bending them out the full width of the screwdriver blade, about 5mm, which seemed to do the trick. Commutator was also much easier to get properly clean. Refitted and working again.
A long winded way of saying that the brush carriers can cope with being bent out quite far. Stripping the motor right out took a bit longer, a 30 torx is also need for the two screws holding the electric motor to the pump, but it makes cleaning a lot easier, just make sure to keep the whole lot vertical with the hydraulic reservoir pointing down during disassembly so you don't loose any fluid.
Till next time.
