anyone installed the pano repair kit?

[SlickGT1]

Wow, good job. Glad you have it back in order. I just hope mine never fails.

[mcurcio1989]

^That is kind of why I wanted to take mine on. I get a lot of satisfaction when I use it know and I don't have to have that feeling of waiting for it to break whenever I open it. Even if it does I feel confident I could fix it. I also really wanted to see how it all works.

There is so much more going on in these things that you realize. The motors must be steppers and the computer must be constantly monitoring amp draw and checking that it falls within the range that it set during initialization. there are no sensors on these. In a lot of cases the positions that it stops at are not really stops but rather just an engineered momentary increase in drive force. I believe that when iti initializes it records the current draw and then sets a safe range for operation, it also sets stop points based on the steppers position and / or draw. I've heard people say that initializing it turns the "stops" or "safeties" off but when it comes to a point it anticipates a stop to be at it is actually more sensitive than normal (during initialization). You are actually safer to initialize it first than to try and move anything before you have initialized it. That computer is doing a ton of stuff.

Every component is related and has multiple jobs. For example the headliner's drive cable ends are what actuate the wind deflector. I've noticed that they want the wind deflector down when the car is not moving with the glass open. I believe it's to keep the fabric in the deflector from being degraded by the sun. Pretty crazy.

[SlickGT1]

Yea there is a ton of function. So far so good. I use the snot out of my pano. Open and close it multiple times a trip. Shade open, closed for kids, constant use. Watch me jinx myself right now.

[mcurcio1989]

^ I think the best thing you can do is to thoroughly clean out your tracks every few months and wipe away any grease you can and then re-lubricate lightly. A very thing coating on all the parts seems to be best. The two biggest enemies of these thing is debris getting in the track and plastic drying out. You can avoid both of those things by making an effort to maintain these things.

[SlickGT1]

hmm, whats a good non dirt attracting lube, that will protect plastic?

[mcurcio1989]

^Wish I knew. Seams like a silicone spray is a good choice for a lubricant that won't attract dirt but I don't know that it really helps the plastic parts any.

[mikes123]

Man wished I lived closer. My back section of glass got stuck open the other day. I just removed the two screws and pushed it down and am going to leave it that way for now.

[danny_acs]

Resurrecting and old thread here, but @mcurcio1989 did you ever find out if the the read kit replaces the dremmelled-out pieces? Thank you!