bigwalton- I agree, crap plastic.
Patrick- That gear will be easy to mold and cast in brass. I personally don't care if it makes a little more noise during operation. And, the gear appears to have melted in the Texas heat. The worm gear on the motor is metal. The metal got way too hot, and melted the plastic, load-bearing gear. It's not an alignment problem. The gear is damaged (i.e. Teeth missing/stripped)
That double sided gear serves two purposes:
1. the large bottom part is what the motor meshes with
2. the smaller, top part is for turning a second gear wich has the position wheel on it. No load bearing on the top part.
The moonroof crank actually gets positioned inside the gear. When the gear is moved directly by the motor, the moonroof moves.
