SUNROOF REPAIR 2G [Merged 8-8] sun roof rail jam stuck open

[Project2G]

This happens to mine sometimes. I would spray the rails down with WD40 and sometimes I gently help the sunroof when I close it.

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

I did some searching and saw that you can crank the sunroof manually to close it so I went out and bought a 5mm metric hex wrench but I cant close this thing for the life of god. Anyone done this before.


Im at work and it's gonna rain in a few....

 

[JScharF]

Quick go get some plastic and some duct tape if its about to rain and you cant get it...

 

[matthewdesigns]

You've got a hex wrench in the original tool kit for this. It's pretty long, so you can get some leverage on it. Give that a shot.

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

Yeah, I cant find that hex wrench....but this post single-handedly just made my day. I followed exactly what he did and the sunroof is now closed. I'm never opening that shit again until I replace it completely.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/39164-post6.html

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

I hope that rain goes away, coming your way saturday, taking a cruise with the wife out of Miami

 

[matthewdesigns]

Good luck with what may become your nemesis. I've replaced each component of my sunroof individually, and even the whole thing as an assembly. The previous owner had it replaced/repaired as well, and it lasted a couple of months for him. I still manually crank mine open and closed ghetto style after 5 years of messing with it.

 

[Defiant]

Jeeze, at least get a battery-powered drill for it.

 

[97EclipseYelo]

Hey guys, great forum. first post.

My sunroof seems to rattle a bit and leak air when it's closed. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does I usually push up on the glass and it clicks once, and that solves the annoyance. This has been going on since I've gotten the car, about a year ago. no other problems with sliding or closing. thanks for your help.

 

[Fastclipse97]

fixed my sunroof, THANKS defiant!

You betcha

 

[crimsondragon]

How do you remove the drive cables from the sliders?

 

[Jonny353]

I am looking at replacing my passenger side sunroof rail (as the car doesn't currently have one and the sunroof is not in the car at the moment) Any guides on how to replace the entire rail? I am having difficulty removing what is left of the old one. Also what is a good place to get a new rail? Thank you for the help.

 

[crimsondragon]

I did this like last weekend so it's still fresh in my mind. You will have to remove the headliner or pull down enough of it to drop the sunroof frame enough to get to the bolts. Loosening the bolts on the frame, loosen all the torx nuts you see on top of the sunroof. You will also have to loosen the screw that holds the metal support. Move that out the way and there is one more torx nut you cannot see under the support. Loosen that. Keep them all in a doggy bag or ziplock. By now the rail should be loose. Lift it up and you will see the cable is still attached. Take a small screwdriver, underneath the rail is a triangular tab that is suppose to be the sunroof stop. Use the screwdriver to push it forward and it will go down as well. The cable end will now be able to pop out. Installation of new rail is reverse of everything I said.

 

[khartley]

Its been a while since I did this, but I do remember that you need to have the tracks lined up, and the motor needs to be in sync with where the tracks are, otherwise it won't open or shut properly when you have it all put back together. Hopefully someone else will chime in and elaborate on what I said so you understand better.

 

[Jonny353]

I did get the rail out but no luck in the local junk yard or any parts stores around town for the replacement rail. To top it off now my driver side door handle isn't working. My car was in an accident before I bought it and there is alot of damage that has tweaked and unaligned the car, I am most likely going to scrap the car for the sake of not having to spend 10 grand on just body modifications to just get the car back to opening and closing right =(

 

[crimsondragon]

You do realize 90's Sebrings and Avengers have the same sunroofs right? If your junkyard doesn't have Sebrings, it's not a junkyard at all.

 

[blackonblack96]

My sunroof gears are worn out and on top of that it leaks when it rains(chicks dont like that). My door handle broke off so i have to open it through the passenger door. So i feel your pain buddy. Im going to take these dudes advice and go check out a pull-a-part
ASAP

 

[bry_guy]

I have a 98 Eagle Talon Esi and the sunroof does not work. When I press the switch, there is no noise coming from the motor. I checked all the fuses and they are all fine. The previous owner had taken the alarm off and said that when he did that the sunroof stopped working. After hooking the alarm back up, the sunroof still does not work. Any idea on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[matthewdesigns]

What up Goldsboro...I was born there lo these many years ago.

Is there a fuse or relay under the hood? Check first if you have not already. And triple check everything for the alarm, as it's probably in there somewhere since you have a direct relationship between the two and the failure.

These sunroofs can be a big PITA. I've had mine in and out probably a dozen times for repair or replacement. I think there are some tech articles here on Tuners that address sunroof issues as well, so check there, too.

If all that fails:

Pull off your visors, A-pillar covers, sunroof switch cover, and the rubber trim around the inside of the sunroof opening, and then remove your headliner. Power for the roof comes in at the large harness connector for the 'black box'...you'll know it when you see it. IIRC it's the 3rd wire from the right when looking at the back of the connector. Ground is 2nd (?) from the left when viewed from the same angle. Make sure you are getting power there first.

If yes, then see if it's getting to the switch, then the motor. The wiring path is pretty easy to follow. Find a good power and ground source and jump them over to the motor to see if it's good. Check continuity through the switch...centered it is not making contact (open position), fore or aft it's closed and you should have continuity both ways to the center wire.

If all the parts seem to be in order, the black box may be the culprit, so try swapping one in from a known good roof. You can still hardwire the thing to operate if that does not fix it. PM me if you need to do that. But check everything out thoroughly first.

 

[bry_guy]

I have only been here for 3 months, but it is pretty nice.

Alright so I double, triple, quadruple checked all the fuses and relays under the hood and inside by the pedals and they were all good, however, when I was looking around by the pedals, I found a wire that was not connected. It is a fairly thick red wire. I called the previous owner and he said that he thinks it might be the main power to the fuse panel. So, I will have to take off that plastic by the pedals and look around to see if that wire does indeed connect to the fuse panel and how...

What up Goldsboro...I was born there lo these many years ago.

Is there a fuse or relay under the hood? Check first if you have not already. And triple check everything for the alarm, as it's probably in there somewhere since you have a direct relationship between the two and the failure.

These sunroofs can be a big PITA. I've had mine in and out probably a dozen times for repair or replacement. I think there are some tech articles here on Tuners that address sunroof issues as well, so check there, too.

If all that fails:

Pull off your visors, A-pillar covers, sunroof switch cover, and the rubber trim around the inside of the sunroof opening, and then remove your headliner. Power for the roof comes in at the large harness connector for the 'black box'...you'll know it when you see it. IIRC it's the 3rd wire from the right when looking at the back of the connector. Ground is 2nd (?) from the left when viewed from the same angle. Make sure you are getting power there first.

If yes, then see if it's getting to the switch, then the motor. The wiring path is pretty easy to follow. Find a good power and ground source and jump them over to the motor to see if it's good. Check continuity through the switch...centered it is not making contact (open position), fore or aft it's closed and you should have continuity both ways to the center wire.

If all the parts seem to be in order, the black box may be the culprit, so try swapping one in from a known good roof. You can still hardwire the thing to operate if that does not fix it. PM me if you need to do that. But check everything out thoroughly first.

 

[matthewdesigns]

It is a fairly thick red wire. I called the previous owner and he said that he thinks it might be the main power to the fuse panel.

If you suspect that wire is the power feed from the fusebox to the sunroof, and if your visual at the fusebox does not turn up anything, you might check to see if that wire terminates at the 'black box' as the power source I described above. Just do a continuity check on the wire and you can rule it out/in. That might be a wild goose chase, though, as there are red wires that run everywhere in the car.

 

[Bluesideup]

I would pull the headliner and disconnect the white connector from the sunroof controller on the passenger's side of the sunroof motor. If you look at the harness there is a thicker red wire and a thicker black wire. That is the main power for the sunroof. With the key in the ON position check for 12V at the red terminal on the harness. You should also check your switch for continuity.

Your problem could just be a bad sunroof controller. It is also possible the alarm computer was tapped into the harness somewhere to allow remote opening of the sunroof. In that case I'd ask the previous owner where the alarm computer was located. On my car the alarm controller for the windows was installed in the driver's door. Without it installed the windows wouldn't work even though the alarm computer was removed.

 

[bry_guy]

If you suspect that wire is the power feed from the fusebox to the sunroof, and if your visual at the fusebox does not turn up anything, you might check to see if that wire terminates at the 'black box' as the power source I described above. Just do a continuity check on the wire and you can rule it out/in. That might be a wild goose chase, though, as there are red wires that run everywhere in the car.

Alright so I found out that that red wire is the main power to the sunroof. I checked continuity between that wire and the switch and there was continuity. Also, I tried hooking that wire up to the the car battery via roach clips and the sunroof worked. So, now I am not sure as to how that wire connects to the fuse panel down by the pedals.

 

[matthewdesigns]

Glad to hear that you got that tracked down.

First thing I'd do is look at the back of the fuse panel under the dash and look for a corresponding cut red wire. In this thread, it looks like the sunroof fuse location is the lowest, farthest righthand fuse in the panel. Double check that list against your fuse box cover and see if that's where the cut wire originates (behind that fuse, on the back of the box). You might have to do a little digging in the harness back there to find the other cut end, but that's what I'd try to do before tapping into anything else.

If that doesn't work out, then find an alternate power source and tap into it, using a fuse in line with the sunroof power wire. It doesn't matter whether it's an ignition-switched source or not...whatever your preference is on that. Just don't grab one that's switched on with your driving lights .

 

[bry_guy]

Glad to hear that you got that tracked down.

First thing I'd do is look at the back of the fuse panel under the dash and look for a corresponding cut red wire. In this thread, it looks like the sunroof fuse location is the lowest, farthest righthand fuse in the panel. Double check that list against your fuse box cover and see if that's where the cut wire originates (behind that fuse, on the back of the box). You might have to do a little digging in the harness back there to find the other cut end, but that's what I'd try to do before tapping into anything else.

If that doesn't work out, then find an alternate power source and tap into it, using a fuse in line with the sunroof power wire. It doesn't matter whether it's an ignition-switched source or not...whatever your preference is on that. Just don't grab one that's switched on with your driving lights .

So, I got a shop manual (which came in very handy) and traced that wire. According to the shop manual it goes to terminal 1 of connector B-65 on the junction block. So, I took a look up at the top of the block at that connector and, sure enough, at terminal 1 there was no wire going into it. Now, I know exactly where it goes and just now need to figure out how it goes into the connector.