During a recent drive, I had the roof tilted open for ventilation. I hit a pothole and the exterior sunroof panel dislodged from the mechanism, beneath. The roof will still tilt open but will not fully open rearward, as the loose panel prevents it from doing so. Does anyone have knowledge of how the exterior panel is attached to the mechanism and how it might be reattached to it? I have a shop manual and have tried to examine it with a bore scope, but cannot seem to diagnose how to reattach the panel. thanks to all.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...2/#post1614059

 

try to open and close a few times, maybe you'll get lucky

 

i have about 15 spring clips for the big panel in perfect condition, ripped straight out of junkyard cars if you ever need them

 

Yes, I tried that, but the interior panel prevents opening the roof, completely. It will now only open in the tilt/vent position with the interior panel loose. I managed to remove the interior panel, quite easily by just pulling it to the rear.

Now out of the car, the headliner fell off and I've now reattached it after cleaning and reattachment with contact adhesive spray.

My next task is to reinstall it, hoping that both sides will stay in place.

Comparing the lift/slide mechanisms on either side, I notice that the bell crank lever arm has a pivot pin on its end and the whole affair is spring loaded. This, as diagrammed in in tech Jag tech bulletin, 13-39. The lever arm appears to be twisted and bent up slightly as compared to the opposite side lift/slide mechanism. I'm reluctant to try and bend it back for fear of damaging the whole mechanism and am now trying to find a solution. Thanks for your input!

QUOTE=steven300;2304943]try to open and close a few times, maybe you'll get lucky[/QUOTE]

 

Thanks so much, but mine seem to be in good shape. If you had the right side, bell crank lever arm with its pivot pin, that's the part that appears to be damaged as compared to the left side assembly. It appears to be twisted and bent upwards slightly and I fear trying to bend back as it may damage the whole assembly.

I hit a very sharp-edged pothole and the force of hitting it dislodged the interior panel and caused it to release from its mounting pins on the tilt/lift/slide mechanism.

 

Good news, everyone. With the help of my wife, I was able to reattach the interior headliner panel to the exterior sunroof panel.

It took some doing, as the bell crank lever arm with its pivot pin was definitely slightly twisted and bent upward. But by applying pressure, upward, on the interior headliner panel and simultaneously pushing the panel forward, I was able to get the panel to engage both the pivot pin and the main lever arm to the spring-loaded retaining clip, at the end of the arm.

With some additional finessing, I was able to open and close the sunroof panels, both in the full open position and the forward tilt position, which seated the panels together in their proper orientation.

Several more openings and closings confirmed the proper seating of the panels together and now, the sunroof operates fully and correctly.

As an addenda, I lubed the sunroof tracks and all of the moving parts, within, generally cleaned everything else and as mentioned before, re-glued the headliner cloth to the interior panel.

Thanks to all for your input and suggestions.