Sunroof stuck open
 

It is true, the sunroof is stuck open about 2 inches. It used to open and close but this time it opened and wont close. I dont have the factory tool to do it manually, will a socket or wrench work?

I can't remember what the little hand crank tool was like....square headed, hex headed, or what. The access is in the boot. If you pull away the trim panel at the very front of the boot you'll see the sunroof motor and can tell if some other tool will work.

If all all fails remove the rear seat back and you'll see the gear drive assembly. You can onbolt the cable from the gear drive and just slide the soonroof closed by hand.

If you can slide it by hand, you got problems, brudda !


Cheers
DD

Walter,

the tool has a round hole with a square side. No socket will work. You might try wrapping the motor's pin in a piece of towel fabric and grabbing it with pliers to avoid any damage to the pin.

You say "I don't have the tool". Have you actually looked in the front of the trunk behind said panel? If you remove the carpeted panel at the front of the trunk, held in place by two black plastic screws, (you need a large flat screwdriver), you will see an electronics city behind the panel. The engine computer is there on the right side, on the top right of the engine computer there is a gold-anonized Valve with red wires which is supposed to be an Altitude Compensator (maybe someone can enlighten me on what this valve does, it doesn't even appear in the Service Manual).

to the left of the engine computer you will see all the Bulb Failure Sensors and wiring, to the left of that you will see the Sunroof Motor, and to the left of that you will see a black box that reads XK-E 4.2, that is the Oxygen Sensor Counter and Reset, assuming your car has an O2 Sensor.

You will see two vertical metal beams in front of all that. The factory mounted the sunroof Tool into a square hole on one of those "beams", usually the right side beam, and held it there with a nylon tie. Have you checked if yours is still there? It is easy to miss because the tool was inserted into the square hole from the rear of the beam, so that only the square part of the tool is seen. If they had inserted the tool from the front of the beam, it would interfere with the upholstery panel laying flush over the beams.

Otherwise, do as Doug said: remove the rear seat Back, remove the two nuts and the metal cable cover from the sunroof motor, and remove the two cable "worms" from the motor gear, then the sunroof panel should move easily, if not, something else is interfering with movement.

Jose

Hey there guys, I removed the fabric in the boot with the 2 plastic screws, and I removed the rear seat. It was cool to see all the electronics in the boot. Thanks Jose, for identifing all that eletronic stuff. I touched the pin, and found it had a tad of up and down play. I then went in to the cabin, pushed the switch, and it worked!! (It still only goes the couple of inches but at least it does that!!) I closed it and left it closed. The 2 beams are the ones that hold the plastic anchor that the plastic screws go into right? I looked closely back there, but did not find the tool. It was very clean back there though, like opening a time capsule.

When I removed the seats some of the "duct tape" the factory used to cover some holes fell out, again I felt like I was looking in a time capsule. My seats are recovered in 2001, so someone had removed the seats at that time.

Any way I am going to leave the sunroof alone as I am broke and my next purchases will be a waistline seal for the driver's door and the poly bushing kit for my steering rack.

I also fixed my hood so it doesn't pop open. A real easy fix, just adjusted the length of the bolts with springs on them at the corners of the bonnet.

I do need to get my driver seat switch working. As I was under the seat, I noticed that one of the wires was dissconnected, but i re connected that and the switch still failed to operate my power seat. What does that switch do, push the seat up and down?

the switch on the front left corner of the seat itself, moves the rear of the seat up and down as you already figured.

there is a hidden Pink wire with a plastic Fuse Holder and I bet that's what it is, a blown fuse.

This fuse holder is located under the center console, towards the driver's side of the console.

It is possible to insert your hand under the sides of the center console where it meets the tunnel carpeting to fish this wire, just pull it to check the fuse.

Yes, the two "beams" are where you screw the two plastic screws that hold the panel in place. In one of those beams is where you can see a square hole, and that's where I found my sunroof tool inserted and held by a nylon tie. But if you looked at it from the normal orientation, you couldn't see the entire tool, it looked more like a hole to thread a screw.

The up and down movement of the sunroof motor's Pin is normal. Sounds to me like lack of use.

My sunroof is stuck open about an inch. The sunroof opens with power, but won't close, even a little bit. I cranked it shut, and closed it, but then I think I overcranked it and stripped some tear off a gear or something.

I then proceeded to accidentally hit the sunroof open switch, and it opened a few inches, and I have been unable to get it closed since then. Luckily it is stored in a covered area.

My question is when I remove the rear seat to get to the gears, will it be obvious what's wrong? What typically goes wrong? How much do the parts cost and are they easy to find?

My headliner/board needs replacing, so I may just wait until I replace the headliner board to replace the sunroof cable, if it needs it.

Does anyone have any idea if it is only the gear that typically strips? Or is it also the sunroof cable? I can't seem to find any information about the sunroof cable online or in the FAQs.

The large gear is plastic, you need to have access to both the front and back so remove the rear seat back and the forward boot liner.

You can take the switch out of the console and flip it upside-down and now the sliding roof will only close and not open. Or replace the switch with a window switch and then unplug it so it won't operate again. Or buy a new switch.

bob gauff

Hmmm... I never considered that it might actually be the SWITCH that is the problem. Is this likely? I have a feel it's not the switch but rather the actual gear and worm cable! I will check out the sunroof gear this weekend, and see if the gears are chipped. If I can flip the switch and get it to work, then maybe I'll just close it and leave it closed and deal with it at a later date.

Also how do I access the switches in the console? I have disabled the master switch for the windows (bypassed it, actually) but that one was up top so I was able to pry it out and access the wires underneath pretty easily. I Imagine the sunroof switch will be a little bit harder to access without removing the console more.

The switches are a 'press fit' with spring clips holding them in place. If the clips are really tight, you can remove the console top and access the switches.

Try to get a few small 'pocket screwdrivers' under the edges of a switch in several places so the edge does not break and lever it out.

If one is stuck try another. Sometimes you can get several switches out and use your finger to help another switch next to it.

bob gauff

I think I can get the switches out, I'm just worried that if I disconnect the leads to the switches the wires will fall into the console and I'll never be able to reach them again if I wanted to hook the switch up later.

I can only seem to get the back of the switch panel lifted up--I don't want to push harder and risk cracking the 30 year old plastic console. Is there another screw that I'm missing?

Just to update.

It turns out the switch WAS only working in one direction. Flipping the switch allowed the motor to run the other way. However, in trying to crank the sunroof manually with the hand crank I overturned it and broke something in the motor such that it can no longer run all the way (it will not run smoothly and binds up when it's free). I will need a new sunroof motor--the actual gear attached to the cables actually looks good, if a bit worn. No missing teeth.

Luckily you can find them for $50 on eBay.

FYI for anyone who is diagnosing their sunroof: it almost always has to be either the switch, wiring problem, motor problem or the plastic gear that moves the cables. The cables themselves appear to be made out of metal (steel?) so they are virtually indestructable (unlike a power antenna cable, etc.).