Sunroof Malfunction Video

[66Vette]

Attached (hopefully) is a video of my sunroof operation.  My sunroof works perfectly if it is only opened and closed about a third of the way.

 

If the sunroof is opened more than half way, when I go to close the sunroof, the back of it raises up and jams against the roof.  At this point, if I turn the crank to open it a bit further, the back of the sunroof will drop back down again.  But as soon as I turn the crank to close it, the back again pops up, jamming against the roof.  If I apply some downward pressure to the sunroof, I can coax it forward to get it closed.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated before I tear into it.  I am hoping it might be an easy fix?

 

Thanks, Cris

[conkitchen]

You should have brought it to Sacramento,:-) 

you just need to take the crank mechanism pod out. Fully advance the gear until it stops. Reinstall. 
just close your roof all the way manually before inserting the pod again. 

[oldbugr]

Ok I'm in Reno so I'll bite. What is in Sac that can help with this? 

[66Vette]

Conkitchen, thanks. I’d be in Sac in a heartbeat if there was a front windshield in the car, or a dash……

 

By fully advance the gear, you mean pull the pod out (pull off of cables). Turn the crank (gear) in the closed direction until it stops and reinstall?  What in the mechanism causes this to trigger the back of the sunroof to rise/fall?  
 

Appreciate the help, Cris

[conkitchen]

6 hours ago, 66Vette said:

Conkitchen, thanks. I’d be in Sac in a heartbeat if there was a front windshield in the car, or a dash……

 

By fully advance the gear, you mean pull the pod out (pull off of cables). Turn the crank (gear) in the closed direction until it stops and reinstall?  What in the mechanism causes this to trigger the back of the sunroof to rise/fall?  
 

Appreciate the help, Cris

Awe ok I watched your video (after making the above comment) I was of the impression the panel only worked "a third of the way". Perhaps check the cable cleats and the rods sticking horizontally are attached to the panel by the spring strip.  Hard for me to say exactly what's going on. This is the grey area when doing the roof which only comes from experience.  

 

Did you reinstall the long side tracks using the "tuning fork" alignment piece? You tracks could be binding up the cable so slightly that it's causing an issue maybe. 

 

I say rinse and repeat the install process until it reveals the issue. 

[66Vette]

The good news is I took apart the sunroof crank mechanism and figured out how it works.  It not only drives the cables but has an added clever (whacky?) elliptical/planetary gear system that provides stops for cranking.  It looks like you get about 14 turns of the crank before you hit the stops on the these added gears.

 

The bad news is this has nothing to do with my problem.  There is something that is driving the back of the sunroof up when you go to close it in the fully (or near fully) open position.  This does not occur if the sunroof is only open less than half way.  I think I'll have to remove the sunroof to really see what is going on but I am wondering if the sunroof is interfering with something under the head liner?  I am having my head liner replaced so I might start cutting it up to take a look.

 

I have never taken this sunroof apart, though a PO may have.

 

Hopefully someone will chime in that has seen this before.  Holy cow, I really didn't want to know this much about the sunroof !!!!

Edited June 9 by 66Vette

[dlacey]

There must be too much friction in either the front guides or the trim panel. Unclip the trim panel & see if it still pops up at the back. This also gives you a chance to check that the 2 long alloy guide rails are properly secured at the back (with the plastic fork) and not flapping up & down.

[OldRoller]

From your video it appears there is a lot of resistance/drag in your assembly. The roof is 'pushed' from the rear sliders... the forward slides just guide the front. If you look at the total resistance you have cables in channels, headliner slide, the rear sliders, etc. Check your headliner slide, many times the fabric has come loose and binds in its sliding channel. Years of no lubrication adds to the resistance.

I would guess when rolling forward from fully back, your cable ends (with the articulating 'lifters') are reacting to the resistance and pushing the lifters up instead of sliding smoothly until they reach the knobs to kick up into fully closed. 

As a check, detach your headliner slide from the front of the roof, slide it back and see how much effort it takes. It should slide easily. Leave it pushed back 3/4 of the way, shoot some lube on the front and rear sliders and track (PTFE or similar) and operate the roof. 

Years of debris buildup in the tracks and cables can add to the issue. A disassembly and good cleaning and lubing may be in order. With your headliner being replaced, now would be a good time to do it. There are 2 plastic 'forks' mounted to the rear roof that align with the two cable channels on each side to locate the rear side channels. They are an absolute bear to get lined up when reinstalling the side rails if the headliner is in. Imagine staring down a dark 1 inch hole 2 feet back to get two small plastic rods

lined up with two small holes that you can't see while you wrestle a channel... ultimate frustrating fun.

Good luck with it!

 

[Gordon]

This is one of the better guides I've seen on 02 sunroofs.

my2002tii.com | Sunroof Installation

WWW.MY2002TII.COM

 

[conkitchen]

5 hours ago, dlacey said:

There must be too much friction in either the front guides or the trim panel. Unclip the trim panel & see if it still pops up at the back. This also gives you a chance to check that the 2 long alloy guide rails are properly secured at the back (with the plastic fork) and not flapping up & down.

This is what I was also trying to convey. Those "tuning forks" as I called them hold the very distal end of the track not only aligned but down so as not to flex up from the resistance of the cable pulling on it.  I think Rogers sells them but likely they are still back there in their holes and you never even knew about them or are missing.  

 

 

Edited June 9 by conkitchen

[66Vette]

Well, hopefully, I found my problem.  The passenger side rail was not sitting in the forks.  A PO must have been in there and not put the rail in properly.

 

I took a couple of half hearted stabs at getting the forks back and, as OldRoller said, it looks like a bear.  Is it better to pull those forks out, slide them in the rail and then install?  All in all, a pretty obtuse set up.

 

My car is not stock and never will be.  If someone has some suggestions in how to improve access or performance I'm open to ideas.  I am thinking leaving access holes to the back rails in the headliner (with a cover) may not be a bad idea.  The sunroof cover also looks like a bear in that you have to release one of the side rails to install and remove.

 

I am putting in a new headliner so anything is game.

 

Thanks, Cris

[conkitchen]

1 hour ago, 66Vette said:

Well, hopefully, I found my problem.  The passenger side rail was not sitting in the forks.  A PO must have been in there and not put the rail in properly.

 

I took a couple of half hearted stabs at getting the forks back and, as OldRoller said, it looks like a bear.  Is it better to pull those forks out, slide them in the rail and then install?  All in all, a pretty obtuse set up.

 

My car is not stock and never will be.  If someone has some suggestions in how to improve access or performance I'm open to ideas.  I am thinking leaving access holes to the back rails in the headliner (with a cover) may not be a bad idea.  The sunroof cover also looks like a bear in that you have to release one of the side rails to install and remove.

 

I am putting in a new headliner so anything is game.

 

Thanks, Cris

You are now one step closer to becoming a sunroof Jedi  

[66Vette]

I decided to not even try to get the side rails onto the forks with the forks in place.  I made a tool that allowed me to get back in the sunroof cavity, hook onto the forks, and pull them out.  If you have never seen what the forks look like, I have attached a pic.

 

I still think I will modify my headliner to get access to the backs of the side rails.  These sunroofs don't seem to have a great history of trouble-free operation, so I'd like to make it easy to fine tune and service mine.