Car is an '89 5sp.

I'd posted on this before, but never got around to trying to sort out the problem.

Well, lately the leather headliner started drooping down so I decided it was time to try and figure out what was keeping my sunroof from opening the whole way.

Sunroof only opens about 3 or 4 inches and stops with a "thunk" - like it's hitting something.

Barely opens far enough to get a screw driver on the screws holding the liner in place. Got the screws out, but the liner didn't want to budge - took a lot of force (more than I was comfortable with) with a pair of Knipex cobras to yank it out.

Examined the cavity with a flashlight and an inspection mirror. The drip panel is intact and there doesn't seem to be any obstruction in the way. All of the bolts were snug - nothing was backing out.

Stan suggested that the mounting bolts might be cranked down too tight, so I loosened all the bolts to "finger tight" and tried again - no change. Tightened things back up and torqued all the hardware to 40 in/lbs. Again, no change. Opens about half way and stops with a "thunk."

Tried removing the sunroof lid per the WSM procedure, but it doesn't want to come out of the guides.

I'm pretty much stumped at this point. The only thing that I can see that looks abnormal is that the both of the "gate guides" seem to be missing the part of the pins that extends towards the center of the car.



The car has had this problem since I bought it ~2 years ago. The prior owner didn't have a clue and I don't know if anyone has been "in there" before. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

James

 

Sounds like your cables might not be pulling evenly and it's out of skew or maybe one of your 3 tension springs on the bottom of the sunroof is catching on something. This is probably the best writeup I've ever found on the subject (from Keith Widom.) Start at the begining and follow his steps in order and you'll nail it. http://www.nichols.nu/tip805.htm

I just did this job last month. Here's a picture of it all butt naked:

 

On my list of to dos...thanks for that link ^^^^ I forgot about Kieth's write up!

 

Thanks for the link.

I had the sunroof on my '82 all apart years ago, so I'm not a stranger to it's inner workings. The sunroof on the '89, however, has me stumped - it seems to function normally - except for the fact that it only opens about half way.

We're in the midst of our first serious rains of the season, but looks like it's going to be clear over the weekend. I was trying to avoid taking the whole thing apart, but maybe I'll give it a go over the weekend.

James

 

If you wanted to take the "speed pass" approach, you could probably just remove the transmission (only a couple nuts) and then see if you can freely push the sunroof all the way back. It should slide with no resistance with the transmisssion removed. If you still get the "thud", that would be weird because you can open it 3-4 inches--which is past the point of where the shoes drop in the tracks and the wind deflector pops up. It's funny you mention 3-4 inches as that's also the point where those 3 springs start hitting the sunroof trim when you open it to do adjustments. I.e., you open it 4 inches and then hear "thud" and you realize "damn, I forgot to push those 3 springs up again..."

Since you don't know if the 20-yr grease and funk has ever been cleaned out, I'd say it's worth the 2-hr job and then be done with it for another 20 years. Good luck.

 

On my '88 the drip tray was warped and cracked (a common problem) but also one end broke off and got caught behind the sunroof panel. The result was a thunk as the retracting sunroof hit the piece and was not able to retract all the way - much as you describe. It was hard to see, but once I moved it out of the way the roof could be retracted with help so that I could remove it to clean and lubricate the mechanism.

 

The springs are out of the way - anyway, it did the same thing with the liner in place (holding up the springs). I'll dig into it again as soon as we get a clear day. I'll give pulling the transmission a try. The design may have changed over the years, but the fact that the "gate guide" pins that ride along the top of the springs appear to be missing has me a bit concerned (I'm thinking that maybe someone installed them backwards so that the pins are sticking out of the other side of the "gate guide" and jamming against the track). The end of the pin I can see in the gate guide appears to be machined (rather than broken off).

How are things in K-town? Did three years at Ramstein in another life... ATC radar, although did most of my time in NCMO.

Martin, based on what others have found, I was kind expecting to find that the drip tray was broken up, but it appears to be all in one piece. Will look a lttle closer, it does feel like something is jamming it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

James