The motor on my sunroof just stopped working. I don't know what happened. No action from the motor at all. Do you think it wouldbw a faulty motor or jammed up some how?
How To: Sun Roof Repair
- Thread starter Rkroelin
- Start date
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In the middle of this rebuild right now, and had asimilar symptoms with the motor seeming to not work. Some things to try; hit the retract and tilt switches in short taps and see if you can hear the mechanism trying to move. If so, your rails or the spring chains are jammig up the mechanism. If no, then I'd start with the simple electrics like fuses and and switches before you go tearing into the headliner and sunroof rack.
Not to say that the motor or the cam mechanism doesn't fail, but more than likely that at this age, the rails and tracks are likely to blame. I'll be pulling my original sunroof rack out tomorrow, and will troubleshoot the various failure points. Luckily, MudMail brought me a replacement rack a few months back thanks to a generous member here.
NEW INFO:
Reporting back that we took apart my sunroof rails and found the plastic carrier block on both sides broken: one in the same spot as shown in the original post or two, and another at the back of the plastic block. This results in only one side being able to TILT, which will prevent the rear edge from lifting and sealing the glass flush. In order for the TILT to work, both plastic carriers must be pulled forward at the same time, and if the front is broken off at the hinge pin, it can't be pulled further forward. This will leave your glass even in the whole, but with the rear edge depressed. In that case, you can insert a screwdriver and carefully slide the carrier forward to lift the rear edge of the glass.
Once we had mine apart, we realized we could have sealed the opening by doin that, alone. Since I had several other rails and another complete rack to work with, we forged ahead and replaced the rails with broken carriers with replacement rails with intact carriers. Now, the sunroof operates as it should, but knowing the weak point is the aging plastic carriers, who knows how long these replacements will last...? For all the work to take out the headliner and rack cartridge - if you use the sunroof a lot, it may be worth biting the bullet and buying OEM rails. At least then you'd have new plastic carriers and smoothly operating flex chains to operate the sunroof with minimal friction. I greased everything while it was apart, but it doesnt operate as smoothly as when new.
Finally, no problems with the electrical components at all - the relay box, switch module, and motor and gear mechanisms were just fine. The weak point is the plastic carriers breaking...
A huge THANK YOU to @medtro and @Saddletramp for their help and expertise today!
Not to say that the motor or the cam mechanism doesn't fail, but more than likely that at this age, the rails and tracks are likely to blame. I'll be pulling my original sunroof rack out tomorrow, and will troubleshoot the various failure points. Luckily, MudMail brought me a replacement rack a few months back thanks to a generous member here.
NEW INFO:
Reporting back that we took apart my sunroof rails and found the plastic carrier block on both sides broken: one in the same spot as shown in the original post or two, and another at the back of the plastic block. This results in only one side being able to TILT, which will prevent the rear edge from lifting and sealing the glass flush. In order for the TILT to work, both plastic carriers must be pulled forward at the same time, and if the front is broken off at the hinge pin, it can't be pulled further forward. This will leave your glass even in the whole, but with the rear edge depressed. In that case, you can insert a screwdriver and carefully slide the carrier forward to lift the rear edge of the glass.
Once we had mine apart, we realized we could have sealed the opening by doin that, alone. Since I had several other rails and another complete rack to work with, we forged ahead and replaced the rails with broken carriers with replacement rails with intact carriers. Now, the sunroof operates as it should, but knowing the weak point is the aging plastic carriers, who knows how long these replacements will last...? For all the work to take out the headliner and rack cartridge - if you use the sunroof a lot, it may be worth biting the bullet and buying OEM rails. At least then you'd have new plastic carriers and smoothly operating flex chains to operate the sunroof with minimal friction. I greased everything while it was apart, but it doesnt operate as smoothly as when new.
Finally, no problems with the electrical components at all - the relay box, switch module, and motor and gear mechanisms were just fine. The weak point is the plastic carriers breaking...
A huge THANK YOU to @medtro and @Saddletramp for their help and expertise today!
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Facing the same issue now
FYI.... the 80 just sat through a weekend of hurricane rains and the floorboards are bone dry! Sealed sunroof is the way to go!
Having the same general issue where the sunroof won't tilt up or seal in one corner. The rest if the operation is fine. Weighing out buying a used sunroof assembly and risking it breaking just like everyone else. Trying to fabricate a fix for mine. Or buying new rails....
New rails being about $400 for each side...wow. that's a lot to pony up. This is from Norwalk Toyota.
Did I miss something regarding the replacement parts others have mentioned in this post?
@Rkroelin I assume back in 2009 you paid much less for new rails? Haha.
New rails being about $400 for each side...wow. that's a lot to pony up. This is from Norwalk Toyota.
Did I miss something regarding the replacement parts others have mentioned in this post?
@Rkroelin I assume back in 2009 you paid much less for new rails? Haha.
Currently have cruiser garaged due to rain and same issue. Sucks. Bought a used sunroof unit that is non operable. So now I’m thinking new rails like OP.
@Rkroelin did your new rails come with the slide mechanism and the clip that is broken on ours? Circled in pics below.
Did you ever figure out a solution to this?
Sure did. tried a used sunroof assembly but it was actually in worse condition than mine. So I ordered new rails from Toyota. They are the complete part with the rail and slide. just pull out the guide chain and unbolt the old rails and bolt in the new rails and shove your original guide chain back in and it is literally as good as new. I am so happy with this repair! It was expensive but i wanted a functioning, non leaking sunroof. I did not want to tape, caulk, or weld mine shut. See this thread for more.
forum.ih8mud.com
and this one:
forum.ih8mud.com
here are the part numbers;
63603-60014 guide rail right
63604-60014 guide rail left
How To: Sun Roof Repair
forum.ih8mud.com
Headliner and sunroof pulled to fix leaks if anyone wants pics!
forum.ih8mud.com
here are the part numbers;
63603-60014 guide rail right
63604-60014 guide rail left
ThanksSure did. tried a used sunroof assembly but it was actually in worse condition than mine. So I ordered new rails from Toyota. They are the complete part with the rail and slide. just pull out the guide chain and unbolt the old rails and bolt in the new rails and shove your original guide chain back in and it is literally as good as new. I am so happy with this repair! It was expensive but i wanted a functioning, non leaking sunroof. I did not want to tape, caulk, or weld mine shut. See this thread for more.
and this one:How To: Sun Roof Repair
Headliner and sunroof pulled to fix leaks if anyone wants pics!
here are the part numbers;
63603-60014 guide rail right
63604-60014 guide rail left
glad it worked out. My last ditch effort for my leaking sunroof is to try the bicycle tube fix before spending 500 on new glass with seal...my headliner is out, drains clear, everything hooked up...but the gasket around the glass has shrunk over time..I once contacted a rubber manufacturer years ago to ask if they could make up a replacement gasket, they could if they had a sample of the original gasket but it wasn't cheap, there was a minimum order, set up fees, etc. As I'm not a vendor I never persued it.
Maybe @NLXTACY would be interested someday??
Maybe @NLXTACY would be interested someday??
Save your money on the glass, unless the gasket is really bad. I did buy new glass because it came with a nice new supple gasket, and it still did not seal. But it doesn't matter, that is why the whole assembly is in a tub. It is like it was designed to leak, that is why there are drain tubes at all 4 corners of the tub. If your drains are clear, you got it made. Maybe check that the sunroof is closing all the way to minimize the water that leaks in. Then since your headliner is out, have a helper dump a glass of water into the corners and watch it drain and look for leaks. I did this and the sunroof pan and drain tubes can handle a substantial amount of water, more than will ever get in from a rain. You can also close the roof and have same helper aim hose up to rain down on roof and you can shine a light in the corners to see which corners are leaking most and adjust the sunroof position with the 6 bolts it is held to the rails with. Then secure with blue locktite. Because mine did work themselves loose. I did this as best i could and with the hose, a few drips drip in at each corner. But i am not worried about it at all because i know the drain tubes can handle it.Thanks
Yeah I dumped 4 gallons over it and I watched it all drip out onto the ground through the tubes. It didnt get wet inside during rain however every time I take it through a car wash (my local one has a tunnel the car goes through) after that then it's wet... Strange that the car wash has so much volume of water it can't handle it..
IME some car washes have so much downward pressure on the roof they can push the sunroof glass down, increasing the size of the leak. The sunroof on my
96 model never leaks into the cabin from rain or washing by hand, that is until I took it to one of the newer carwashes in town. It was very apparent that there was a ton of force blasting down on the roof as I went though the wash cycle which was followed immediately by a shower of water coming down into my lap and onto my head from above. I quickly opened the sunroof door then pushed up on the sunroof glass to help slow down the flood. May also be time to reshim
the glass. FWIW.
96 model never leaks into the cabin from rain or washing by hand, that is until I took it to one of the newer carwashes in town. It was very apparent that there was a ton of force blasting down on the roof as I went though the wash cycle which was followed immediately by a shower of water coming down into my lap and onto my head from above. I quickly opened the sunroof door then pushed up on the sunroof glass to help slow down the flood. May also be time to reshim
the glass. FWIW.
That makes sense, I haven't had water come in during hand washes either...I did re-shim the glass. But you're right it could be from the force of the water / air pushing the glass in.
Has anyone found the bottom exit of the front sun-roof (A-Pillar) drain tubes?
I cannot find them. - So cannot see how to pull a replacement tube "while I'm in there".
The rear drain tubes - yes - easily found both bottom exits - left and right sides, but not the fronts?
I cannot find them. - So cannot see how to pull a replacement tube "while I'm in there".
The rear drain tubes - yes - easily found both bottom exits - left and right sides, but not the fronts?
In the front the drain tubes terminate and drain into the rockers. If you remove the kick panel trim you can pull out the tubes and make sure they are not kinked blocking the water from the sunroof. There is no tubing that exits to the exterior like there is in the rear. The rockers have slits on the pinch weld that then drain the rockers. They are very narrow and can be easily plugged up with dirt and mud. Most use a zip tie to poke up through the openings to clear them. There are some rubber plugs in the interior floor but are not the drains.
This ^
It’s the rocker panel slit that clogs. You can re-route the hoses through the floor drain plugs, if you want. Plugs are right next to the stock hose location, under carpet.. hoses will still fit behind trim if you do this.
For visuals of what’s going on up front, this is the rocker drain (driver side), followed by re-routed hose (passenger) from underneath, and finally the interior view w/ trim removed of the relocated hose (also passenger side). Without relocation, they just live inside that body cavity next to wiring, and drain into the rockers
It’s the rocker panel slit that clogs. You can re-route the hoses through the floor drain plugs, if you want. Plugs are right next to the stock hose location, under carpet.. hoses will still fit behind trim if you do this.
For visuals of what’s going on up front, this is the rocker drain (driver side), followed by re-routed hose (passenger) from underneath, and finally the interior view w/ trim removed of the relocated hose (also passenger side). Without relocation, they just live inside that body cavity next to wiring, and drain into the rockers
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Hey man im hoping you or soomeone can help me out on this. Just got a 91 and the sunroof does not leak. Tilt up and down is perfect. Slide function was kinda "stuck" on the right side. I hit it with some lube and it opened (waaalaaaa), however the right side still seems to be kinda off the track. It will close ok but when sliding open the right side gets kinda off center and stuck unless i assist it with my hand. Does this make any sense to you? Im afriad to mess with it to much because i dont want a leak, but its so close to working properly I really want to fix it. Seems maybe I just need to reattach the right side? Im kinda afraid to pull the headliner and all that and mess it up but maybe its not to bad? I was thinkiing of a glass shop repair till i found this thread, now im thinking maybe i should give it a go. TIASure did. tried a used sunroof assembly but it was actually in worse condition than mine. So I ordered new rails from Toyota. They are the complete part with the rail and slide. just pull out the guide chain and unbolt the old rails and bolt in the new rails and shove your original guide chain back in and it is literally as good as new. I am so happy with this repair! It was expensive but i wanted a functioning, non leaking sunroof. I did not want to tape, caulk, or weld mine shut. See this thread for more.
and this one:How To: Sun Roof Repair
Headliner and sunroof pulled to fix leaks if anyone wants pics!
here are the part numbers;
63603-60014 guide rail right
63604-60014 guide rail left
Sounds like it’s has not been used much by the PO. Best case scenario just lube it and cycle it open and closed while assisting with your hand a few time and see if it gets better.
Then post back
Oh man that would be sweet thanks for the reply. What is the recommended lube? I used wd40 to get it that first time because thats all i had.