Remove sunroof without tilting it - or manually tilt it open (1 Viewer)

[thehumaneraser]

I have a 93 cruiser with a sunroof that has been broken for a few years now but wasn't leaking so I did nothing about it. Recently it got worse and now it is leaking straight through the crack in the glass so I tracked down a new piece of glass to replace it. My plan is to just replace the glass piece and seal it up with polyurethane since it doesn't open anymore anyways.

Is there a way to take the glass out without tilting the roof open? Or is there a manual way to tilt it open? It doesn't slide or tilt currently. I saw something about manually sliding it in this thread: Sunroof Leak 1994 Land Cruiser. But that seems like a bad idea since the shattered pieces are barely hanging in there. And everything I'm seeing on taking out the glass says to tilt it first. Just wondering if the same thing exists for manually tilting it up and down to change the glass or if you even need to tilt it to take the glass out.

 

[Malleus]

The reason for tilting it is to pry off the trim pieces, which hide the screws. And to save the edges of your headliner.
You can get it out without moving it from the closed position, but you may not be able to salvage the trim. The last one I removed (which was closed) came out after I broke the trim pieces, but that may have been because they were brittle. They broke almost as soon as I touched them. YMMV.

If you're really never going to use it again, just keep the privacy panel closed; you'll never miss the trim you don't see. I know your model has the glued on headliner, which makes it a PITA to work on the sunroof, but cleaning and lubing the guide cables isn't that hard and, IMHO, worth the time.

 

[Malleus]

Also, FWIW, I have never been able to get a sunroof to slide manually, even if it worked flawlessly under power. I wound up stripping two sets of screws and gave up after that. I think that section of the FSM is bogus. It might work if you disconnected the cables from the motor, but it never has for me, solely following the FSM.

 

[jonheld]

FWIW, I have never had to tilt the sunroof to remove the 2 plastic trip pieces. They just pop right off with a little persuasion and slip out.

 

[thehumaneraser]

Alright thanks for the info. I guess I don't really care if the trim gets broken. I'll probably just be rolling with the panel closed anyways and the sunroof is beyond being able to open ever again unless I invest in a new roof (for $6k!). I'll try to get them off without breaking but if I can't I'll just break them off

 

[eastoak]

Alright thanks for the info. I guess I don't really care if the trim gets broken. I'll probably just be rolling with the panel closed anyways and the sunroof is beyond being able to open ever again unless I invest in a new roof (for $6k!). I'll try to get them off without breaking but if I can't I'll just break them off

I found a used sunroof at the junkyard for around $100 and replaced mine which rattled but never leaked. Call auto dismantlers near and far, you might find one. I found 3 trucks in one yard out by Sacramento.