Sunrioof wont close and its raining! (2 Viewers)

[Johntee540]

1999 Toyota Landcruiser 130k Miles. Rather Gently used. I opened the sunroof today as it was like 70 degrees in Virginia earlier and sunny.

I went outside to close the sunroof as I noticed it was starting to rain. The Sunroof wont close. It closes about halfway and then opens. I then try to close it again and it goes about halfway and then opens. I "helped" it close wtih my hand about 97% but the rear half of the sunroof is not sealed.

Is there any way to access a manual close gear for the system? My BMW has one and it has come in handy before. Any help in appreciated and I thank you in advance. JT

 

[offroadkid]

Did you try to re-initialize it?

Try this:

Depress sunroof switch and operate sunroof to the max. tilt position-

Release sunroof switch-

Depress and hold sunroof switch again-

After 10 sec. the sunroof will start automatic operation and complete one cycle, (tilt downward, slide open, slide close, and tilt upward) while sunroof switch is depressed-

DO NOT release sunroof switch until sunroof stops-

Check that sunroof stops in correct position.

Hope that helps.

 

[sJs]

LOL, i love the title of your post

 

[MoJ]

You might look in your owner's manual - the 80 series manual explains how to close it manually.

 

[Johntee540]

Well - due to lack of time to try the Cable Cleaning Post I found here - I took it to Toyota Dealer. They are reporting that it needs new Cables and a Motor as the gears are stripping and worn. Quote was $2000.

I would inspect and lubricate the cables if I were you guys. Mine are 10 years old and well worn - and I did no maintenance on them as the sunroof always just worked.

Just for S&G's the dealer also "found" that my Steering rack is leaking and there is a torn boot on one of the axles. I am very fortunate that the dealer was there for me! - JT

 

[Johntee540]

You might look in your owner's manual - the 80 series manual explains how to close it manually.

Thanks for the suggestion. That is exactly what I did first. Then I ran several searches here - which led to my question / post. - JT

 

[Johntee540]

Did you try to re-initialize it?

Try this:

Depress sunroof switch and operate sunroof to the max. tilt position-

Release sunroof switch-

Depress and hold sunroof switch again-

After 10 sec. the sunroof will start automatic operation and complete one cycle, (tilt downward, slide open, slide close, and tilt upward) while sunroof switch is depressed-

DO NOT release sunroof switch until sunroof stops-

Check that sunroof stops in correct position.

Hope that helps.

This is good information that I will save. I think that it will come in handy some time. After looking at the old parts (Cables/Motor) I am surprised the thing had been working at all. They tell me that ( the dealer does anyhow) they dont see this type of failure too often. They are in fact surprised my car has these issues to begin with. So - it is interesting to say the least. thanks for this it is bookmarked. - JT

 

[offroadkid]

One thing we always do at Meredes is lubricate every sunroof on the cars we work on. Just the tracks, with special MB "sliding roof paste."

Alot of the complaints we receive about "sunroof reverses direction when closing" can be cured with some lubrication and reinitialization.

I don't think that would have saved your cables and motor though, but it is good PM! Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Travis351]

I wonder if sunroof failures are due to lack of use or over use. Mine is working fine, but if it is eventually going to cause a problem, maybe I should leave the sucker closed and forget about it. I can think of much better things to do with 2k.

 

[e9999]

One thing we always do at Meredes is lubricate every sunroof on the cars we work on. Just the tracks, with special MB "sliding roof paste."

Alot of the complaints we receive about "sunroof reverses direction when closing" can be cured with some lubrication and reinitialization.

I don't think that would have saved your cables and motor though, but it is good PM! Glad you got it fixed.

this is a good point, and it's not farfetched to think that if the thing slides better, there will be less stress on the drive mechanism and it will last longer...
(off to finding some sliding paste someplace.... )

 

[e9999]

I wonder if sunroof failures are due to lack of use or over use. Mine is working fine, but if it is eventually going to cause a problem, maybe I should leave the sucker closed and forget about it. I can think of much better things to do with 2k.

agreed, 2K can buy a lot of goodies. I don't open my sunroofs that often....

so, is there a manual close on the 100?

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

so, is there a manual close on the 100?

An H2's front tire setting atop the glass?

 

[khoopes]

agreed, 2K can buy a lot of goodies. I don't open my sunroofs that often....

so, is there a manual close on the 100?

There is no manual close on a 100. Chances are its in your cables or guides anyway.. at least my cables were the problem. If your motor is bad just unmount it from the mounts and and slide the sunroof closed with your hand. It will not seal this way but at least its better than open.

Cost about $230 to replace one cable through toyota parts sales dot come, I did all the work myself sunroof is now working. The other cable was iffy but it looks like it will work for a while- didn't have another $230 right now.


I was not able to get the re-initialization sequence to work- but I used my other working sunroof as a reference and here is what you do to assure proper sunroof close calibration- take the motor off so the sunroof will slide free; depress the open switch on the motor while it is unmounted from the cables, it will stop at its detent "open position. Then use your hand to slide the sunroof back so it is exactly 2 7/8" from the front edge of the steel roof to the front edge of the rubber weatherstrip on front of the sunroof. Re-install the motor with them both in this position, tighten down the motor. Now, when you push the close button, the sunroof should come to rest exactly where it should- with the aft side of the glass flush with the top of the roof.

Hope this helps!

 

[kyoso23]

There is no manual close on a 100. Chances are its in your cables or guides anyway.. at least my cables were the problem. If your motor is bad just unmount it from the mounts and and slide the sunroof closed with your hand. It will not seal this way but at least its better than open.

Cost about $230 to replace one cable through toyota parts sales dot come, I did all the work myself sunroof is now working. The other cable was iffy but it looks like it will work for a while- didn't have another $230 right now.


I was not able to get the re-initialization sequence to work- but I used my other working sunroof as a reference and here is what you do to assure proper sunroof close calibration- take the motor off so the sunroof will slide free; depress the open switch on the motor while it is unmounted from the cables, it will stop at its detent "open position. Then use your hand to slide the sunroof back so it is exactly 2 7/8" from the front edge of the steel roof to the front edge of the rubber weatherstrip on front of the sunroof. Re-install the motor with them both in this position, tighten down the motor. Now, when you push the close button, the sunroof should come to rest exactly where it should- with the aft side of the glass flush with the top of the roof.

Hope this helps!

This is a great post. My roof was stuck. I took off the glass, the motor, and pulled the sheathes off the end of the cables. Thoroughly cleaned everything and lubed the crap out of the cables and tracks. The cable was bound up on the passenger side. Got it all back together and it worked! Unfortunately it was slightly out of adjustment. I couldn't get the "re-initialization" to work either so I used your method listed above and it worked perfectly! Thanks for the help, this forum is great!

 

[no-pistons]

The best PM I do for my sunroof is to never even open it haha

 

[spec]

There is no manual close on a 100. Chances are its in your cables or guides anyway.. at least my cables were the problem. If your motor is bad just unmount it from the mounts and and slide the sunroof closed with your hand. It will not seal this way but at least its better than open.

Cost about $230 to replace one cable through toyota parts sales dot come, I did all the work myself sunroof is now working. The other cable was iffy but it looks like it will work for a while- didn't have another $230 right now.


I was not able to get the re-initialization sequence to work- but I used my other working sunroof as a reference and here is what you do to assure proper sunroof close calibration- take the motor off so the sunroof will slide free; depress the open switch on the motor while it is unmounted from the cables, it will stop at its detent "open position. Then use your hand to slide the sunroof back so it is exactly 2 7/8" from the front edge of the steel roof to the front edge of the rubber weatherstrip on front of the sunroof. Re-install the motor with them both in this position, tighten down the motor. Now, when you push the close button, the sunroof should come to rest exactly where it should- with the aft side of the glass flush with the top of the roof.

Hope this helps!

Thanks! bought my 98 last spring and never had the sunroof lined up right. Had to tweak it by starting and stopping the operation to get it to seal. PO said the cables had just been replaced but not sure why it acted like that. saw this post, tried the reinitialization, no luck, but this worked!

 

[Supra88]

What type of grease did you use?

 

[Gr8Pmkn]

Well I want to say thank you to offroadkid, this worked for my 2014 LC200 yesterday.

Did you try to re-initialize it?

Try this
Depress sunroof switch and operate sunroof to the max. tilt position-

Release sunroof switch-

Depress and hold sunroof switch again-

After 10 sec. the sunroof will start automatic operation and complete one cycle, (tilt downward, slide open, slide close, and tilt upward) while sunroof switch is depressed-

DO NOT release sunroof switch until sunroof stops-

Check that sunroof stops in correct position.

Hope that helps.

 

[troypassesgas]

There is no manual close on a 100. Chances are its in your cables or guides anyway.. at least my cables were the problem. If your motor is bad just unmount it from the mounts and and slide the sunroof closed with your hand. It will not seal this way but at least its better than open.

Cost about $230 to replace one cable through toyota parts sales dot come, I did all the work myself sunroof is now working. The other cable was iffy but it looks like it will work for a while- didn't have another $230 right now.


I was not able to get the re-initialization sequence to work- but I used my other working sunroof as a reference and here is what you do to assure proper sunroof close calibration- take the motor off so the sunroof will slide free; depress the open switch on the motor while it is unmounted from the cables, it will stop at its detent "open position. Then use your hand to slide the sunroof back so it is exactly 2 7/8" from the front edge of the steel roof to the front edge of the rubber weatherstrip on front of the sunroof. Re-install the motor with them both in this position, tighten down the motor. Now, when you push the close button, the sunroof should come to rest exactly where it should- with the aft side of the glass flush with the top of the roof.

Hope this helps!

Old post, but deserves a kudos! Had hail dent repair done and they didn’t put one of the two bolts back in that holds sunroof motor in place. Went to open my sunroof and it opened partially, then motor came out of place. Tried to reset the motor stops, but was not working. Was damn near about to just set the whole truck on fire when I stumbled in this post! Saved the day! And my LX!

 

[Bisho]

There is no manual close on a 100. Chances are its in your cables or guides anyway.. at least my cables were the problem. If your motor is bad just unmount it from the mounts and and slide the sunroof closed with your hand. It will not seal this way but at least its better than open.

Cost about $230 to replace one cable through toyota parts sales dot come, I did all the work myself sunroof is now working. The other cable was iffy but it looks like it will work for a while- didn't have another $230 right now.


I was not able to get the re-initialization sequence to work- but I used my other working sunroof as a reference and here is what you do to assure proper sunroof close calibration- take the motor off so the sunroof will slide free; depress the open switch on the motor while it is unmounted from the cables, it will stop at its detent "open position. Then use your hand to slide the sunroof back so it is exactly 2 7/8" from the front edge of the steel roof to the front edge of the rubber weatherstrip on front of the sunroof. Re-install the motor with them both in this position, tighten down the motor. Now, when you push the close button, the sunroof should come to rest exactly where it should- with the aft side of the glass flush with the top of the roof.

Hope this helps!

I just went through the whole take it apart, new cables, put it back, and say things you shouldn’t in good company. I struggled trying to make it work, as it had never worked since I bought it and had actually been siliconed shut (it still leaked).

For folks completely unfamiliar with the land cruiser sunroof, 2 7/8” is perfect, as long as you are measuring from the back of the opening to the front of the glass weatherstrip.

That’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back. But the thrill of seeing it work was pretty worth it. It will be well used out on the trail.