3rd gen T4R moonroof disable mod.

[RussToy]

Sorry, no pics.

1. Open roof.
2. Stand up in hole. (Do these first two in order!)
3. If it's metal and moves, or something moves over it, hit it with white lithium grease.
4. If it's rubber, put a smear of Jack's Magic lube, silicone sex lube or your favorite equivalent.
5. Sit down.
6. Cycle roof a few times. Cable runs across the tracks and spreads the grease along its length. (Do 5 & 6 in order!)

Takes two minutes.

No need to take anything apart. If there is a lot of crud, blow out the tracks with compressed air. In tree-rich NJ, I have to do this spring and fall. I'd say once a year is good in tree-poor areas.

Hey Buddy...sorry, I meant to send you a shout out sooner...to thank you! Just been crazy busy!! Anyway..."Thank you"!!! I know this ended up being crazy simple...but when you don't know anything about it, it was intimidating thinking I had to drop the headliner and who know what else.

Oh, and a special thanks for clearing up steps 1-2 and 5-6!! Yeah, get these out of order...it could get ugly...lmao!!!

Happy trails Buddy...
Russel

 

[HHIslandT4]

Where are the sunroof drain outlets located? My drivers side floorboard gets damp when it rains! Thx!

 

[thebail]

Well if you are like me and don't care to have a sunroof (moonroof) and are paranoid of it possibly being "stuck" open, please continue reading and enjoy my first "write up".

I have searched and personally looked and checked for a "fuse" for the moonroof and I could not find a specific fuse for it to pull out. So I did a quick search on how to access the motor and I still did not find anything other then its above the map lights. Here I will show you exactly how to gain access to the motor itself fast and easily.

Proceed this mod at your own risk, I am not liable for any damages or anything!!!

Tools needed, a "flat head" screw driver, a Phillips screw driver and some electrical tape.

Look closely for two "notches" between the clear lens and plastic frame. Gently pry apart with your "flat head" screw driver.

Once you have removed the clear lens, take your phillips screw driver and remove this screw.

Next, gently pull down and out (towards rear of T4R) the whole map light piece.

Here is the plug that you will need to disconnect by pressing down on the tab, and pull the two plugs apart.

Next, I taped off both plug ends, you may not (need) to do this, but I did because I don't like "open" connectors. Then to get the plug out of the way, I taped it to the wire harness for the map lights.

Last step, gently push down on the tab that holds the motor side plug to the bracket, and continue to tape off this plug also. When done simply push the plug back onto the bracket until the tab "clicks" back into place.

Reinstall everything in reverse order and you are DONE!
:bigok:

After all that does the motor come out easily. How does it engage with the cables?

 

[Simmer]

If possible I'd love to revive this thread. I know it's pretty old, but I just acquired a 3rd gen. I really want to fix the sunroof, as it's completely stuck closed. I suspect clogged drive cable tubes and or broken cables? I'm really not sure. I can see the motor flex when I press the button, but nothing budges - definitely stuck.

Is my only option dropping the headliner? I can follow the Timmy Toolman video on this, but then what? I'm in very new territory here, and all the pics in the beginning of this are gone so I'm not sure what to do once I'm in. How to access the tubes, how to unclog them, how to inspect and possibly replace drive cables if needed (not to mention where tf to get them), and all that stuff!

If anyone can move me further along in my journey I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you

EDIT: I found this link and read through it, some good steps. Still not sure without pics or a video if anyone knows of a good one?
has anyone ever replaced their sunroof motor?

 

[Malcolm99]

This write up just unplugs the sunroof motor so I don't think the pics will help. Watch this guy, he goes over most of what you need to know, you will have to go OEM or salvage to get any parts you might need.

1996 4Runner sunroof fix - YouTube

 

[Simmer]

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated. Won't really know what I need parts wise until I tear into it I suppose. Hoping I can find the parts I need. I'm assuming at the very least I'll need to replace drive cables

 

[Simmer]

This write up just unplugs the sunroof motor so I don't think the pics will help. Watch this guy, he goes over most of what you need to know, you will have to go OEM or salvage to get any parts you might need.

1996 4Runner sunroof fix - YouTube

I watched this video and it gave me a decent idea of what to do, thank you. I just have one last question - on the glass itself, on the underside (cabin side, not sky side) it has plastic pieces across the edges front and back I think too.

On my front side, I can see the plastic piece coming off the glass and there's what appears to be some sort of stuffing or insulation in between the two that's obviously been getting wet and such.

Are these plastic pieces removable? Can I fix this with flex seal or something, or do I need to order a new piece of glass if it's all one unit? I can post pic if it would help

 

[Tommy.B]

My sunroof has been stuck in the closed position for a few years now and the intensity of the job has made me hold back but I think it might be time to tackle it. The same explanation that the video gave is what I'm running into which is the motor sounds like it wants to operate but it gives about a second of noise then powers down. I know for sure there's gunk in the tracks, and the head liner shows very faint signs of water damage. Since I'm heading back out in April to overland for the summer, I'd love to have the option of opening the sunroof but I also would hate to crack into this job and have it end up causing more headache than anything or worse yet, not being able to reassemble and then having to pay to fix it. Video is pretty detailed though, might've been the motivation I needed!

 

[Malcolm99]

It all comes apart, even the plastic trim on the underside of the sun roof glass, been awhile since I had that apart, but recall you can adjust the glass mounts once those plastics are removed if it's jamming on the rubber roof gasket, or you wanted to remove the glass and work on lubing the cables and clean out all tracks and 4 drain tubes, I direct water down the drain tray and watch for it to drain at the 4 cab corners to make sure all the tubes are connected. You can see the cables once the roof is open or you remove the glass, my cables are still full of a white grease from factory as visible from the top.
I have a un-abused 99' Ltd and the rear drain tube was off for some reason, I was able to pull the rear side panel and rear door frame panel and sneak in the head liner and reattached the drain tube, otherwise remove the headliner is the only other option to replace everything if you can't free the cables up.

 

[Simmer]

It all comes apart, even the plastic trim on the underside of the sun roof glass

Do you know whats supposed to be in between the two? Thats good to know, I will pull the headliner soon. I'm ordering new drive cables but wanted to be sure I didn't need to buy new glass or whatnot. Id hate to pull it all apart and not have the parts to repair all in a day as it's currently raining here.

If my plastic trim is coming off of the glass on its own, should I replace the trim or try and clean it up? I dont really care about the price, I just want it done correctly.

 

[Simmer]

sunroof — ImgBB

This is what I've got going on at the moment, there's something between the glass and plastic trim that's expanding from getting wet but not sure what. Should I try to find and order a new plastic trim piece? (Is this maybe the air deflector?)

Also, is there a rubber seal that goes around the glass that maybe I should replace too?

(sorry embedding image didn't work, had to post link)

 

[Malcolm99]

Looks like your trim is broken, hard to tell what's going on till you remove the broken trim, there shouldn't be insulation between the trim and glass that I recall. Check the plastic that surrounds the sunroof glass and roof gasket for cracks, Tims video "sunroof drain cleaning" points out a crack in his Vid they sealed up. Here is the breakdown of the components and glass adjustment I was referring to. The sunroof is expected to leak a little and drip into the tray and drain out the 4 corners, almost looks like the plastic that surrounds the glass is leaking.

http://www.teamtoyota4x4.org/archiv...pdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/bo/sliroo/adju.pdf

http://www.teamtoyota4x4.org/archiv...pdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/bo/sliroo/comp.pdf

 

[Simmer]

Hmmm. Is the trim molded onto the glass by factory and not a separate part? The image you linked is awesome by the way, much higher quality than anything I've found so far. But on that schematic, I don't see a possible plastic trim piece below the glass, other than the window deflector panel.

As far as the leaking goes, yeah I have watched Tim's video and am planning on snaking the drain tubes to clear 'em up once I get the glass open (it's stuck closed, I just ordered two new drive cables.)

 

[Malcolm99]

Ya I don't remember removing the front trim on the sunroof just the side panels(garnish) to remove the entire sunroof glass section, I haven't had to remove that for any reason. The front sunroof glass trim/garnish does look fused to it somehow, and I don't see it as a separate part in the FSM, so you may need to replace the glass to fix that broken trim, especially if the plastic that surrounds the glass is broken aswell.

 

[Simmer]

Dang, this is what I was afraid of. but I think you're spot on, the more pictures I see of the glass by itself the more I'm convinced it's all one thing. Probably glued on. Oh well! Thank you very much, I really appreciate your time in reply.

 

[Simmer]

Can I swap out the glass without pulling headliner?

 

[Malcolm99]

Yes, remove side garnish trim and nuts.

 

[Simmer]

Yes, remove side garnish trim and nuts.

Man... this thing is an absolute pain in my arse. I pulled the entire panel out and have it sitting on a table, glass off, but man disassembly!! Have to drill out a few screws due to rust, and remembering how all these parts fit together, etc. Haha good times

 

[Simmer]

Yes, remove side garnish trim and nuts.

Hey just wanted to follow up - got it all fixed and back together. Thanks for all your help!!