Sunrood won't open - leaks on the front floorboards

[amheck]

Sunroof won't open - leaks on the front floorboards

So I've been getting leaks, pretty bad in fact, in my 2004 Limited. I went to open the sunroof the other day and found out that it will only click/grind real bad and I can only tilt it up a little bit and it will only open up about 1/2" back.

So I'm concerned that this is going to be a very expensive fix, but I did some reading today and see that some of the tracks needs to be lubed. Which of course I have not done as I rarely if ever use the sunroof.

Would you suggest finding out how to get the sunroof apart and lubing it up as a first step? The motor seems to want to do something, but just quite can't. My hope is that it just needs a little help.

Any good videos or tutorials that you're aware of for doing this work?

Any other comments/suggestions are welcome.

 

[Atlanta_man]

I had the same problem last winter. The grease on the moving parts got stiff and gummed up things.
Spray whatever rails and moving parts you can get to with the sunroof open as much as possible,

use WD-40 or other light lubricating oil
it will take a couple weeks for the smell to go away but you may be able to save $2,000 with careful spray/open-close fiddling that frees it up.

Watch out for some of the lubes that you think should work - some dry out and solidify.


I never found any good hints or DIY step by steps for this problem and I searched pretty hard. The pages from the service manual are all I found.

 

[amheck]

thanks - went out last nite and tried to spray wd40 everywhere I could and its still not moving. Hopefullly overnite it will have loosened up some gunk. We'll see.

 

[CookieRoe]

If it's creaking and grinding, there is already damage. Maybe on the cables already snapped. If you are handy, download and printout the TSB. Or, take it Toyota and prepare to pay a ton to have it fixed. OR, keep it closed forever.

I would at least try to fix it myself before I spend a ton of money.

 

[amheck]

Yeah, I need to do something cause I'm getting a lake of water on my floorboards every time it rains. I downloaded the TSB - the pics looked a little cryptic, but maybe I need a closer look

 

[CookieRoe]

Is the sunroof fully closed? If so, you can solve the water problem by checking the drain tubes, they could be clogged..............

 

[amheck]

Yeah, the sunroof is fully closed. And yeah, I'm assuming the drain tubes are clogged. But you need to open the sunroof to get to them right?

Unless, I suppose you go from the bottom up?

 

[CookieRoe]

Nah, I don't think it's 100% necessary to have the sunroof open. Clog could in the lines, but if you can open that roof, it would be helpful.

These threads could be of some help:

sunroof / moonroof leak - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

Plugged Sunroof Drain...Wet Carpet...Bad Smell - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

 

[Atlanta_man]

I left out one thing:

I got a dual suction cup glass sheet picker-upper from Harbor Freight.
Stick it to the top glass of the moonroof and it will allow you to assist in the open close attempts. It is an orange and cheap device - lifesaver.

 

[amheck]

Was able to talk to the 1 sunroof repair place I could find locally. He said that if they have to pull the unit and can find one in a junkyard, it'll be around $800-$1000 job. He also said that if just 1 side is moving, that's going to require a whole new assembly as 1 of the cables is most likely busted. Toyota offered to try and look at it and try to clean the drain tubes.

Went out to the truck to see if anything loosened up from last nite and to spray some more WD40. Looking more closely, it does appear that when it tilts, only 1 side is going up. Which I guess means I have a cable problem and probably the worst diagnosis. :flame:

While perhaps a little drastic, is it possible to silicone up the sunroof and at least stop the leaking? I honestly don't care about the sunroof, but I do care about the water in the truck everytime it rains.

 

[Atlanta_man]

you can maybe clear the drains from the bottom end of their hoses (wheel wells and other places, I forget) with some weedeater line

those hoses carry the water that the sunroof design only half-heartedly tries to stop