Sunroof Installation on 2001 SR5 - Tips, Tricks, Warnings

[AnotherCO4Runner]

Hey Everybody!

For awhile my sunroof didn't quite close all the way and the motor just clicked, so I decided to take out the headliner and remove the sunroof to see what's up. After a couple of mishaps, I mean learning moments, I have new drive cables arriving today (63224-35030 and 63223-35030), a working motor and I am ready to put it back together.

I am looking for advice from folks who have done this before. What pitfalls can I avoid? What tricks are there to ensure the motor and drive cables are aligned?

All advice is appreciated (jokes included). Thanks!

 

[AnotherCO4Runner]

Update

I was able to get everything assembled and installed, twice!

I blew out the drain lines with air compressor, cleaned all the tracks and used silicone lube for the cables. Everything is working damn near perfectly.

I don't seem to have the motor synched up with the movement of the glass. One example - If the glass is tilted up and I push the button once to have it tilt down the glass will close and then slide all the way back. Another is when sliding the roof forward to close I have to hold the button the whole time and when it stops it is not in the fully closed position, so I have to hold the button again to seal close.

Can I fix this misalignment?

 

[BostonJon]

Not sure about Toyota’s, but some cars have a re-sync procedure for the sunroof to allow it to relearn the positions of open/close. On my old bmw, the process was to hold the open button for a minute or two to allow the glass to open and close a few times. Not sure about our old 4runners, but maybe something to look into

On another note, I don’t see many threads on here about rebuilding the sunroof. Did you take any pics or do you have any advice that may help others in the future?

 

[Endlessblockades]

Got that problem too. Luckily it seized up while closed and barely budges.

 

[TheSaturnV]

I did this job a couple of summers ago. There is some kind of procedure to "time" the motor when you do a reinstall. I know I found it online, and I will link it here if I can find it again. Mine was doing the same thing you describe until I performed the procedure.

Little late now, but here are the 3 pdfs on the roof from the manual. The one you need now is the adjustment. I've never revisited mine, but it doesn't sit exactly perfect in the opening. It kinda hangs just a teeny bit and doesn't seal perfectly. There are mechanical adjustments to fix this.

 

[TheSaturnV]

This guy has a YT video, but it's for a '96 with the separate slide/tilt switches. I still think it will help you get across the goal line.

YouTube

 

[dogtail]

The easiest thing to do is pull a whole sunroof cassette out of a scraped rig, they are plentiful. Pop out the headliner, just a few bolts to remove and put back in, then its done.

 

[TheSaturnV]

The easiest thing to do is pull a whole sunroof cassette out of a scraped rig, they are plentiful. Pop out the headliner, just a few bolts to remove and put back in, then its done.

Depending on what the goal is, that may not be the best option. If a working sunroof is the goal, then new replacement parts are the best bet to insure you don't have to tear back into the thing a couple years down the road.

I took mine completely apart, and I can tell you the mechanism is pretty susceptible to crud and corrosion. Two screw cables pass through a manifold made of metal tubes with a very tight tolerance. Point being, any donor truck sitting out for any time at all is likely to have a bricked sunroof....unless of course it's out in the desert climates.

The job is actually not that hard to do to get new parts installed.

 

[dogtail]

Depending on what the goal is, that may not be the best option. If a working sunroof is the goal, then new replacement parts are the best bet to insure you don't have to tear back into the thing a couple years down the road.

I took mine completely apart, and I can tell you the mechanism is pretty susceptible to crud and corrosion. Two screw cables pass through a manifold made of metal tubes with a very tight tolerance. Point being, any donor truck sitting out for any time at all is likely to have a bricked sunroof....unless of course it's out in the desert climates.

The job is actually not that hard to do to get new parts installed.

Yeah of course, depends on your goal, but its always nice having a spare unit of anything if you're a connoisseur of the 3rd gen. In my rust belt region there's a lot of good scraped ones to pick from, like even in my personal collection. It's quick and easy to swap out. Personally I'm not a fan of the sunroof, so I just have it closed with the motor unplugged and the shade closed. I'm a vampire, the sun is not good for my skin.