Sunroof motor or gunked up tracks?

[SkidPalace]

Allriuht guys I have a mother***** sunroof that just doesn't want to open/close properly.
It went out on me last year and after screwing with the motor and tracks a bit, I got it to behave for a long while. Now it appears to be acting up again.
So here's the deal: 2000 T4R, 150K miles or so.
What was happening was the motor sounded like it was laboring pretty hard to open and close the roof last summer. The lube on the tracks seemed to be dried up and caked pretty good. I could get the motor to run freely after loosening the two bolts, but it would intermittently bind and stop after re-installation. I soaked the crap out of the tracks with PB Blaster, WD40, anything I could find that would hopefully dissolve or soften the gray gunk on the drive cables/tracks. It must have worked since it became operational and stayed that way for a while.
Now it is jammed up again and I have not been able to free it up with lube/penetrating fluid.
When I disconnect the motor from the tracks, I can push pull the glass back and forth but it takes some strength. There is a good bit of resistance there. Seems like it is taking some torque from the little motor to move that glass panel around.
My research on this site has revealed that the motors fail frequently. So my question is could the motor be crapping out, or do I just need to clean the tracks more?
I really don't want to throw $80 at a junk sunroof motor that may be as tired as the one I already have.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

When mine went out it was the fault of the drive cable inside the copper tube that runs down each side. Apparently the grease inside got so dried out and crusty that it was basically glue and trying to pull the cable out to clean it just destroyed everything. So, I safety wired it shut and now have a roof window lol.

 

[TheDurk]

Here's where the FSM says how to test the motor.

http://tacoma.site40.net/4Runner_96-02_Repair&Wiring/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/be/srsy/insp.pdf


You need to clean and lube regardless. What lube did you apply last? I do my tracks and whatever else I can get to with white lithium grease every two years or so and it works like new. My truck is a year older and has 10k more than you have.

 

[nissanh]

Here's where the FSM says how to test the motor.

http://tacoma.site40.net/4Runner_96-02_Repair&Wiring/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/be/srsy/insp.pdf


You need to clean and lube regardless. What lube did you apply last? I do my tracks and whatever else I can get to with white lithium grease every two years or so and it works like new. My truck is a year older and has 10k more than you have.

Can you post a picture of where we have to apply grease? I know sun roof can be a pain if it started giving trouble. Better to get it maintained before it gives out.

Thanks

 

[TheDurk]

Can you post a picture of where we have to apply grease? I know sun roof can be a pain if it started giving trouble. Better to get it maintained before it gives out.

Thanks

No, sorry. I just take my white grease can and use my instincts. I've also learned not to leave it open while parked. Oak trees around here love to drop acorns right on the tracks--not a good thing, not to mention the rain risk.

 

[SkidPalace]

Thanks for the great responses guys. I loaded the drive cables again today with Mystery oil. I am not so sure the cables are the problem anymore.
I am finding that the motor is binding up when I reverse direction. Once the glass starts moving it seems to stay moving, and moving fairly well (with no audible strain on the motor). Then, often when I reverse the switch it will bind. I hear the relays in the switch doing their thing, but no motor. I can give the motor a smack and it will start again. Very strange.
What I noticed is that the plastic drive gear is a pinch loose. I can see a slight bit of movement of the axle in the brass bushing on the cover when reversing back and forth.
I think maybe the gunk on the cables has worn out the bushings, causing slop in the gear train of the roof motor. So it is not the motor per se, but rather the gears of the motor.
Just a hunch. I will check it again tomorrow after the Mystery Oil works its way down the copper tubes.
Does anyone know what the compatible years of roof motors are for the 2000 runner? There is a '97 motor on Fleabay that looks identical, but I heard about a different connector in another thread?

 

[TheDurk]

Does anyone know what the compatible years of roof motors are for the 2000 runner? There is a '97 motor on Fleabay that looks identical, but I heard about a different connector in another thread?

Motor is Part No. 85730-35030 and is good from 11/95 to 07/2002. All 3g. But that is just the motor. The gear sub-assembly is 63260-35030. That appears to include the motor, but I won't guarantee it. Also all 3G.

 

[4Running Daily]

Then, often when I reverse the switch it will bind. I hear the relays in the switch doing their thing, but no motor. I can give the motor a smack and it will start again. Very strange.

That's EXACTLY what my motor did. I went to a junkyard and grabbed a motor from a 2000 for $40 and it works perfectly now.

 

[SkidPalace]

That's EXACTLY what my motor did. I went to a junkyard and grabbed a motor from a 2000 for $40 and it works perfectly now.

Awesome. Just grabbed a motor off Car-part.com.
We'll see if this does the trick.

 

[SkidPalace]

So, I snagged a salvaged motor off of car-part.com. The mystery oil seemed to soften the gunk up nicely. That was the proof that the old motor was faulty. It opened and closed great...Nice and strong, right up until it jammed/froze up again. So in goes the the salvaged motor and it has been working great, sort of.
I do have an issue with the limits being a bit off on the new motor. Opening the glass sends it the whole way but when closing it from open it will stop a bit early. Hitting the switch to close it completely will leave the glass not fully raised flush with the roof, requiring another press of the switch which of course sends it past flush into the raised position.
Swapping the motor back with my original unit gives me proper limits back, so it seems to be coded in the motor somehow.
Does anyone know how to reset the limits on the motor?

 

[Drewbles]

Sunroof relay help

I also am having an issue with my 98 4Runner. The relay for the tilt is clicking and works. However, the slide is completely dead. Is there a relay switch for that I could easily replace, or maybe even the button before I dig any deeper?

 

[thatoneguygeoff]

My sunroof only gives me issues on warm days. It will slide open and close just fine but on a hot day it will not tilt open but if I tilt open it in the morning before it warms up, it will close once its hot out just fine, but will not open back up.

 

[john1776]

now have a roof window lol.

Hey, I got me one of them!

 

[Chuckles89]

I also am having an issue with my 98 4Runner. The relay for the tilt is clicking and works. However, the slide is completely dead. Is there a relay switch for that I could easily replace, or maybe even the button before I dig any deeper?

Mine did that, and I had to replace the motor with a $20 junkyard one.

 

[azcat90]

No, sorry. I just take my white grease can and use my instincts. I've also learned not to leave it open while parked. Oak trees around here love to drop acorns right on the tracks--not a good thing, not to mention the rain risk.

I used Permatex anti-seize lubricant on the tracks to get mine going again. It wont tilt anymore though.

 

[baja1]

who uses those things anyway! I just see mine as another magnet for rust to creep in!

 

[TheDurk]

I used Permatex anti-seize lubricant on the tracks to get mine going again. It wont tilt anymore though.

Well, anti-seize is NOT a true lubricant syutable for moving parts. You should not use it on bearings, slides or any darn thing that moves all the time. It is excellent at preventing corrosion on parts that DON'T move all the time but you want to move someday in the future. If it were a good lubricant, all your bolts would want to come undone. It's just the wrong thing in the wrong place. And I LOVE Anti-seize.

White grease is good because it is thin and spreads along the cables/slides and you can use the straw to spray down into areas you can't get to with a brush. And it IS a lubricant.

 

[SCHUNTER1969]

Sun roof fix

Ok so I went to a local pull a part and got a new sunroof motor. I bench tested it before installing it and it worked great. Installed the new motor and still nothing...

So I started doing some more digging. With the motor taken off the sunroof should move freely. Well mine would not at all! Now when you take your motor off you can see where the motor gear goes into a little box where you can see two cables. I disassembled the box and found 4 copper tubing's, 2 on each side. There is a cable for the left track and a cable for the right track. You can pull on the cable and they will come out, the excess cable goes into one copper tubing while the other end goes to the track (hard to explain you would just have to see it.). I took some pliers and tried moving a cable manually and my left side of the sunroof moved, but the right side was locked up. I saw the cables were looking in rough shape so I decided what the heck I will tear this thing out and restore it.

1)So to do that i had to drop my liner (needed cleaning anyways).

2)Inside your 4runner looking up at the sunroof there is a plastic piece on each side of the sunroof, not front and back but left and right. I took a small knife and popped these off. This gives you access to the 4 bolts that have the actual window secured to the sunroof rail. Take the nuts off and push your window up off to the side. Move the window out of the way in a secure spot.

3)You will see 4 clear rubber tubes connected to your rail system. Take those off.

4)For the map light over the passenger seats there is a wire is held up by two clips on the sunroof rail, pull the clip down carefully and work the wire out of both clips.

5)Now you can drop your sunroof railing system. It would help if you had an extra person helping you because the rail system itself is bigger than what you think. There are several bolts all around the sunroof, take your time and be careful.

6)Put on a table preferably waist high. I took pictures of everything to remember how to re-assemble. Be careful there are A LOT OF PLASTIC PIECES and other pieces that can break! Slowly take the entire thing apart, mark what pieces go were and track everything.

7)I got to the last bit and found that one cable was completely seized. I had to soak it in WD40 for a day, can back and after a lot of cursing, banging, and swearing I got the cable to come out of the copper tube.

Now the cable is a steel cable with a spring like coil around it (that is what the gear in the motor grips) and then there is a plastic coating.

On my cables the plastic coating was gone or getting there. I think the shredding plastic coating caused the cables to jam. Because the plastic was still coming off I decided to removed all the plastic off the cable. To replace the cable is $130 a piece, which is crazy. I think the plastic coating is to prevent rust.

Once I got the cables cleaned of the plastic coating I soaked in WD-40 for another day, then came back with a steel brush and cleaned these things until they shined. And then I soaked them with White Lithium Grease.

8)Clean all the parts, coat everything in White Lithium Grease, re-assemble.

The big thing with a sunroof is maintenance. It is good practice to clean your drains regularly, especially if you go muddin' like I do! Retract the sunroof (exposing the rails) and spray white lithium grease on every part of the sunroof mechanism.

I know this sounds like a lot of work. I don't care what people say on here I like my sunroof and use it for . This was a bigger project that what I expected going into it but when your sunroof is stuck open, you have to do what you got to do.

 

[bugman-74]

I had a similar problem with mine. The cables were completely seized in the tubes. When I finally got them out, most of the plastic coating on them was gone. I ended up pulling a mostly complete sunroof out of a junkyard 4Runner and combining the best of all my parts to build 1 good sunroof assembly. I lubed with a quality silicone grease (Honda shin-etsu). It is indeed hard to explain how the assembly works - here's a few pics that show the tubes/cables.

 

[zgensler31]

Thanks for the pictures and detailed posts. Mine gave out a little while back and I suspect that it is due to a lack of greasing and maintaining it. There's not a lot of information out there on these sunroofs so Thanks.