Sunroof replacement

[gus898]

My sunroof stopped working and I'm looking to fix it. The glass is fine, I think its some kind of cable that broke loose. I have never worked on one before. Is there an easy fix and a place where I can maybe buy a kit to make sure the sunroof will work for a very long time?

1993 Toyota 4Runner
Thank you in advance

 

[DRC]

You did not mention what the issue is. What exactly is broken?

If you know what is broken and what parts need to be replaced, then you may be good fixing it yourself. But if you are unsure, working on a sunroof can be a bit of a challenge. I have not done this myself but had the pleasure of watching the dealer try and fix our 2004 Sienna sunroof 4 times. I know it’s a different vehicle but I would imagine they are similar. Each time the dealer worked on it they had to remove the headliner to get to the parts and removing the headliner required them to remove a lot of the interior trim panels. Which of course they damaged. Anyway, if I remember correctly the bill was near $1200.00 each time. Thankfully it was covered under warranty so we did not have to pay. Seeing that it took the dealer 4 times to get it fixed I am guessing that sunroofs are tricky to work on. But then again we are talking dealer mechanics here.

 

[Ruffian]

The part most often that breaks in the sunroofs is the plastic zip tie looking band that is used to make the window slide open and closed. This is the same looking part for the radio antenna on the 3rd gens that allows the radio antenna go up and down. This part has a shelf life of only so many uses. I've been told by Toyota Master techs to only use the window (open all the way/closed) so many times as it is very time consuming and thus expensive to fix. Most of the cost is the time involved pulling the darn thing apart and putting it all back together. He said to pray that when your plastic part finally breaks, that your window is closed as now you just have another window to look out of. He said that if I ever start to notice the window jerking to close or open, get it shut and never open it again until I have the $$ saved up to repair that part. Keep the tracks lubed and enjoy looking out of your very expensive window. I rarely open mine, and mostly just use the pop up feature.

 

[Acidmeld]

Ive found that sometimes the sonroof just gets out of alignment . Try dropping the overhead console out and pulling out the sunroof motor. Then pull both the plastic gear lines tight/even and reinstall the motor.

 

[gus898]

You did not mention what the issue is. What exactly is broken?

If you know what is broken and what parts need to be replaced, then you may be good fixing it yourself. But if you are unsure, working on a sunroof can be a bit of a challenge. I have not done this myself but had the pleasure of watching the dealer try and fix our 2004 Sienna sunroof 4 times. I know it’s a different vehicle but I would imagine they are similar. Each time the dealer worked on it they had to remove the headliner to get to the parts and removing the headliner required them to remove a lot of the interior trim panels. Which of course they damaged. Anyway, if I remember correctly the bill was near $1200.00 each time. Thankfully it was covered under warranty so we did not have to pay. Seeing that it took the dealer 4 times to get it fixed I am guessing that sunroofs are tricky to work on. But then again we are talking dealer mechanics here.

The glass is broken and it wont track back and forth. I have to pull it to close it and it opens gradually. I have bought a new glass and will make an attempt to fix it in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[gus898]

Ive found that sometimes the sonroof just gets out of alignment . Try dropping the overhead console out and pulling out the sunroof motor. Then pull both the plastic gear lines tight/even and reinstall the motor.

I think its a bigger problem than just being out of line. The motor works but the glass wont slide back nor forth. I close it manually. Thank you for your input!