Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

my sunroof gets stuck when i'm trying to close it, at first it wouldn't open, and i got it to open, i greased the rails and it made it easier to move. But now when i'm trying to close it, it gets stuck before it closes. it seems like the rigth side is moving faster than the left, or like both sides aren't evenly aligned. is there a way to adjust something to make it move at the same time? i did a search, pretty much all i found was "clean and grease the rails"

1RX7DRIVER

i had the same problem till i sold the car i just pushed on the one side from the outside till it was closed good luck

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

yeah, that's how i got it to close, but i want to fix that shiznit.

Dave777

I've been getting thoroughly schooled on these sunroofs the past few days, mine was rusted shut. Anyway, after having dissasembled two sunroof assemblies now and seeing the way they work and how junk gets built up in the tracks and builds up in the cable housing tubes; I'm of the opinion that it's worth the trouble (and it does suck) to pull the whole assembly out of the car, dissassemble it and thoroughly clean out the tracks and cables.

As much trouble as pulling the roof assembly out is, it's worth it to repair a somewhat functional roof before it becomes totally hosed like mine. If it's rusted shut you pretty much have to get new cable assemblies or a whole other complete sunroof assembly. And also when they are rusted shut you can't dissasemble them properly because the sliding panel won't move back to allow you to remove the black liner panel, and then take it apart the easy way.

I'll go ahead and throw in the rust issue. If you have little rust spots around your sunroof, there's a lot more around and under the lip of the sunroof opening. I have virtually no rust on my car except around the sunroof, and there was a lot more there that I couldn't see until the sunroof assembly was out.

Anyway I'm rambling on here but I think the real fix to your problem, and what I would do, is pull the whole thing out and totally clean the tracks, the cables and the cable guides. Make sure the cable bindings that the motor gear pulls against are straight on the cables too. Then lube it up with some lithium grease and put it all back in. If that doesn't fix it there is something else physically worn out or broke.

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

thanx, anyone else? when the sunroof is opened, it feels a little loose, like you can move it with your hand from side to side, are they supposed to be like that?

Tiers

Just in case peops dont know, the sunroof metal rusts more easily because of grounding problem. The way it sits in there it is not really able to ground with the rest of the vehicle and therfore rusts due to due to some weird science magic thingy (k really stupid but can't remember scientific explanation) At the back of the inner liner panel actualy is a grounding tab that is supposed to ground the outer metal shell, but it usually after time gets rusted out losing contact. It is a good idea to sand/clean this off to get it to make contact again.

Back to the original problem, it does sound like your only choice is to dissasemble everything and clen it up or possibly replace. However I was able to get mine going relatively good by using brake cleaner and rags and more cleaner and a ton of elbow grease and patience. So far all is working good again except for it still needs a nudge to pop up.

Good luck !

lastphaseofthis

iTrader: (8)

mine works, barely, i have to nudge it along, and when its open u can see the number one problem is rust, take some dw40, dont spay it on the car, spray on a rag and wipe wat u can down, just as an alternitive if u cant dissasemble...

rwd

same problem with mine. sometimes (often on cold days) i would have to push or nudge the sunroof near the end to close it.

DemonicPupil

Mine won't open at all, wether electrically or manually. The passenger side pulls back and pops open but the drivers side won't budge. I got no clue how to get the bastard out either to fix whatever might be ailing it. Any ideas?

The black hook thing that kinda rotates and is attached to some kind of pin looks like it's the opposite way of the passenger side, but that's such a vague descriptuion i doubt that would help anything.

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

so there's no way to adjust the rails or anything on the sunroof? is the only way to clean everything?

Dave777

DPupil, more than likely your drivers side cable is rusted to the cable housing. Evidently the cables rust inside the cable guides fairly easily (I have 2 sunroofs completely rusted shut this way), probably from a mixture of not being used much and moisture getting in there. Unless you luck out and break the cable loose you will probably have to tear it all down and fix it right (which might mean replacing the cable assembly with a good salvaged one). That involves removing the upper inside trim and headliner, dropping the assembly down from inside the car, and then taking the sunroof apart to find the problem.

If you can open the roof a little you can remove the inner liner and unbolt the sliding part to expose the main frame of the assembly without removing it from the car. Maybe that would be the best place to start. Get as much clean as you can there. Turbo2FC3S, maybe you could try that first too. Just unbolt and remove the sliding part and see how much you can clean out from there.

My overall impression after having ignored my non-functioning sunroof for years and then finally taking it out and seeing what a useless mess it had become; is that it's better to try to correct it early. I think the whole system works pretty good when it's all clean and decently maintained, but when stuff starts going wrong it's just a matter of time till it rusts shut or you bend up the ribs on the cables. Btw Mazda wants $180 per cable, and like $240 for the cable housing assemblies. (not gonna happen)

On the rust issue, my sliding panel was rusted, but what I was suprised to find was quite a bit of rust around the sunroof in the car body itself. I could only see a few bubbles here and there until I took the roof out and exposed the rest.

KingCobraV9

iTrader: (2)

my slider arms snaped on the passenger side. hows that for a massed up sunroof. it doesnt move without allot of forse because the arms that move it down the track, one is broken in half

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

so is anything adjustable on the sunroof?