carkhz316 Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 Washed the Monte at the shop today. Went driving tonight with a buddy. Was just checking my windows and such so see how much they froze. They didn't really (~20*, so not too bad). Barely touched the button for the sunroof, which has ironically never really frozen shut in the winter. I heard a crack and then it jumped open. Wouldn't close again. Stuck in the popped up position. Went home and pulled it into the garage. Took the glass out and tried cycling it only to hear it start binding and grinding gears a little Then the rails that the glass sits on were setback from one another. After about 20 minutes of fighting with it, I got both sides to retract down into the original closed position, not before noticing that a little plastic-looking sliding piece within a metal rail was broken and moving independantly of the the glass holder/ arm piece. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, the plastic piece is about a half inch wide by about 3 inches long. I'll try to draw a pic or something. I really doubt this can be JB'd/ epoxied/ super glued back together since its sorta a precision cut piece fit within the confines of the metal rail. Anyone know the guts and inner workings of these sunroofs that can help me out. OR, where I can get pieces to fix or replace, or do I have to source out a new sunroof assembly? Is it just a gear driven regulator assembly, or is it the mess of cables that play hop-scotch around some pullies? Please and thank you for you helping me in this matter. On a sidenote, like mentioned, I was able to get the assembly closed again, so it'll probably sit like that til I get time/ parts/ warmth to fix it. I pulled the fuse so I won't be tempted to hit the button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted January 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 I've heard about these breaking before. Damn guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal_GS_1989 Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 Don't feel too bad....I did that to my regal earlier this winter. I can still pop it up to vent, but it jams when trying to slide it back. I plan on fixing it up come spring time. Luckily, mine just stops moving, and I am able to close it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted January 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 I just hope I didn't strip the gears on the motor too bad, cuz when the rail things got out of alignment, the only way I was able to close it was to push on the further back one when closing it, and the motor ratcheted for a few seconds. I found one site on a quick google search, and they want $150 for those two slide pieces :eek: :eek: :eek: Granted they're supposedly made of aluminum, but damn. Guess I may have to cough it up unless someone else knows where to go. I like my sunroof. It has never leaked (yet, knock on wood), so I'd like to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscar_wilde Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 I just hope I didn't strip the gears on the motor too bad, cuz when the rail things got out of alignment, the only way I was able to close it was to push on the further back one when closing it, and the motor ratcheted for a few seconds. I found one site on a quick google search, and they want $150 for those two slide pieces :eek: :eek: :eek: Granted they're supposedly made of aluminum, but damn. Guess I may have to cough it up unless someone else knows where to go. I like my sunroof. It has never leaked (yet, knock on wood), so I'd like to fix it. Have you tried looking for the parts on Rockauto? You are basically guaranteed at least five percent off, not to mention the parts are almost always dirt cheap. Also, I think it would be wise to pull the fuse to the sun roof in the winter from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 I had to replace the sunroof motor on my GP this summer. The biggest pain in the ass of working on the sunroof is dropping the headliner, period. I believe someone called it a worm gear system, but if you damaged anything it's going to be the little transmission thingy that goes between the motor and the cables that open and close the roof. The gears and stuff are all plastic. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logikf1ve Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 You're pretty much screwed. You probably did break those little plastic things (I had two sunroof sets that had them both broken) However, since you hear grinding, you've likely stripped the gear that controls the cable that opens each side of the sunroof. To fix that you are pretty much better off finding a whole new track assembly. There was a guy that was making and selling aftermarket style pieces like those that you posted above (the plastic ones) but I sold my car some time ago and never got around to fixing it before selling it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 I just hope I didn't strip the gears on the motor too bad, cuz when the rail things got out of alignment, the only way I was able to close it was to push on the further back one when closing it, and the motor ratcheted for a few seconds. I found one site on a quick google search, and they want $150 for those two slide pieces :eek: :eek: :eek: Granted they're supposedly made of aluminum, but damn. Guess I may have to cough it up unless someone else knows where to go. I like my sunroof. It has never leaked (yet, knock on wood), so I'd like to fix it. Have you tried looking for the parts on Rockauto? You are basically guaranteed at least five percent off, not to mention the parts are almost always dirt cheap. Also, I think it would be wise to pull the fuse to the sun roof in the winter from now on. Looked and they have nothing related to sunroof on RA. You're pretty much screwed. You probably did break those little plastic things (I had two sunroof sets that had them both broken) However, since you hear grinding, you've likely stripped the gear that controls the cable that opens each side of the sunroof. To fix that you are pretty much better off finding a whole new track assembly. There was a guy that was making and selling aftermarket style pieces like those that you posted above (the plastic ones) but I sold my car some time ago and never got around to fixing it before selling it. I only had the ratching/ grinding sound only when I pushed on the rail to get it to close all the way due to being out of alignment. It just had slipped a little originally because of being frozen I think. It still worked fine after that, nice and smooth motor operation. I did confirm that it's one of those little plastic pieces that broke. I may rip the assembly apart to see what's damaged or not, or if I can fix anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo57509 Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 The sunroof on my '92 Euro is an aftermarket SkyTop. I found out the hard way.....never, NEVER remove the glass and retract the panel. The glass still tilts and I didn't strip anything, but the damn thing is so out of alignment now that it only moves back a few inches before it wedges itself and stops moving. It's still closes, but one of these days, I'm going to have to drop the headliner and align the whole mess. BTW. if anyone knows how to work on SkyTop sunroofs, please post up. Sorry for the hijack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logikf1ve Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Those little plastic things are NOT easy to replace. I'll tell you that. You'll likely get frustrated to the point you want to throw the whole assembly at the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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