Sunroof Fix - Alignment, Jamming & Linkage Failure

[Pg996]

Hi guys

Sunroof has been driving me crazy for some time...finally worked out all (i hope) the little tricks and methods of making it work.

First of all, the following links will provide pics and general removal info that will help.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/t168287.html - Contains a PDF supplied by Links, extremely handy.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/t138721.html - Pics and method of alignment, provided by R33S2.

I'll start with alignment.

To get a flush seal with the roof, packers are required. The height (between roof surface and sunroof surface) at the front of the sunroof can only be fixed using packers. Mine came with some supplied, but almost anything will do here, washers or the like. On the rear end of the sunroof, the height can be adjusted using packers or my preferred method, by adjusting the linkages at the motor. A combination of packers and motor adjustments is also a good idea

To align the rear side follow the following method:

1) Use the controls (up/down or forward/back) to stop the sunroof at a position where it sits flush.

2) Unscrew the front 2 screws holding the motor up...then loosen the 3rd one (the long one) enough to lower the motor to disengage the gear from the worms driving the sunroof.

3) Reset the 'home' position of the motor by driving it down or forward...whichever responds.

4) Screw the motor back in.

Note: The 'home' position varies a little between; lowering it from a tilt and sliding it closed...you'll need to find the happy middle somewhere.

Next, Jamming.

In my experience jamming was the most difficult to realise the errors in. First of all, loosen (make them very loose) the 6 nuts holding the glass in. Does the sunroof close and open happily now? If so, the issue your having is that when you tighten the nuts back up, too much strain is placed on the rails their bolted too. Start by tightening the middle nuts on both sides. Make sure you try to position the rails in the most upright position, so that their not being pushed apart or pulled in. Then tighten the remaining 4 bolts bit by bit. Check the sunroofs movement regularly. You'll eventually find a tight enough solution that still allows the sunroof to operate properly. Very fiddly...keep at it!

If that doesn't help, it could be dirt and particles stuck in the rail making it hard to slide. Remove entire assembly from car, clean and grease it back up.

Linkage Failure

Lastly if the motor turns nicely, but one of the rails is not moving (test with the window removed)...you have a linkage failure

You will need to remove the entire sunroof assembly from the car.

I'd predict (most cases) the worm drive has freed itself from the rail. Pull the rail out into the position labeled as figure 17 in the PDF. On the outside of the rail there is a tube attached to it where the worm is supposed to be mounted. Your gonna have to be clever in finding a way to secure the worm back in. The tube is brittle, careful! I would only recommend this repair task to someone that can handle a tricky DIY task. Glues and the like will not hold. Other wise you'll need to replace the rails. PM me if you want a description of the way i did...its a bit lengthy at this stage to write it all.

The PDF has lots of info in it...hopefully you'll understand how the system works, it will help you alot. Remember, the worms (2 of them) drive both rails, on the outsides.

Qu's: feel free to ask, i'm sure i'm not clear somewhere or have forgotten to mention something.

Thanks guys...good luck

Pawel

[super_s13]

Hey therre mate.

I have just taken the whole assembaly out on my own. Not an easy thing to do but it needed to be done and of course you help others but there always to busy to help you out. Is any case. The motor turns one way but not the other do you know what this problem would be?

[theminuz]

a shamless plug, but i currently have the entire sunroof assembly for and r33 if anyone is interested