statikeffeck

Hey I have a rusted sunroof that is also somewhat disfunctional. The sunroof closing mechanism is disabled on the passenger side. Basically, when closing the sunroof, this thing doesn't go down.
Removing the actual sunroof panel is easy. there is just 1 bolt on each side. However, I have not found a way to remove the rail-sliding assembly (so I can inspect whats wrong). I'm sure some people have removed these things I guess to clean out the drainage pipes and stuff (I want to do that too). How'd you do it? (I have already searched the boards and haven't found much)

I'm thinking about just purchasing a complete working sunroof assembly (used) and just installing that... but still, I'm gonna have to remove this one anyway.

Thanks, 'preciate it.

AwwsChwA

Ok, this will be a long post, but I'll try to describe things. I took apart my whole sunroof system in my 91 CRX a few months ago becuz it stopped dropping the roof down into place upon closing.

When you take the sunroof panel off, the rest is done from inside the car. You have to remove the A-pillar trim, the dome light, the rearview mirror, both sun visors, and the plastic cover that goes over the manual-operation screw for the sunroof (toward the rear middle of the roof liner).

From there, you pull the lining ring out of the sunroof hole from inside the car. It's that ring of fuzzy material that lines the actual hole and holds the roof liner flush. With that removed, then you CAREFULLY remove the roof liner. DO NOT pull on it too hard, make very sure that you're removing it with all of the snags taken care of, or you'll crease it.

With the interior all taken apart, you know have access to the sunroof module. The whole system is contained in a big removable pan. There's (i think) 6 10-mm bolts holding it in place. Remove the 4 water drainage tubes from the corners, disconnect the sunroof motor electrical plug, and remove the 6 bolts. Then, with the driver seat laid all the way flat, you can turn the sunroof module and remove it out the door. It may help to have a second person, but I was able to do it on my own.

With the sunroof module out of the car, you just start disassembling things. Take your time, work slowly, and make a note of where each part goes, cuz there's a lot of little moving parts and a ton of screws. Draw pictures if you have to.

The piece that pulls the sunroof down into the hole when it closes (and pushes it up, for that matter) is very poorly designed, it's made of plastic, and it's not removable. Honda want's roughly 220 dollars for a new piece, cuz they want you to buy the entire cable drive assembly. I went to a junk yard, cut off the piece that I wanted, and used some high-strength epoxy to fit the new piece to my existing sunroof setup. It works fine, hasn't given me a problem since then.

I really wish I'd taken pictures of the whole thing, but unfortunately this is the best I can do. So, let me know if you have questions, and take pictures of your own if you get stuck. Good luck :thumbup:

statikeffeck

Thank you!!!!!! :thumbup:

I didn't realize most of it was done from INSIDE of the car! I will attempt this today, and will try to mark down things and take pictures with my crappy DIGI camera.

BTW www.autozone.com has a good online repair manual and shows the entire sunroof assembly, piece by piece so that might also help with organization.

$

statikeffeck

I found that the sunroof doesn't close on one side because of this broken plastic piece (outlined in light blue).

Does anyone know what the best method of re-attaching this piece, if even possible, to ensure reliability?

Right now I'm trying contact cement but I doubt this will hold for long.

AwwsChwA

unfortunately you can't reattach that piece. I tried that first. There's no epoxy that can hold it together given the side-ways forces on it while it's working. That's the exact same problem my sunroof had.

This is hard to explain, but I'll try my best. What I did was, at a junk yard, I cut the little rubber stopper that goes at the very end of the drive cable and pulled the whole brass piece (with the plastic arm) off the assembly.

Then, what you can do is, on your sunroof, cut that little rubber stopper (its a little bitty rectangle at the end of the metal drive cable), disconnect the broken piece, slide on the good one, and then epoxy that little stopper back together. You'll need some kind of small clamping device to hold the stopper while the glue sets, I used a twisty-tie. I hope this helps explain things, I'm sorry I don't have pictures. Good luck!!:thumbup:

statikeffeck

damn. OK I should really try searching the junkyards. would probably be better than purchasing a whole $200 sunroof assembly.

Thanks for the great advice.