Yesterday I had a very strange problem with my sunroof: first of all, an odor was eminating from the sunroof area that smelled like something crawled up and died behind the sunroof. Second, I could only open my sunroof about 4 inches, and it would not close all the way. It seemed like there was something stuck on the track. I unscrewed the glass and took a peek inside to find two things: a strange plastic object lodged on the track, and what appears to be some kind of rubber seal lying a bit behind where the sunroof would rest. As far as the plastic piece goes, I removed it and the sunroof worked well. However, I could not obtain an adequate seal against water, no matter how I tweaked the sunroof's location when it was closed. Around the glass itself is a rubber seal whose ends connect at the rearward side of the glass. The spot where they connect leaves a miniscule gap, and I'm afraid that the water is seeping in through it, although I have no proof of that. I suppose my main concern is that other seal that I found just lying above the ceiling piece. Does it have anything to do with protecting my inside from water? The seal itself looks like a triangle and is about 3 feet in length, with one of the ends split so it can slide lengthwise onto a piece of something. I've looked everywhere, but I can't figure out where it goes. Someone please help me before it rains!!!
-Elia

 

Lushka:

Wish I could help but I too am having problems with my sunroof (posted a message yesterday). It broke over the weekend and now I can't get it closed. I think one of the link wires snapped.

I checked with the dealer last night and as one person who replied to my message indicated, it is VERY expensive to fix. For my 95, you have to buy a whole new rail assembly for around $800. Also, the headliner, pillar post covers and steering wheel have to be removed to get at the darn thing. They said it will take about 7 hours of labor! They just happened to fix one the other day and the guy wanted a used one instead of paying the premium price for the whole new assembly. I think he only saved like $200 on the $1300 job though. If I'm going to have it fixed, I'm going with a whole new assembly. Why have to go through the agony and grief all over again if you happen to get a used one that is ready to break next month?!

Anyone else have sunroof problems??

 

Well, I just had an assembly replaced. It cost me $175 for the assembly (from a junk yard) and $125 labor. The steering wheel need not be removed, the headliner, the posts and a passenger seat (which is a snap, the seat, I mean) however need to be taken out. Headliner is the biggest pain- not because it's difficult, but because it's time consuming. The dealer quoted me $950 for the new assembly, so I opted to get one from the junk yard. If you want, you can check car-parts.com for the junk stuff, or parts.com for the new.
The problem I have now, as I recently posted, is that the aluminum things (on the sunshade) that slide on the railing are broken (at least one is). The mechanic is willing to do the job free as it can't really be determined whether it's mine or his fault and it broke down a day after I picked up the car, but I do need the sunshade. The dealers want from $275 to $540 for this piece of cardboard, which is outrageous, so I am waiting to find one at the junk yard. So if you do go ehead and replace your thing, please let me know if you'd be interested in sealing the old sunshade (if it's beige and the aluminum things are in perfect condition).

If anyone has any comments for me it'd be great too.

Thanks
Roman

 

Thanks for the info.

I'm glad to hear that the steering wheel doesn't need to be removed. My guess is that would be necessary to get the headliner out of the car. It sounds as if your mechanic dropped the headliner and worked around it.

I'll let you know if I end up with the whole new assembly and have any parts you might want.

 

No, he did take out the headliner- that's why the passenger seat had to be taken out.

I'm glad it helped (somewhat).
Roman

 

I guess my biggest problem is that the seal doesn't keep out water. In fact, when looking at it from below, I can see a significant amount of light coming through. I can't possibly understand how a gap this big could have gotten there in the first place. In any case, I did learn that seal integrity on the corners of the sunroof isn't too important, because there are drains for them along the metal. The dealer quoted me for $300 just to fix a 1MM gap. What a rip off!! I'm going to fix it myself and take my chances.
-Elia