95GLEPEARL

So, I searched the .org for anything about replacing your sunroof assembly, and came up with virtually nothing.

Well I had to replace my sunroof, broken glass, and as far as I could find you can't just change the glass you have to change the whole assembly. So I called a stealership to see how much they wanted for it, $1200 , that doesn't include installation.

So I found the whole assembly on the org here for $250, but it wasn't near me, so I called a wrecking yard and they gave me the whole assembly for only $100

So I took some pics, and I thought I would do a write up for the org, since I have come to the org for everything, I am happy to contribute.

I have the pics on photobucket, I couldn't figure out how to get them on this page.

Tools needed:

Phillips screwdriver

Flathead screwdriver

10mm socket and socket wrench


1. Start by removing everything from the ceiling, oh sh*t handles, sun visors, dome light, and nav light with sunglasses compartment.

The plastic that the visor clips into has one screw on the back side
The other side has a plastic cover on it, pry off this plastic cover to access two screws. There is a wire with a plastic connector, disconnect the white electrical clip.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00266.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00265.jpg

Pry the front of the nav light down, it clips in so it will just pop out with the right amount of pressure.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00267.jpg

There are two screws in the sunglasses compartment, unscrew these and the whole thing will hang down, disconnect the two electrical plugs.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00269.jpg

Pop off dome light cover, there are two silver screws holding it to roof, unscrew these and the thing will hang down, undo the electrical clips.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00271.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00273.jpg

Pull down the handles, behind them there are two small compartments with a little crack for you to stick a screwdriver in and pry open, inside you will find a screw, there is one on each side, unscrew, remove.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00270.jpg

Great, you are done with step one, whew, everything should be off of the ceiling.

2. Removing headliner

You will need to loosen the plastic on the pillars in the front, middle, and rear. For the front ones, just find an edge along the top, and pry with gentle even pressure until you hear it pop, you only need to get them loose, you dont need to remove them completely. Now do the same with the middle and rear pillar plastic. I used some fabric to cover the screwdriver to limit the amount of scratches.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00275.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00274.jpg

Once you have loosened the edges you will need to finagle the headliner out of the middle pillar plastic, I carefully, pulled down in the middle of the headliner so it folded slightly, just enough to get around the middle pillar plastic, once the headliner is free of the plastic you will need to go along the rear edge, with two hands slide your fingers in the edge of the headliner, there are clips up there, you are going to pull down gently until you hear them pop out, there are four or five. Now go along the front and side edges of the sunroof opening, again pull down on the headliner, there is super velcrow that attaches.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00277.jpg

Once you have loosened the rear, and the opening, you will need to slide the whole headliner forward because it hooks along the back edge of the sunroof opening.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00278.jpg

Once it is loose it should just rest on the top of the seats, you can push the headliner forward onto the dash giving you access to the back seat so you dont have to remove it from the car completely.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00279.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00283.jpg

95GLEPEARL

3. Removing Sunroof assembly

Now for the fun part, kiding its not that hard.

Look along the front and side of the sunroof assembly for the screws that are pointing down that have little nuts on them, remove nuts.
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00280.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00281.jpg

In the above photo you can see a silver bracket, this will be removed also, you will see the screws.

There are 4 gray brackets also attaching to the sunroof, two in back, two in the middle, you can remove these screws also, as the sunroof is really just sitting on top of them. You will also need to remove those brackets on the right side only, which will require you to remove a different bracket that covers them, you will see them and the screws that hold them in.

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00284.jpg

There are also little plastic tubes on each corner, from what I can tell they are for hot air only. Anyway, there is nothing in them, pull them to disconnect.
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/SNC00282.jpg

Now you are ready to pull that sucker out, when you disconnect the two grey brackets on the right side that hold the sunroof up, it will obviously come down on that side, then you can pull the sunroof out of the other side, it should rest right on top of your headliner, now remove the bottom of the back seat, slide the sunroof into the back, and turn it and wiggle it until you get it into possition to pull it out.

My camera died at this point but the assembly is the reverse. The only hard part was getting the old assembly out of the car.

Putting the new assembly in was a breeze, I just slid it into the back seat, I got in the back seat myself, I lifted the sunroof up into the rear deck, turned it, and slid it into place. I got the left side lined up, I put one bold on to hold it in place, then I lifted the right side, did the same, and replaced the brackets that came off of the right side. Then go around and put all the nuts back on the screws, make sure the glass lines up in the hole, and tighten all the bolts. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly for the rest.

I did all this alone, an extra set of hands would have made it go faster. A drill would also make things easier. Total time was about 4 hours. I cut a wire by accident getting the assembly out, and messed up some stuff, but it was fixable, just be careful.

I hope this proves useful for someone.

Dave Holmes

For just the panel, I replaced the one in my '97 Maxima's for $22 from a salvage yard. My original panel's frame had warped where the little clips that hold the glass to the frame (under the weatherstrip) are. Made the frame look wavy. My wife's '00 I30 panel looks to be the same as far as mounting (just 4 nuts under black plastic trim). I haven't checked if the panels are swappable between those years. I hope they are, because I like the weatherstrip/frame on the '00's much better than the 4th gen.

Dave Holmes

Almost forgot, thanks for the write-up. This could definitely help someone having issues with their sunroof. It also looks like you had fun.

95GLEPEARL

yeah it wasn't too bad, its always fun to work on the max. The glass was shattered, and the frame that holds it was damaged also the sliding part inside the car was damaged, so I pretty much had to replace all of it.

vastmax

iTrader: (18)

hey man, for future reference put on your pic links instead of

bigpimpen092

iTrader: (3)

I need to do this soon. Would you consider it difficult for someone who doesn't know what hes doing?