Sunroof not closing: easy solution!
Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:07 pm
For those of you that have an electric sunroof and have problems closing it, I thought you may be interested in my simple solution.
My problem was the roof panel hitting the little wind deflector when you go to close it from the slid back position. This made closing the sunroof a two man job, one to push the deflector down from outside and the other to press the button inside the car. I decided to find out what the problems was. Basically the deflector (called a "spoiler" in the manual) wasn't folding down fully without a bit of help. I followed the manual and disconnected the interior trim and slid it back out of the way, then I attempted to reposition the roof panel by loosening the four bolts that secure it and raising it slightly. Unfortunately this didn't work.
So I removed the four bolts and removed the roof panel from the car. Now I could see the problem. There are two little arms that protrude from the sliding runners (one each side). These little arms are rather flimsy and appear be be a little weak as they had bent upwards. They are supposed to press down upon the rods connected to the deflector, thereby closing it. However they were not pressing down far enough. I thought about bending them back to their correct position but decided against this course of action due to the high risk of snapping them off.
My plan was simple; if I fitted something over the ends of the arms they would have a slightly taller profile and would press down the deflector further. I got a plastic tube from the top of an old gearbox oil bottle. I cut off two 15mm lengths then tightly pressed one over the end of each arm. I reassembled the sunroof and it now works.
Cost of repair: Nil.
Difficulty rating: very easy
Money saved: a considerable amount
Time taken: 30 minutes maximum
My problem was the roof panel hitting the little wind deflector when you go to close it from the slid back position. This made closing the sunroof a two man job, one to push the deflector down from outside and the other to press the button inside the car. I decided to find out what the problems was. Basically the deflector (called a "spoiler" in the manual) wasn't folding down fully without a bit of help. I followed the manual and disconnected the interior trim and slid it back out of the way, then I attempted to reposition the roof panel by loosening the four bolts that secure it and raising it slightly. Unfortunately this didn't work.
So I removed the four bolts and removed the roof panel from the car. Now I could see the problem. There are two little arms that protrude from the sliding runners (one each side). These little arms are rather flimsy and appear be be a little weak as they had bent upwards. They are supposed to press down upon the rods connected to the deflector, thereby closing it. However they were not pressing down far enough. I thought about bending them back to their correct position but decided against this course of action due to the high risk of snapping them off.
My plan was simple; if I fitted something over the ends of the arms they would have a slightly taller profile and would press down the deflector further. I got a plastic tube from the top of an old gearbox oil bottle. I cut off two 15mm lengths then tightly pressed one over the end of each arm. I reassembled the sunroof and it now works.
Cost of repair: Nil.
Difficulty rating: very easy
Money saved: a considerable amount
Time taken: 30 minutes maximum
