bawalker Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Hello all, About two weeks ago I had a weird problem. When I went to open my front sunroof (the one that raises up above the driver/passengers seats), I heard the motor try to accomplish this, but the roof never moved. However the roof over the rear passenger seat did move back and open up completely. After more observations, it is as if something inside is not latching and causing the front roof to raise up. I can take my hand and push up on it and it'll go up just fine. But won't stay up and will slide back down. I would like to be able to see any gears or bars or any parts that are controlling the front sunroof to see where the problem may lie. However I am unable to figure out how to proceed about fixing this. I know I can fix this on my own if I have some instructions on how to go forward. Does anyone here have any solid suggestions? I want to get that sunroof working again soon as summer is here and it's hot already. Bradley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 When we had a leak in our MY01 headliner, I saw the inner workings at the dealer when the were working on it. The motor drives both windows and is located in the rear of the car above the headliner. The dealer had to remove the head liner in the rear by taking out the side plastic trim pieces of the rear door frame. I not sure what else was disconnected to lower the whole liner down but it remained attatched at the front of the car near the front window. The motor drives a cable which spins like a speedometer cable and drives the the window movement. I really don't know how it drives the front window at that point since I didn't get a chance to view the mechanism since they were just showing me the cause of the leak. Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawalker Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 That confirms my thoughts that the motor is at the rear of the car. However I have no clue how to get the headliner down tho. When we had a leak in our MY01 headliner, I saw the inner workings at the dealer when the were working on it. The motor drives both windows and is located in the rear of the car above the headliner. The dealer had to remove the head liner in the rear by taking out the side plastic trim pieces of the rear door frame. I not sure what else was disconnected to lower the whole liner down but it remained attatched at the front of the car near the front window. The motor drives a cable which spins like a speedometer cable and drives the the window movement. I really don't know how it drives the front window at that point since I didn't get a chance to view the mechanism since they were just showing me the cause of the leak. Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I've used the following technique for various applications. Go to your local Subie dealer parts department and ask them to copy the parts page for your sunroof;). That should show you the innards and you'll probably be able to figure out what's what from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawalker Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 Would this be listed in the chilton/Hayes manuals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 The Subaru parts department parts blow up will show all the scews, connectors and widgets. I doubt the manuals would be that specific. Would this be listed in the chilton/Hayes manuals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Been there, done that! You will not be able to fix the front sunroof problem yourself. My 02 did the same thing and it came down to having to totally remove the entire sunroof assembly from the car, and replace the front sunroof drive assembly. Mine was $216 CAD for the drive assembly alone. The motor drive at the rear of the car operates 2 cables that run down both sides of the car, inside of tubes. The tubes curve around at the back of the front sunroof, and run towards the opposite side of the car, stopping just short of the outside edges of the sunroof assembly. When activated, the motor moves both cables in opposite directions, pressing two scissor assemblies (one on either side of the back of the front sunroof) together, raising the front sunroof, then locking the scissors there, until you press the switch again, and then the cables continue moving to open the rear sunroof. Your rear sunroof opens correctly (as did mine), so your front scissor assemblies are stripped from the cables. The only way to repair them is to drop the assembly from the car. You cannot just buy individual scissor pieces, but the entire lift assembly for the front sunroof. I saved money by removing the sunroof myself, and then replacing it after the dealership did the repair. It will save the techs about 2 to 4 hours if you do it. To remove the headliner is time consuming, but not hard. Do keep your hands clean, and do so often, so as to not mark up the headliner. Before you start, remove all of the headrests from the car, front and rear, so that the headliner can be supported on top of the seats. Remove all of the handles from above each door. Remove the sun visors. Pull down the front centre ceiling plug near the rear view mirror. Pull the lens for the front overhead map lights, and remove the two screws holding the assembly, disconnect the harness to the lights and the sunroof switch. (Remember to have the switch with the car when you take it in to get the repair done!) Pull all of the plugs from the rear ceiling area straight down and out. Pull the lens from the overhead lights at the centre of the car and at the rear tailgate opening. Inside are 2 screws for each, and disconnect their wiring harnesses. Carefully pull out the A pillar mouldings between the dash and the roof. Pull the top of the B pillar mouldings out, pry open the front seat belt top ring (where the seat belt anchors to the top of the B pillar) to remove the nut holding the seat belt top anchor) and drop the seat belt and the anchor ring down. This gives enough room to pull the B pillar moulding down away from the ceiling even more. Leave the moulding attached at its bottom. Remove the screw in behind the rear mounting point for the rear cargo cover. At the rear tailgate pull down the top moulding. Now you can pull the C and D pillar assembly (its all one piece) from the car. At each door pull down the flexible mouldings that wrap the headliner at the door seals. Pull down the middle seat shoulder belt from the right rear ceiling holder, so it can be fed back up through the headliner when you finally are ready to remove the headliner from the car. Now open the rear sunroof (you'll have to reconnect the switch assembly) Stand on a stool, reach over the roof, and at the front of the rear sunroof opening you'll see four rectangular flat plugs that must be lifted out. All that remains is to get inside the car and pull down on the headliner along the back of the front sunroof, and all around the rear sunroof opening, as there are many velcro type fasteners there that hold the headliner in place. Obviously the entire assembly can be taken out the back of the car. When your repairs are made and its time to put the headliner back in, start by centering it and installing the ceiling plug at the front of the car, and the ones in the rear. From there its just do the reverse of the disassembly. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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