Front moon roof problem: 2K OBW

[Steves72]

On my 2000 OBW Limited the front moon roof does not open on its own. After pressing the button, I can push the moon roof up manually and it will open but eventually will fall back down. The roof does close normally. When closed I cannot open it by pushing up on the glass.

 

I have tried to look at the mechanism with the roof up and I can see two scissor points which hold up (or are supposed to hold up) the roof. Before I start tearing things apart, does anyone have any idea the likely issue and how do I get to the assembly?

 

Thanks,

Steve

[gbhrps]

Steves72,

I have been where you are now with my last 02 OBW. Same symptoms, same problem. The solution was a new drive assembly for the front tilt roof section, as the parts that drive the scissors are made of plastic, and once stripped or broken, it has to be replaced as an assembly. It has 2 tubes that hold the drive cable for the tilt scissors, and they run from opposite sides of the car side by side. As the cable gears pass each other going in opposite directions they lift up on the back of the front sunroof and hold it up. With one or both gear drives or their support parts broken the roof won't go up on its own. That entire front drive assembly was about $225 CDN as I recall (replaced it in 05). I suspect that your rear roof section works correctly, as mine did, and it requires no repairs. Now here's the bad news .... the headliner has to come out of the car to do the repairs, and although not hard to do, it does take time, and the repair bill climbs accordingly, particularly when you have to reinstall it afterwards. Someone who has done it before can remove the headliner and replace it in 3 hours or less. I wrote up the entire procedure about 2 years ago and posted it here. Search the archives under "Sunroof repairs" or similar, or maybe under my name and you should be able to find it. That said, once the headliner was out I took the car to the dealership, where they dropped the entire sunroof assembly( the front and rear in one piece) out of the car, made the parts repairs on the bench, tested it, and reinstalled the assembly into the car. Be sure to have them water test and road test for wind noise when they're done. In my case I had wind noise from the front sunroof that I was able to fix (they installed it too far to one side) when I got the car home, before I reinstalled the headliner. If you can't find the archive entry get back to us and I'll redo the procedure from memory. Good luck!

[Steves72]

Thanks for the information. I kind of suspected that the headliner would have to come down in order to do this repair. It covers everything. But at least I know what I am up against. I may just choose to live with it. The biggest problem is that in order to open the rear moon roof you have to "operate" the front moon roof. That may eventually lead to a roof that will not close and seal properly.

 

Steve

[wannabeeuro]

I just picked up an O2 Outback with the dual sun/moon roof and have the opposite problem, The front roof hit the rocket box the first time I opened it and now it is stuck open. I have moved the rocket box so it has clearance now.  The rear roof still works fine.

Any thoughts on how to get it closed?

[gbhrps]

You've damaged the scissor mechanism, and because its connection points to the drive gear/whips on both sides are plastic, they'll need replacing. In the meantime, you might be able to close the front tilt roof section, by disconnecting it from the drive assembly. Its been many years and two newer OBW since I did a repair on that 2nd generation, so I can't be certain this will work. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to find out.

 

Slide the sunshield back out of the way. Pry off the plastic covers over the rear attachment points for the scissor mechanisms. Remove the two nuts on each assembly and then see if they will drop/swing out of the way, and allow the glass to drop down in place. Be sure to keep any shims that are present, memorize their locations, and ensure they go back in the same locations when you finally get the front sunroof lift assembly fixed. Good Luck!