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It's going to rain in 2 days and my sunroof is stuck open. Heeeelp

89_740Turbo

New member
Joined
Apr 10, 2018
Location
Central New Jersey
The sunroof started to have issues when it fell off track and sagged on one side. Since then it's gotten worse without me even touching it.

When I go to close it, you only hear a clicking noise from the motor. It will only close so far.

Here is a video of what i'm seeing, hearing and dealing with. Qhat do I do! Replace the motor or is it just off the track? How do I get it back on track if off?

https://youtu.be/vJGvR_JSyn0
 
The motor just bolts on in stead of a handle, no reason to do away with it if working. The sunroof is opened and closed by a spiral wound cable (like a spring) teeth on gear move it. there are tracks on either side that have covers held on with screws, look at it from the top and see if all screws are in tight.
 
Wut? It was already stated the manual sunroof and letric one are the same, one has manual crank other has letric motor. Other then that yes you can take out letric motor and put in manual crank, but everything else is the same.

Spare manual sunroof setup? What's that consist of? The manual crank arm and it's little gear and the plastic thing that covers it?

I've swapped both mine to manual crank, you unbolt the letric motor and bolt in the crank and the plastic cover thing if you got it..

Other then that I've also swapped out the whole sunroof assembly, not just the part that opens, the whole thing. You gotta take out the headliner to do it. Before that the one wouldn't close all the way correctly and the crank or motor did not work at all but I could grab the sunroof and pull it closed, but it wouldn't go up and seat correctly fully closed position, but it still didn't leak water into the car in oregon even..


740crankroof.jpg
 
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Wut? It was already stated the manual sunroof and letric one are the same, one has manual crank other has letric motor. Other then that yes you can take out letric motor and put in manual crank, but everything else is the same.

Spare manual sunroof setup? What's that consist of? The manual crank arm and it's little gear and the plastic thing that covers it?

I've swapped both mine to manual crank, you unbolt the letric motor and bolt in the crank and the plastic cover thing if you got it..

Other then that I've also swapped out the whole sunroof assembly, not just the part that opens, the whole thing. You gotta take out the headliner to do it. Before that the one wouldn't close all the way correctly and the crank or motor did not work at all but I could grab the sunroof and pull it closed, but it wouldn't go up and seat correctly fully closed position, but it still didn't leak water into the car in oregon even..

The spare manual sunroof that I have has all the workings including the manual crank arm, the little gear and the plastic cover that covers it.

And yes, it's currently automatic but I dont know how to manually close the automatic sunroof for the time being. My sunroof doesnt close all the way and wont go up either so that leads me to believe I need to take apart the headliner to get to it. The automatic crank stops at a certain point when the sunroof is about halfway closed and I cant even pull it shut using my own force.

If you watch the video I attached you can see what i'm talking about.

All in all, i'm thinking i'm going to need to remove the headliner to get in there
 
Try taking out the electric motor then you should be able to possibly move it by hand easier perhaps.



740sunroofpaint.jpg


Yeah save the paint!

If your motor is clicking then maybe there is something blocking the sunroof from closing, check that again from above with it open on the sides look all in there. Or if it's a problem with the motor take it out and see if you can close it all the way then.
 
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Try taking out the electric motor then you should be able to possibly move it by hand easier perhaps.



740sunroofpaint.jpg


Yeah save the paint!

If your motor is clicking then maybe there is something blocking the sunroof from closing, check that again from above with it open on the sides look all in there. Or if it's a problem with the motor take it out and see if you can close it all the way then.


This is what I will be working on tomorrow. I'm hoping to fix the issue in a day. In order to get to the inner workings on the sunroof, I need to remove the headliner, right?
 
Not sure about needing to remove the whole sunroof assembly to get to the inner workings. I did but I did it to replace the whole thing that didn't work. I've seen them fixed in the car before. You gotta know how to take them apart. I've never done it. Even if you take the whole assembly out you still have to figure out how it all comes apart. Maybe a book tells how or alldata. I had extra so yeah just swapped the whole thing. I took one out of my old race car sedan, they fit out the back door I think. In my wagon out the back hatch.


Yes the headliner has to come out of course it does. Other thing unhook the drain tubes and leave those in the car.... Don't pull them out.

I know people have replaced the sunroof with a moonroof but they just change the glass part I've heard that is a way to do it, once again, you gotta know how to take that part out. I don't. I did have a complete moon roof from a 960 in my 740 wagon. I put the whole thing in but it had a few different mounting locations. I used some self tapping metal screws and it fit okay but the sides didn't seal correctly and it leaked where the sides didn't seal so I just swapped back to the green stock 740 one you see in the pics, and now no leaks.. Guy I got it from(Harald) said it worked fine in his 940 but that had same mounting spots as 960. He said we'll just swap in the glass part, I said too late already swapped in stock 740 one. Over it, but leaks are gone! I do still have the glass one so maybe someday I'll tackle it.

So the sides of the moonroof cage have double sided tape to secure to the roof and that also is a water seal so keep that in mind. You'll see what I mean when you go to take it out after you take the bolts holding it up out.. You'll need some new double sided tape probably. I used the door seal roll stuff get at hardware store same size(thickness and width) as the stock tape stuff.

Also make sure the drain tubes where the tubes hook to the sunroof frame those are good and not broke before you put new sunroof frame in.. Those get easily messed up if you lean the sunroof cage up and on a concrete floor as they are then the things hitting the floor.. They stick out on every corner of it. If those are broke on your replacement you'll have leaks.
 
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Start simple first like wyatt and sbabbs said get it to manual mode. Swapping the motor for the handle is probably the easiest job on a 740.
 
OR... as I've seen in the junkyard. Some valley tin, drywall screws and caulk. Lots of caulk. :ahoy:
 
OP, you can pull the entire sunroof assembly out through the top of the roof in order to fix it. It will be WAY quicker and easier than pulling the head liner. You just need to remove the screws that hold the wind deflector to the assembly and then you can get at all the screws that hold the rails and mechanism to the "cookie sheet" inner drain pan. Once all the hardware is removed, including the 2 screws that hold the motor up to the cable tubes, pull up on the rails and they will come loose from the drain pan. There are 2 plastic pegs at the end of the rails under the roof that guide/locate the rails way back in the roof where you can't get access. Once the assembly pulls forward an inch, you can tilt it up and pull the entire assembly out through the opening towards the front of the car. The lifter arm broke and it is now jamming the mechanism. To do anything else is just going to damage more parts.
 
2manyTs clearly the expert on this. An aside can you explain why there are two different versions of 740 sunroof sealing strips? Between Pre-90/91+? I used a 91+ on my 90 and it worked but obviously 90 is a weird mixed MY. Wondering if there is an actual difference or just PN update.

OP if you end up needing parts and get desperate I think skandix had some stuff last I checked.
 
Get it most of the way closed with motor/switch, then get a large flathead screwdriver and insert it into the piece shown at 0:16 and turn until closed.
If it jams when manually turning, you may need to push up on the sunroof assembly itself to help unstick it.
Pull the fuse for the sunroof (or pop the trim cover and switch out and pull out the 'lectrical connector since I think that fuse is shared on 7/9) for no future worries.

Stay dry.

MV
 
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