Help! Sunroof won't close fully :S

[trulankan]

over the weekend my friend (who was high at the time) decided to try and close my sunroof while it was still open and yanked hard on the inner cover and closed it. now my sunroof wont close fully and i can't open the inner cover unless i fully open the sunroof glass. i got lucky i made it home before the heavy rain on Sunday. my buddy is a long-time close friend and is leaving the country for school in a few days so i dont wanna ask him to pay for the repair. i'm hoping that someone would know how to fix it? anyone ever have this happen before? HELP PLEASE! :(

[Default User]

LOL

Oh man - what are friends for, eh?

[JPJPJP]

This actually happened to me back when i was in high school. It wasn't due to it trying to be forced closed, but the rails inside were kinda rusted, so it wouldn't close. Lucky for me, I was in auto class when I realized it wouldn't close. My teacher took a look at it and told me it was lacking lubricant. He sprayed some wd-40 along the rails and gently pushed it/guided it while pressing the "close sunroof button" until it closed. He did that a couple of times, helping it open and close, and after that it worked fine. This was on my old integra. I hope this helps. Check the sunroof rail inside the car, and make sure nothing was bent or looks out of place either? Good luck. Hopefully it's a DIY fix rather than getting it fixed at a shop.

[trulankan]

This actually happened to me back when i was in high school. It wasn't due to it trying to be forced closed, but the rails inside were kinda rusted, so it wouldn't close. Lucky for me, I was in auto class when I realized it wouldn't close. My teacher took a look at it and told me it was lacking lubricant. He sprayed some wd-40 along the rails and gently pushed it/guided it while pressing the "close sunroof button" until it closed. He did that a couple of times, helping it open and close, and after that it worked fine. This was on my old integra. I hope this helps. Check the sunroof rail inside the car, and make sure nothing was bent or looks out of place either? Good luck. Hopefully it's a DIY fix rather than getting it fixed at a shop.

the actual rails seem to be ok...the glass still opens/closes fine but it just wont close completely because of the inner cover...it seems like the clips came off or something. I will take a pic of it tommorrow.

[leecheefoto]

Put silicone lubricant anyways as you should for regular maintenance. Also try forcing a little bit using a rubber glove and slide it in with your fingertips while closing it.

Tell your friend to pay for it. It's his responsibility!

[silverstarmazda]

seems like the inner cover is keeping the window from fully closing. this isnt "good" advice....but you might have to force the cover back open when the window is closed. that should put the cover back in behind the window. just make sure to tie a string or something to the cover before doing it. last thing u need is to lose the cover in the roof somewhere LOL

so basically, your doing the reverse of what he did

[nguy3nha]

Yea try applying some force to put it back in its place.. It happened to me when I was in a Camry, accord and a vitara..I had to apply some pressure while pressing the close button. Sometimes it may come out of place randomly

[silverstarmazda]

just be careful, the sunroof uses plastic gears and etc that have been known to break

[Chrisinski]

When all else fails... Sell and buy new car.

[cwp_sedan]

just be careful, the sunroof uses plastic gears and etc that have been known to break

+1.


I would be careful forcing it. You might be better off taking it somewhere since it might still be salvageable.

[Zuluwun]

You might be better off taking it somewhere since it might still be salvageable.

I'd second this. It sounds like the gears are still intact (I have heard of them stripping out in the case of someone who tried to open a sunroof that was frozen shut). I think the issue is just the inner cover obstructing the movement of the glass in some way.

[07carbon3]

When all else fails... Sell and buy new car.

that's helpful

[trulankan]

Heres a pic:

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a531/Shaun_Jerome/20130430_200442_zps8fac9c15.jpg

[JaYson]

There is likely a Tab or something that the sunroof catches, which makes it push the cover open along with it when you open the sunroof.

your friend probably forced the cover and popped that tab or guide to be in front (towards the front of the car) instead of behind the guide where it should be...if that makes sense. So because your cover is now "infront" of your moon roof, the moonroof cant close because the cover is closed and the moon roof is stuck on the wrong end of that tab or guide or whatever you want to call it.

I have a moonroof too, I'll have a look at it later today and let you know if i can see anything that might help.

I wrote up diagrams to help make sense of this... diagram 1 is how it should be laid out so that the moonroof will hook/catch/guide the cover open when you open the moon roof

Diagram 2, is what has likely happend to your moonroof & cover, so now your cover is trapped between the closed position and the front hook/catch/guide of the moon roof. which is likely why the cover can only open if your moonroof is open.


Diagram 1:

(moon Roof)
________________
[
...]____________
(cover)


Diagram 2:

(moon Roof)
.... ______________
.....[
]__________________
(cover)

[michaelm]

I had a similiar situation where mines was stuck like your picture and couldn't fully close it. My cousins were messing with the sunroof when i left them in the car to get groceries. (NTS* never leave keys in the ignition lol)
I sprayed the sides with lubricant and had a friend push the glass back and forth several times with pressure as I pressed the open/close button and pulled and pushed the ceiling cover with force. Though unorthadox, it fixed the problem :)

Hopefully your friend didnt damage anything too severly.

[JPJPJP]

There is likely a Tab or something that the sunroof catches, which makes it push the cover open along with it when you open the sunroof.

your friend probably forced the cover and popped that tab or guide to be in front (towards the front of the car) instead of behind the guide where it should be...if that makes sense. So because your cover is now "infront" of your moon roof, the moonroof cant close because the cover is closed and the moon roof is stuck on the wrong end of that tab or guide or whatever you want to call it.

I have a moonroof too, I'll have a look at it later today and let you know if i can see anything that might help.

I wrote up diagrams to help make sense of this... diagram 1 is how it should be laid out so that the moonroof will hook/catch/guide the cover open when you open the moon roof

Diagram 2, is what has likely happend to your moonroof & cover, so now your cover is trapped between the closed position and the front hook/catch/guide of the moon roof. which is likely why the cover can only open if your moonroof is open.


Diagram 1:

(moon Roof)
________________
[
...]____________
(cover)


Diagram 2:

(moon Roof)
.... ______________
.....[
]__________________
(cover)

This actually makes a lot of sense.. I'm guessing exactly what he said, happened. But my guess is as good as yours on how to get the tabs to go back to the way they were.

[trulankan]

Thanks for all the responses folks...much appreciated! I will try it out ans hope it works :)