Sunroof repair

Sccritterkiller said:

Just did mine a couple weeks ago...took about 10 hrs, had to remove DVD player and all seat belts..there is a re initialization process for the sunroof motor once reinstalled. Parts were only 120 bucks..Sucks but way better than 2500 quoted by the stealership.View attachment 31704 View attachment 31705 View attachment 31706 Good Luck!

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Mine broke a year ago. Tiny plastic pieces of the track fell out one day and I had a devil of a time closing it. Your photographs and description is exactly why I haven't fixed it.

My son has an Escape and the plastic parts broke also. Looked at the repair and got it closed up, RTV'd, and switch disconnected.

Finally got over my procrastination and dread of doing this job after buying a repair kit in Sep of last year and did this job over the weekend. I had purchased a cheaper knock-off kit from Amazon not wanting to pay the Sunroof Doctor kit price. This may come back to haunt me, but we'll see. Thinking of selling the truck, so needed to cross this off the "need to fix" list.

Taking my time it took about 11 hrs. Would have been quicker had I not been wrapping up the job and putting the glass back on the car and remembering I did not re-attach the 4 drain tubes and had to partially take back down the headliner.

No pics here but from the posts previous pics you can see how it looks. The video seen on Youtube is what is needed. It's on an F-150 so there are some slight changes for an Expy, but it's pretty obvious. You'll definitely need an extra set of hands a few times, putting down the headliner and putting down the sunroof assembly, and of course in reverse.

Honestly other than your time, it's not that difficult. It looks intimidating with all these interior trim parts removed and the headliner laying in the car, but it's all simple stuff. As long as you got the tools it goes pretty smoothly.

Now, here's where I wish I hadn't gotten the knock-off kit. It came with no instructions and what looked like regular automotive grease in comparison to the Sunroof Dr kit has instructions I believe and the grease they have is white in color (maybe lithium). For the most part, the pieces looked the same as what came out of the car. But when I was all said and done and inserted back the sunroof glass with the 4 torx screws it seems to sit just a little lower than before. As much as I tried adjusting the height of the glass I couldn't get it to an ideal state flush with the roof at all 4 corners. I ultimately had to nudge it up with the "tilt_up" button to get a better seal. Now I don't know if this is because the kit is cheap or my installation missed something, but now I'm wondering what happened. Water tests had no leaking, but I don't see my self opening this sucker any time soon.

Now on to the dreaded lower blend door actuator. Not looking forward to this one either.

And this is why I will never own a car or truck with a sunroof. That and I find them kinda useless.....

My sunroof stopped working. I forced it close to the sound of crunching plastic, then pulled the fuse. I like to open the shade occasionally, but rarely open the sunroof. I use the rear wing windows and roll down the side windows. I have the replacement part, but I may never install it.

Oddly, the expedition is the first vehicle I've owned in about 15 years without a sunroof. I've never had a problem with one. One of the cars was even older than my expy. I find them nice at times, it vents the heat out in a hurry when it's miserably hot outside and gives you a sense of freedom on long drives. Our navigator has one and it helps to brighten the inside with the shade open, having a black interior and all.

I liked having a sunroof. I used it all the time.

I haven’t had any trouble with my sunroof in the Expy yet. I did however have one in a 79 XR7 Cougar that dumped a crap load of water right on my head when the drains clogged once. I also had a sunroof on my 88 XR7 Cougar that was trouble free as well. So far I’m 2 for 3 with no troubles. My 69 Cougar Eliminator doesn’t have a sun roof like my other 2 cats had. Only the Hertz rent-a-racer Eliminators had sunroofs...... actually all of them were ordered with sunroofs, but no big blocks. I’ll take my big block over the sunroof all day long.

Actually I lied.....I’m 3 for 4 trouble free Ford/Mercury sunroofs, I had one in an 88 Bronco 2 that I forgot about. It sucks getting old and forgetful!

My first car was an 84 thunderbird elan and had one, never failed me. It also had a perfectly functioning digital dash despite me getting it at 14 years old and 165k. Bought it for $700 with an EGR issue and severely needed a "tuneup".