2017 Sunroof Replacement

[Jim Johnson]

Well, something was bound to happen eventually. Things were just too good to be true with my 2017 EL XLT. There I was just minding my own business cruising around I-270 in Columbus with a load of freshly repaired French horns in the back when BLAMMO, there goes the sunroof. I suspect a bit of debris fell from an overpass in the construction there but maybe it was just a spontaneous thing since that has happened on some Ford products. So begins my tale of how to replace this sucker.

The first thing is to get thee to a body shop and have some collision wrap applied to the opening. I put a tarp over the roof until Monday morning because I didn't want to inconvenience the guys at the body shop. Collision wrap is a sticky plastic wrap that will hold nicely until replacement parts arrive. They put in on for free in about a minute followed by about a half hour of good natured foolishness at my expense. Now we have time to work on a plan.



When you call a Ford dealer about this, they will act like they're doing you a favor even keeping you on the line. The price will be somewhere in the $1,200 range and they'll do it at their convenience. That's pretty typical of my experience with any automotive dealership. They just don't care all that much.

So I am going to describe the process on replacement. It's fairly straight forward and definitely within my abilities. I worked through college in a garage, still have my tools from those days, and know when to stop and ask questions. From what I can gather the hardest part of this will be cleaning up the glass shards. We did some glass replacement jobs in the garage, mostly on company trucks where someone puts a ladder, log, bullet, or whatever through the back window. My time on a job like that was maybe an hour.

The part is available either from a junk yard or as a new part. Junk yard prices are around $150. New price is around $550. I opted for new because I couldn't be sure that the junk yard part didn't already have a nick or scratch in it just waiting for an excuse to let go. Tempered glass is a finicky animal. Don't be the least bit surprised when the supplier basically lies to you about the delivery date. They bumped my delivery back by a full week once the payment went through. That's pretty typical of the car parts business when dealing with stuff that nobody wants to hold in their inventory.

More to follow...

 

[Jim Johnson]

Ok, so a couple of weeks later and I have the sunroof in my hands! I'll upload pictures shortly.

Changing the sunroof only requires a Torx screw driver, a shop vac, and I'd suggest a drop cloth. Line your interior with the drop cloth to catch shards of broken glass that will get scattered when it comes time to open the sun shade to remove the broken panel.

I started by vacuuming the broken glass through the broken opening. Get back into the tracks and around the edges. You really want to take your time with this step and be as thorough as possible. You'll still miss quite a bit. I just went ahead and broke up the rest of the panel and got it out of the way. This makes it easier when you go to the next step.

To remove the panel you have to get inside and slide back the sun shade. Broken glass will fall in when you do this. Remove the four Torx screws and then remove the broken panel from the outside. Note where the screw holes line up with the old panel tabs. Take more time to shop vac the opening. Pay extra attention to the tracks where the top retracts. Get everything you can and then go over it again.

Place the new panel in the opening and align the screw holes. Spend some time situating it so it sits properly in the opening and rests solidly on the seals. When the panel is properly placed the screw holes should be pretty much in the same spots as on the old broken one. Run all the screws in but don't tighten until they are all in place and you've double checked how the panel is sitting in the opening. Finish tightening the panel and then clean up more broken glass.

The first time I tried to have the panel retract into the roof it got hung up on a stray bit of glass. More shop vac time. After a couple of tries it was running smoothly. Broken glass gets everywhere on one of these and I'd say most dealers get a few come backs from it. That might explain why they try to sock it to you on their labor for the job.

That's it. I ran the car through a car was when I was done to make sure all the shards of glass were off the roof and to check for leaks. No wind noise, no leaks, and the panel operates perfectly. Counting the trip to the car wash I probably had an hour and a half in the job.

Anyone can change one of these. It's easier than changing a headlight.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Comprehensive insurance coverage includes glass breakage, without a penalty to your rates.

Why didn’t you just file a claim with your vehicle insurance company and have a company of your choice install a new sunroof glass panel?

PS - I have changed the headlamp bulb in my 2015 Ford Expedition Limited. Remove one 10mm bolt, remove the capsule, and reverse the process. About 5 minutes. I can’t believe it is harder than replacing the glass sunroof.

 

[JExpedition07]

Comprehensive insurance coverage includes glass breakage, without a penalty to your rates.

Why didn’t you just file a claim with your vehicle insurance company and have a company of your choice install a new sunroof glass panel?

PS - I have changed the headlamp bulb in my 2015 Ford Expedition Limited. Remove one 10mm bolt, remove the capsule, and reverse the process. About 5 minutes. I can’t believe it is harder than replacing the glass sunroof.

Sometimes it depends on the wait, when I shattered my drivers window glass the dealer got me the replacement next day and I replaced myself in about 30 minutes. Next available mobile appointment from safelite was 3 days out and dealer was 2 days out. It was a rainy week. I never checked with my ins co.

 

[Flexpedition]

Thanks for documenting and updating.

 

[Trainmaster]

Excellent information. Here in New York, two glass claims and your glass coverage is cancelled.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Comprehensive insurance coverage includes glass breakage, without a penalty to your rates.

Why didn’t you just file a claim with your vehicle insurance company and have a company of your choice install a new sunroof glass panel?

There's no penalty to your rates with the current insurer, but you may take a hit if you seek coverage elsewhere simply for the claim itself. Some carriers will also drop you after X number of claims regardless of the nature or dollar value.

 

[Jim Johnson]

Comprehensive insurance coverage includes glass breakage, without a penalty to your rates.

Why didn’t you just file a claim with your vehicle insurance company and have a company of your choice install a new sunroof glass panel?

PS - I have changed the headlamp bulb in my 2015 Ford Expedition Limited. Remove one 10mm bolt, remove the capsule, and reverse the process. About 5 minutes. I can’t believe it is harder than replacing the glass sunroof.

Good question. I have twin teenage sons and a high deductible. And my deductible is higher than the cost of the replacement panel. They may not ding you for a rate increase but they'll count it as a claim and that's bad juju when you have two drivers with the odds greatly in their favor of having an accident. It made absolutely no sense to file an insurance claim, make a couple or three trips to the Ford dealer, and put out more cash than it would take to just change it myself. My nearest Ford dealer is about forty miles away and the closest glass shop that would do a sunroof is about sixty miles out. Lost time at work is a thing for me as well.