Expensive Sunroof Repair

[fothco]

Wow ! that is costly ; just looked up Krytox . How about motorcycle chain oil ? Works well on fold away running board gears & hinges , etc . $30.00 Canadian for spray can . Would that lubricate and protect the rubber seals too ?. I have 2013 Expee-Max 5.4 . In BC .

 

[cfp-112]

Have a 2018 Expy Limited with a panoramic sun roof. Yes, the plastic tracks will break and parts fall into the track to limit the movement of the sun roof.
It really is not a difficult fix if you have any mech skills. The parts are $145.00 from the SunroofDR.com.
That website has a link to a number of U Tube videos showing how to do it. I received the parts from The Sunroofdoctor.com in 2 days. It take an hour at most to fix.
The key is maintenance. buy the Krytox lube, and lube the rear seal as shown on the video. It is costs about $21. for a small tube on Amazon, but it goes a long way. The tracks break when the seals get sticky and the mechanism pulls down on the plastic portion of the rails.
If the sunroof vents, but won't open look in the tracks for broken plastic. Remove the broken plastic from the rails, and the sunroof will operate.
This is not a hard fix.

 

[bushpilot]

Have a 2018 Expy Limited with a panoramic sun roof. Yes, the plastic tracks will break and parts fall into the track to limit the movement of the sun roof.
It really is not a difficult fix if you have any mech skills. The parts are $145.00 from the SunroofDR.com.
That website has a link to a number of U Tube videos showing how to do it. I received the parts from The Sunroofdoctor.com in 2 days. It take an hour at most to fix.
The key is maintenance. buy the Krytox lube, and lube the rear seal as shown on the video. It is costs about $21. for a small tube on Amazon, but it goes a long way. The tracks break when the seals get sticky and the mechanism pulls down on the plastic portion of the rails.
If the sunroof vents, but won't open look in the tracks for broken plastic. Remove the broken plastic from the rails, and the sunroof will operate.
This is not a hard fix.

@cfp-112 - How are the replacement rails different? metal vs plastic?

 

[armoredsaint]

Meh I love my moonroof and isn’t it still under warranty?

 

[Doug Reed]

Get the caulk gun out and put tape over the switch. That's what I did.

 

[Manchudragon19]

Mine wouldn’t open this weekend. Going to the dealer and hopefully it’s covered by my extended warranty. There are some good YouTube videos on how to replace the tracks. The replacement parts are under $300, so I guess the rest is in labor. On YouTube search for “Sunroof rebuild process for Ford F-150”. The guy in the video does a fantastic job in taking you step by step. I’ll let ya all know if the dealer covers it under the extended warranty.

 

[cfp-112]

The new rails are metal with plastic or bakelite inserts. I have checked the manuals and apparently the replacement rails are made by the same company regardless of where you buy them.
Once again, the key is maintenance. My guess is that if the seals are properly maintained, there isn't any problem. They need to be operated and lubed with the proper lubricant to keep them from sticking and causing problems. By the way, the headliner does not have to be removed for this fix.

 

[5280tunage]

I get it, and realize all vehicles are different, but my previous vehicle was made in 2010 and had a massive panoramic sunroof as well, and I never once in 8yrs or 120k miles, in a very dusty arid climate had to lubricate any of it's seals or gaskets. Maybe once every two years I would clean and lube the track, but that was it. Never once had an issue (and it was nearly $20k less)... But having read this, I'm at the point where this one is clearly more overhead to keep it working.

Honestly though, I really do appreciate the walkthroughs and advice on here, great info to have.

 

[Robert White]

Not a very helpful post TBH. Any details to share? What breaks? Able to avoid it? Condition(s) that precipitate the break?

 

[Robert White]

Sorry Mx and you are right. It was the tracks that the sunroof glides back within that are apparently made of plastic. Somehow mine cracked, then broke, then jammed up (in the open position) my sunroof. It is the difficulty in getting to it (remove the entire headliner) that adds to the cost l. Labor was well over half. I asked the Ford service guy what I can do to avoid another breakage... he said annually bring it in for lubrication (about $99).

A sunroof is a nice to have but not a need to have for me. I won’t be buying another.