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 .
Expensive Sunroof Repair
- Thread starter Robert White
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- expensive repair sunroof
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cfp-112
Member
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.
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
Full Access Members
armoredsaint
Full Access Members
Meh I love my moonroof and isn’t it still under warranty?
Doug Reed
Member
Get the caulk gun out and put tape over the switch. That's what I did.
Manchudragon19
New Member
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
Member
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.
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
Full Access Members
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.
Honestly though, I really do appreciate the walkthroughs and advice on here, great info to have.
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OP
OP
Robert White
New Member
OP
OP
Robert White
New Member
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.
A sunroof is a nice to have but not a need to have for me. I won’t be buying another.
5280tunage
Full Access Members
I agree that having one is nice, I do love using them instead of the windows, say at high speeds. But if they are going to be built like crap, I don't want one. Trouble is, it's not an option on higher packages, and you certainly can't "remove" it from higher packages. Again, I know many folks wont agree here, but another $100/yr to lubricate a sunroof? My wife's acura has never been touched and it still works fine after almost 5 yrs. And why all the damn plastic. Most of my previous moonroofs were at least aluminum. Super easy to manufacture and machine, and definitely more reliable than plastic, especially during thermal cycles (hot/cold, expansion, etc).
I have since bought the new lubricant Ford recommends and a good gasket cleaner to try and take care of mine, but it still pops like crazy when opening it, I'm guessing mine will break any day too.
I have since bought the new lubricant Ford recommends and a good gasket cleaner to try and take care of mine, but it still pops like crazy when opening it, I'm guessing mine will break any day too.
Calidad
Full Access Members
Anyone know what lube is being suggested? Guessing its a silicon based given the waxy stuff in high temps and cold temps tends to turn into glue.
byathread
Full Access Members
wakeboarder
Full Access Members
TSB 19-2374
5280tunage
Full Access Members
This is the new product. Comes with a nice little applicator. AmazonSmile: White Lightning - Chemours WS0856602 Krytox Weatherstrip Lubricant-(Ford Part#WS0850102): Industrial & Scientific
Do you have any pictures from what it looked like. We have a 2020 platinum with 3500 miles and only 3 months old and ours exploded a few weeks back on way home from a 7 hour drive and the dealer tried to get it repaired under warranty and ford told me and them pretty much tough shit that it will not be covered. They say something had to fall on it which is crap. i would like to hear from anyone who has had this happen. We are scared to even take it out of town now. We were about 3 hours from home when it happened and luckily it was not raining. TAD Mitch
5280tunage
Full Access Members
That's some scary shit, don't hesitate to call ford customer care directly and ask immediately for escalation. That's some terrible customer care. Were both pieces of glass on yours shattered? Or just the piece that moves? I would argue that if something fell on it, it would be pretty damn hard for either the surrounding roof or the other piece of glass not to have been damaged at the same time. Additionally, the ****** plastic frames would have likely broken if something impacted it that hard, were they still intact? Were you opening/closing it when it shattered or was it stationary?
Did you already pay for a repair out of pocket? If so, Ford likely won't reimburse you, but demand the longest Ford premium care warranty be added to your vehicle if you don't already have it or ask for a 2 year maintenance plan for free, something to offset the cost. It's taken me 8 months from start to finish to finally get ford to agree to replace my turbos due to rattling wastegates. We'll see if it helps. I have literally written letters to Ford and the Board of Directors complaining about how ****** their customer service is and how disappointed I am as a first time Forder. Haven't heard back on either letter but I'm guessing that might be why they have finally decided to do the service.
After reading this, I inspected and tightened all the screws on my sun roof. I clean & lube it’s gaskets every month already from what I’ve learned on this forum. The TSB for these was very helpful, learning the tricks to maintenance the normally unreachable gasket areas etc.
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Shutterbug57
Full Access Members
Me too. I ended up with a Limited Max. It’s pretty loaded, but deleting the sunroof made the 360* camera option unavailable. At 6’5”, I need the headroom, so will not buy a sunroof. I fail to understand why so many manufacturers make sunroofs mandatory to get unrelated options.
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