Sunroof Woes on GEN2

[mike5]

Since owning this car the sunroof has never worked. More specifically, it goes back about a foot then slows and stops. Afterwards, when closing it, it moves forward a few inches slowly and then again stops. You have to help it along to get it to close. So last week, I removed the glass from the top to get a better look. I saw some leaves and debris on the rails, so I cleaned all of it out. While doing a visual inspection, nothing appeared to be broken or out of place...but of course I'm not 100% certain. Then with the glass still out, I tried operating the sunroof. I noticed that only the two rear mount points actually move backwards and forwards. The front ones don't. So first question is whether this is normal or not. But again, it had issues going back and forth without the glass. Same issue of slowness to be exact and then stopping a short while later. So at this point I'm not sure what the next step is. Do I try to find another motor and replace it as the first troubleshooting step? If so, do I have to drop the entire headliner or is there an easier method? If not, I'd have to drop the entire headliner, and at that point probably just replace everything. I don't want to go down this line if I don't have to.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BTW: Recently did a road trip out to Colorado and back. This is a pic taken at Imogene Pass.


Imogene Pass by nikonmike5, on Flickr

Road trip pics are here.

 

[rxinhed]

While you have everything apart, take care to relube the bearings and sliding pieces, and clean out the drains. There have been several threads on 4x4wire about this issue. Download a copy of the service manual at mitsubishilinks.com and follow the service directions.

 

[eurosonic]

I will be welding mine up shut

 

[mike5]

I have the service manual, and frankly it sucks. It gives you an idea...but that's about it. Having said that, I don't see how the drains come into play with the issue at hand. Specifically, should all 4 mounting points move together? Can the motor be replaced without dropping the whole headliner? Are there are others here with more insight about the sunroof?

 

[rxinhed]

WHY would you have purchased a Montero, then? We have one of many Gen Is with a sunroof, and I wish it would run for me...sunroof woes aside. I'd love to have it operable, and would definitely fix anything wrong with additional cooling this way, my wife likes to make out under the stars you see.

 

[nwoods]

I have the service manual, and frankly it sucks. It gives you an idea...but that's about it.

LOL, I completely agree. If you were a master mechanic and had been factory trained on the platform, then yes, the manual is probably all you need, but for novices like me, it's nearly useless.