Right before finals and my son's S70 sunroof got stuck in the vent position. We found that the plastic piece on the rail had broken off. Once we removed the broken piece we could get it to close almost all the way, but not completely. With weather this time of year we need to fix it, but I'm not sure what the part is called or if we need to replace the whole assembly on that side. (There's a V70 in a local junk yard that we can go pull from.)
What is the process to get to it? When we removed the glass, we could get a better view, but couldn't get to the bolts under the rail that holds the glass. If you look at Wheelsup picture in this post, download/file.php?id=4591, the black plastic piece that broke is roughly above the seatbelt and connects to the gold piece and bottom rail.
He does almost all of his own work on the car, but the sunroof is something we haven't had to deal with yet. Thanks!
Sunroof Repair
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shayinok
- Posts: 20
- Joined: 21 June 2015
- Year and Model: S70 1998 T-5
- Location: Midwest
- Has thanked: 1 time
After doing even more searching, I found this post, viewtopic.php?t=30828, which is the same issue but the broken piece in this photo appears to be the one towards the front of the car and ours is towards the rear. Anyone have any idea how to move the remaining broken piece around to get the sunroof to close? Right now there's about a 1/4 inch tilt on it, so it's not a tight seal. That would buy us time to figure out the fix.
That leads me to my second question. Is the part that's needed the rail, or is there a specific part number for the plastic piece? I've looked at diagrams, and the rail (9159880) doesn't seem to include the part that's an issue. Unless the diagram is simplified. Ideally we will be able to go pull from a junkyard, which would answer my questions, but the yards nearby don't have the sunroof, which means it will either be a day trip somewhere or ordering a replacement part, which takes time.
That leads me to my second question. Is the part that's needed the rail, or is there a specific part number for the plastic piece? I've looked at diagrams, and the rail (9159880) doesn't seem to include the part that's an issue. Unless the diagram is simplified. Ideally we will be able to go pull from a junkyard, which would answer my questions, but the yards nearby don't have the sunroof, which means it will either be a day trip somewhere or ordering a replacement part, which takes time.
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JimBee
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: 9 December 2008
- Year and Model: 93 and 2 96 850's
- Location: Minneapolis
- Has thanked: 25 times
- Been thanked: 42 times
Part of the problem you're describing is a lot of those moving parts are trapped where it's hard to get at them with the unit installed.
It's more work than you want to get into, but if you can locate a donor car with a good sunroof you might want to swap the whole panel. That's what I did when bought my first 850. If you do that, before you install the replacement it would be a good idea to clean out the drain hoses (compressed air or run a length of 12ga. single strand wire down each one. Also clean out the tracks and spray some sort of light lube on everything and along the tracks. I used silicone spray.
Once the headliner is out the panel swap is pretty easy. There are a couple of nuisance items to removing the headliner, one of which is the plastic trim ring around where the headliner opens around the sunroof. The ring has some snap tabs that lock above the roof sheet metal. The trim piece itself is fairly resilient but they can become brittle from sun exposure. The best way to remove it is with your fingers grab the rear-most long side either side of the middle and with your fingers slightly roll the outside edge downward while pushing/flexing the ring forward to release the lock tabs. That might be the first thing you'll want to do to determine whether to go for the entire replacement or just try to repair the existing unit.
If you decide to replace the whole unit, I suggest you remove the donor one first so you can see how the plastic side trim pieces lock into plastic anchors along the inside roof edge. Then you'll need to pull the visors and cut their wires (for the lighted mirrors). So there's some fussy work involved.
You can bow the headliner a bit and drag it out through the trunk with the rear seat backs laid flat. While you have the headliner out would be a good time to clean it if necessary (a light spritz of ammonia window cleaner and soft bristle brush will work well). If it's fabric is beginning to get loose around the edges also a good time to brush out some dried glue and spray some 3M contact cement to reglue it. The head liner wouldn't need to go back right away.
It's more work than you want to get into, but if you can locate a donor car with a good sunroof you might want to swap the whole panel. That's what I did when bought my first 850. If you do that, before you install the replacement it would be a good idea to clean out the drain hoses (compressed air or run a length of 12ga. single strand wire down each one. Also clean out the tracks and spray some sort of light lube on everything and along the tracks. I used silicone spray.
Once the headliner is out the panel swap is pretty easy. There are a couple of nuisance items to removing the headliner, one of which is the plastic trim ring around where the headliner opens around the sunroof. The ring has some snap tabs that lock above the roof sheet metal. The trim piece itself is fairly resilient but they can become brittle from sun exposure. The best way to remove it is with your fingers grab the rear-most long side either side of the middle and with your fingers slightly roll the outside edge downward while pushing/flexing the ring forward to release the lock tabs. That might be the first thing you'll want to do to determine whether to go for the entire replacement or just try to repair the existing unit.
If you decide to replace the whole unit, I suggest you remove the donor one first so you can see how the plastic side trim pieces lock into plastic anchors along the inside roof edge. Then you'll need to pull the visors and cut their wires (for the lighted mirrors). So there's some fussy work involved.
You can bow the headliner a bit and drag it out through the trunk with the rear seat backs laid flat. While you have the headliner out would be a good time to clean it if necessary (a light spritz of ammonia window cleaner and soft bristle brush will work well). If it's fabric is beginning to get loose around the edges also a good time to brush out some dried glue and spray some 3M contact cement to reglue it. The head liner wouldn't need to go back right away.
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shayinok
- Posts: 20
- Joined: 21 June 2015
- Year and Model: S70 1998 T-5
- Location: Midwest
- Has thanked: 1 time
Thank you for your response! We bought the S70 new, and the headliner/interior is still in fantastic shape. Is it worth pulling and potentially messing it up? Complicated isn't really an issue if we have an idea what we are doing, though our experience is primarily engine related and very little interior work. I would imagine the trim is brittle based on the age. If so, any tips on how to get the sunroof seated until we can find a closer donor car or get the time to drive to one?
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