Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods Easy FIX for the MOONROOF STICKING PROBLEM

Hey, if anyone experiences their moonroof getting stuck... it's probably not a burned out motor and can be easily fixed. Check out this pic....


All you do is drop the lights from the housing (we used a credit card for less scratches), then drop the housing by unscrewing the two screws inside the hole for the lights, then you need to unplug the moonroof switch for the harness. All we did was loosen that screw that is on the motor (near the sticker that says FORD). Once you loosen it, put the key in and the switch back on and try the moonroof. It should work because it's loosened. We left the screw a bit loose from there but maybe adding a washer or two would be a good idea so it will stay spread out from the frame. That's our little fix-of-the-day. BTW, it was Mklaro's SVT we did this on.... lata!

Hmmm, I should try this, because mine's FUBAR right now. Thanks for the tip! I'll let you know if it fixes mine.

I'm headed out to the garage to try this on mine right now as well.

EDIT: I can't believe this!! Took me five minutes start to finish and my sunroof is working fine again! You saved me a trip to the dealership.. I owe you a beer or something!

~Matt

OK. Here's the scoop on my moonroof.

There is a metal worm gear on the motor that spins to turn a gear. That second gear is plastic.

Here is exactly what happened:

If the moonroof is exposed to extreme heat (Texas) the metal worm gear gets really hot. This really hot metal gear MELTS the plastic gear it is supposed to turn. It is melted in the "closed" position and makes a grinding noise if I try to put the roof up, and it only will go back about 2" before the melted gear goes around the melted part.

MAN!!! THAT SUCKS!!! I will have pictures to post when I get home.

BTW, what does the motor consist of? the entire electrical part with the gears in it? If so, I need one.

I wonder if I can complain about this and get a new one. Webasto should have engineered parts that wouldn't melt in a car!!

Seriously peeved,

Also, the fix you have above works because you are moving the motor's worm gear to a good portion of the plastic gear. You have to tilt it.

AND, don't unscrew that screw too far because the thing on the other side of it can get cought up inside the motor and cause it to short/catch on fire!

This should be mailed to Ford Tech Hotline- lol- For 2 years I have fixed stuck sunroof by dropping motor and re-installing. Always seem to work. In those 2 years ,I have not opened the roof completely due to "sunroof paranoia"- I have only used the tilt open or closed. Very tempting to give this a shot- just loosen the screw but don't back it out.
Correct?

Barry-95SE

Barry, DJBILLYHOE is the one who helped me with my car, after discovering the problem one night and getting some answers from some guys on the ubb (thanks guys) we went out to try it. We went in knowing little about what to do. We took the panel down and just losened the phillips screw up a little and it worked! We were shocked. I couldn't believe it was that simple. I left the screw a little lose and haven't had any problems since. I recommend everyone who has a sunroof issue to give it a shot. Further more im in shock that the dealers are completly blind to this and have not figured it out..Once again proving that this site kicks ass and there isn't anything we can't do if we all team up and think about it...hey look, even the bumber sag got a fix, and we all hated that one! Props to all on contour.org WE ROCK!

Know the Texas sun well here in Houston. I loosened the vertical screws a wee bit and drove a wedge (big screwdriver) between the motor housing and gearbox then tightened it back down. This forces the worm up against the plastic gear.

Hey! Check out what I said up top. The nut thing behind that screw you loosened can come off and be magnetically attracted to the INSIDE of the motor, causing motor failure, and maybe fire. Please put a washer of some kind of shim in there and then tighten it.

Just looking out for the peeps.

I recommended using loc-tite and just finger tightening the bolt. After 6 trips to the dealer last summer I haven't had a problem since with that fix (Knock on wood!)