My son's 90 celica's sunroof suddenly doesn't close. Its stuck halfway open (sliding back). It can move about 2" in either direction then their is a grinding sound - like 2 gears spinning against each other. My Hayes repair book has nothing on sunroof repairs. Does anyone have a book they'd recommend to show me how to get to the sunroof to try and fix it? Or does someone have any similar experience and can tell me what to look for? Thanks.
Celica Sunroof
Jun 16, 2006
8 Replies
The factory service manual has instructions for sunroof repair. Looking into the sunroof opening from outside the car, you should be able to get at the fasteners that hold the rail in place and maybe lift up and forward.
My guess is the gears are toast. Try hitting the motor and having someone else grab the roof by reaching in the car and grab the top and bottom at the same time and try to close it.
And when I say hit the motor, I don't mean HIT the motor!
Isn't there a place to insert an Allen wrench attached to a racthet to manually close the roof?
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. The hole for the allen wrench is probably under a cover or under the map/dome light lens.
This is the 'tool' that I got to remove the roof panel on my Supra. It is the same wrench and handle they used to give you for the sun roof.
I've never tried closing a sunroof manually so I'm not even sure what the hole looks like!
It's under a cover similar to the one they use to cover the shift interlock override, and the tool is in the tool kit.
I've seen the cover but never popped it off because I would lose it ;-(
Thanks - I'll try and see what I can do from the roof of the car. There is a screw to turn and try and manually close the roof under the cover for the switches - near the roof rearview mirror but it only turns a little bit and won't get it to close even with someone pulling on the roof so it would sound like gears. I'll see what I find when I take it apart.
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required