[marcus.md]

[disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic. I don't really work on cars much, but I've decided to start doing all my own stunts-- I mean work. I recently decided that, as a mechanical engineer, there's no reason I can't figure this stuff out with a little help from experienced people. So, I'm diving head-first into the deep end. Enjoy the show.]

I'm trying to fix my seized moon roof. It's stuck in the ever-so-slightly open position, which creates a lot of noise at highway speeds.

I started by checking the thing I discovered to be the most common- the motor going bad, but when I physically disconnect the motor from the moonroof, it spins as I would expect it to.

It seems to me that the guides/rails etc are gummed up. some of what I would otherwise expect to be grease is very sticky and a bit firm. I'm not sure if previous owner let sap get in there or what, or if it's just 20-year old grease does this.

So far I've found bits of pollen and leaves in the grease, but nothing that would be the obvious culprit as to why the tracks are seized.

I disconnected the.... I'm not sure what you'd call them- the helical/flexible lines that are in the copper tubes that physically connect / drive the moonroof from the motor... and I can move the "free" end that's in the bit of copper tube with the foam on the end, connecting to nothing. The grease in these helical drive units was kind of crumbly, and I'm suspecting that may be a big part of why it won't go, not necessarily the rails/tracks.

So, at this point, I'm thinking I need to pretty much disassemble the entire thing and get all the old grease out and apply new grease.
Does anyone have a judgment on that conclusion?

Does anyone have any idea what sort of grease I should be using for this? I know very little about grease.

Also, while my '02 Ltd 4wd Sequoia is very nearly completely disassembled on the interior, if anyone needs pictures of anything that they're preparing to investigate, I'm happy to provide some pics of the internal skeleton of my ride. It's been a very interesting disassembly.

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Clean it up to remove the gummies (careful which solvent you use). Squirt some 3in1 Oil all in there which acts as a mild detergent cleaner and lube. Reassemble to confirm operation/proper closure. Then apply some Moly Based Lithium with a tooth brush in the tracks. Molybdenum (when dry) acts as a type of Graphite slip.

You could use a Sylglyde type lube, but my experience is it gums up on your type application. Good for brake pads etc, but not tracks.

 

[marcus.md]

Thank you for your reply & insights, ProHaMo.

Here's a picture of what I thought was grease. Now I'm thinking it might be Teflon, the way it's coming off in shells.

Also, I found out why the moon roof wouldn't budge. The drive cables had a hefty buildup of rust where they enter the track.

I'm inclined to purchase a replacement drive system due to the rust.
I was able to find that it's part # 63221/63223/63224 from this drawing:
ROOF PANEL & BACK PANEL. 2002 Toyota Sequoia LIMITED | Toyota Parts Center Online

but it looks like the parts are gonna add up quite quickly, so maybe we'll go give the 3-in-1 a try.

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Yeah. You’ll know what to do since its in your Hands. That 3in1 Oil would clean that rust up with a little work from what I can see, but nothing beats eyes on. Whats a new unit cost? How much work to clean up the old and put it back in for a test? Never done one of these before.

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Report back with what ever you do.

 

[marcus.md]

I found a salvage yard that has a couple of sequoias with available moon roofs for $225, but I have to pull it myself. That's currently my plan.

 

[TXAGMATT]

I found a salvage yard that has a couple of sequoias with available moon roofs for $225, but I have to pull it myself. That's currently my plan.

Sunroofs are a headache, sorry it’s giving you hell! Buddy of mine that owns a body shop insists it’s better to replace than fix them. Do you use it much? I might suggest cleaning the drains and getting it to close all the way and then stop using it. Also, show us some pictures of that supercharged 03 in your signature!

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Yes. Supercharger pics please.

 

[cheapskate]

I found a salvage yard that has a couple of sequoias with available moon roofs for $225, but I have to pull it myself. That's currently my plan.

You got balls man, I'll give you that. Most people dont even change their own oil, let alone rip out most of the interior. Nice work.
Maybe I misread your posts but if you got it all ripped apart as far as you have, why not clean it up, temp install it and see if it works? Just not sure why you want to spend the $225 on another one.

 

[marcus.md]

I'll post some pics of the supercharged tundra soon. Right now I'm stuck at my desk.

The sunroof that i've removed is inoperable. the motor works, the tracks aren't binding up (but perhaps not very smooth), but the drive cables have rusted and bound into the drive cable guide. I've been using a pistol-grip style clamp to try to move the cables, but no luck. I DID get one of them (passenger side) to move some, and was subsequently able to remove some add'l pieces, but with all my might, I cannot get the driver's side drive cable to budge within the guide. Also, I'm not sure if it's teflon or grease that was surrounding the drive cables, but it all flaked/peeled off very easily, so I'm concerned that these drive cables are toast.
I found a different salvage yard, much closer to me, that has the sunroof already pulled for $165, so I plan to go grab that instead.

We don't plan to use the sunroof at all, so... there's that. The problem is that it got stuck NOT in the home position, or at least not the correct home position. I disconnected the motor and tried to muscle it into place, but could not get it to budge (and now I understand why). When I get it replaced, I expect we'll keep it closed 99.9% of the time, but it MUST be able to close completely.

I took this opportunity to pull off the door panels because the passenger side doors don't lock/unlock correctly, or consistently. Also, the driver's interior door handle, that's built into the elbow rest, is busted. So I'll be looking for some add'l used parts from the salvage yard. My shop currently looks like a chop shop.

 

[marcus.md]

Okay, I grabbed a few pics of the supercharged tundra.

 

[TXAGMATT]

Okay, I grabbed a few pics of the supercharged tundra.
View attachment 164684
View attachment 164682
View attachment 164683
View attachment 164681

Awesome! Looks like you have owned it a long time? Really cool truck, supercharger offsets the step side IMO.

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Awesome! Looks like you have owned it a long time? Really cool truck, supercharger offsets the step side IMO.

I love me some side step. I’ll buy it if he sells.

 

[ronda savan]

[disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic. I don't really work on cars much, but I've decided to start doing all my Kodi nox own stunts-- I mean work. I recently decided that, as a mechanical engineer, there's no reason I can't figure this stuff out with a little help from experienced people. So, I'm diving head-first into the deep end. Enjoy the show.]

I'm trying to fix my seized moon roof. It's stuck in the ever-so-slightly open position, which creates a lot of noise at highway speeds.

I started by checking the thing I discovered to be the most common- the motor going bad, but when I physically disconnect the motor from the moonroof, it spins as I would expect it to.

It seems to me that the guides/rails etc are gummed up. some of what I would otherwise expect to be grease is very sticky and a bit firm. I'm not sure if previous owner let sap get in there or what, or if it's just 20-year old grease does this.

So far I've found bits of pollen and leaves in the grease, but nothing that would be the obvious culprit as to why the tracks are seized.

I disconnected the.... I'm not sure what you'd call them- the helical/flexible lines that are in the copper tubes that physically connect / drive the moonroof from the motor... and I can move the "free" end that's in the bit of copper tube with the foam on the end, connecting to nothing. The grease in these helical drive units was kind of crumbly, and I'm suspecting that may be a big part of why it won't go, not necessarily the rails/tracks.

So, at this point, I'm thinking I need to pretty much disassemble the entire thing and get all the old grease out and apply new grease.
Does anyone have a judgment on that conclusion?

Does anyone have any idea what sort of grease I should be using for this? I know very little about grease.

Also, while my '02 Ltd 4wd Sequoia is very nearly completely disassembled on the interior, if anyone needs pictures of anything that they're preparing to investigate, I'm happy to provide some pics of the internal skeleton of my ride. It's been a very interesting disassembly.

View attachment 164576
View attachment 164574
View attachment 164577
View attachment 164575

I'm really excited to see what it's gonna turn to

 

[marcus.md]

Awesome! Looks like you have owned it a long time? Really cool truck, supercharger offsets the step side IMO.

I wasn't a fan of the side steps. In fact, I wasn't a fan of a "little" toyota truck. I bought it in 2005, and I was looking for a pickup. My previous experience had been GM vehicles. My friend saw this truck for sale and wanted me to drive it. I was opposed, but he said, "It's got a supercharger. let's just go drive it for fun. you don't have to buy it." When we got to the dealership, I was disappointed that it had the "boat" rear end, but I hadn't planned to buy it anyway. We test drove it, and I found that the accelerator pedal was directly linked to a stupid grin on my face. I bought it the next day.

While I'm not a fan of the side step design, I do like that my truck has a less common look.

But this truck has been great. It's had very few problems and has hauled more than it's supposed to. I've hauled cars around with it, half-pallets of cement, and more. This truck is the reason I recently bought my '02 sequoia.

 

[marcus.md]

I had not realized how filthy my truck looks. I'm gonna have to give it a little TLC and clean it up. It's earned it.
The paint was peeling off the cab roof & hood, so I got it repainted at the end of 2018. At Maaco. The paint started peeling again last year. I'm not sure what to do about he paint situation, because I'm not onboard with a $1k/year paint subscription at Maaco ($4k paint job lasted 4 years), and I'm not going to pay $10k-$15k for a higher end body shop to paint it.

 

[TXAGMATT]

I wasn't a fan of the side steps. In fact, I wasn't a fan of a "little" toyota truck. I bought it in 2005, and I was looking for a pickup. My previous experience had been GM vehicles. My friend saw this truck for sale and wanted me to drive it. I was opposed, but he said, "It's got a supercharger. let's just go drive it for fun. you don't have to buy it." When we got to the dealership, I was disappointed that it had the "boat" rear end, but I hadn't planned to buy it anyway. We test drove it, and I found that the accelerator pedal was directly linked to a stupid grin on my face. I bought it the next day.

While I'm not a fan of the side step design, I do like that my truck has a less common look.

But this truck has been great. It's had very few problems and has hauled more than it's supposed to. I've hauled cars around with it, half-pallets of cement, and more. This truck is the reason I recently bought my '02 sequoia.

Awesome story! I would have bought it too!!

 

[marcus.md]

$185 and I got my replacement sunroof from the local-ish salvage yard. They even had it pulled and ready for me.

 

[marcus.md]

I got the 'new' sunroof installed. It works as expected!
The first picture is with it successfully closed (yes! finally!). The 3rd & 4th pics are of it opened.

Now, that 2nd picture....
When I used the switch to give the "open" command, it heard it hit something. I didn't think too much of it, since I hadn't secured all the nuts & bolts yet, but then I realized there was a problem. I have the 3 straps across the ceiling, presumably for structural support, that are no longer glued to the ceiling. You can see the white residue from the glue, I'm gonna guess construction glue, where the straps have separated from the ceiling.
Does anyone know what's up with those? I'm not sure if I should try to clean the residue away & glue them again, or not. They don't seem like they'll easily go along the roof's contour anymore. As they are now, the 1st one hits the sunroof when it opens... and when it closes. I was able to manually deflect it to ease their passing, but it very nearly renders my sunroof unopenable (it hits it around halfway open).
Now, I don't care a whole lot about being able to open the sunroof. The reason I replaced it was because it was seized in the not-quite-closed position, which made it very loud. I'm inclined to disconnect the motor when I put everything back together. But while I've got the headliner out, I figured it would be a good time to address these beams across the top of the ceiling.

Having said all that, if anyone needs replacement sunroof glass or motor, especially in the Austin, TX, area, I'm happy to hook someone from TS up, otherwise I'll sell it on ebay or CL.

 

[Professional Hand Model]

Goooooaaaallllll!!!!