Adjusting Sunroof Assembly
Dwyer, Channell
Channell:
I synthesized this from all the archive hits I could find. My
compliments to all whose experience and snippets found their way into
the summary.
I would appreciate anyone who has been through sunroof removal and
adjustment letting me know what might still be missing.
XJ6 SIII Sunroof Adjustments
To get it to close further:
1. Begin by removing the rear seat. Seat itself is held by screws in
front and the back by bolts visible when seat part is removed. Once the
nuts are off the back brackets lift the seat back up and then pull
forward. This will clear three clips which also hold it in position.
2. Behind the seat at the center,is a cover over the gear which drives
the rods (or cables, I'm not sure how you'd classify them). Remove the
retainer, allowing the rods to move freely and slide the sunroof back a
ways, then forward as far as possible. The sunroof should move by hand
from outside the car or by pushing and pulling on the rods. Do this a
couple times to insure that it's moving forward as far as it can go, and
is aligned correctly. This will insure nothing is binding.
3. Once closed securely,mate the rods with the drive gear,reinstallthe
retainer, and try it with the motor.(oh, make sure you remember which
rod goes to the top of the gear, and which goes to the bottom....) YOU
MAY WANT TO WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE ALL ADJUSTMENTS BEFORE REASSEMBLING
THE DRIVE ASSEMBLY AND REPLACING THE SEAT.
4. If step two doesn't allow it to close all the way he may have moved
the position of the rack stop on reinstallation. Check to see if there
is evidence of where it was and reposition. SEE BELOW.
Sunroof position adjustment
1. Open the sunroof all the way. This exposes a black plastic wedge
about 1 1/2 inches long on the edge track of the sunroof on each side
(viewed from the top). This wedge controls the position and lift
(height) of the sunroof as it closes.
2. Put one finger behind (aft) of the wedge and with the other hand,
CAREFULLY push it toward the rear, and it will pop off (the reason you
put your finger behind it is so that it doesn't fly rearwards and
disappear into the space underneath the sunroof ... original poster
states he learned this the hard way!)
3. There are then two 10mm nuts exposed that hold the metal clip to
which the black plastic wedge was clipped.
4. Loosen the two 10mm nuts and adjust the metal clip forward (perhaps
1/16" at a time), adjust both sides, left and right track wedge
clips. Before loosening and moving the clips, put a mark to indicate
where they were when you started. This gives you a baseline position.
5. Make small incremental adjustments.
6. Tighten the nuts and reattach the plastic wedge by pushing it back
onto the clip.
7. Test the adjustment by closing the sunroof, and continue to adjust
as needed.
Sunroof height adjustment.
1. While the black plastic wedges are off. On the underside there
should be a set screw which can be turned counter clockwise to raise the
roof or clockwise to lower.
2. Adjust each side as necessary and replace the wedges and test.Re-do
as necessary to get each side even and at the proper height.
3. Again use small increments as you don't want to bind the roof or
raise it high enough to scratch the paint.
Dwyer:
Well gang, I think I'm done with my sunroof.
To refresh memories: I've been fiddle-futzing around with my sunroof for a
few weeks trying to get the outer panel to fit properly in the aperture. It
was a fitting bit "proud" on the leading edge and didn't seem to slide far
enough forward.
Eventually I came to realize that the ramps and cables adjusting wasn't
enough and my only choice was to adjust the entire sunroof assembly. With
information and encouragement for several helpful listers (thanks, guys !)
I decided that "today was the day".
Lowering the headliner: no big deal, just as I had been told. The side
garnish moldings pop off easily with a trim removal tool and it's all quite
self explanatory. I did manage to cut my finger a bit on what was surely a
cheap left-over-from-the-Leylend-era clip but, as luck would have it, I my
precious Irish blood only on a part of the fabric which is covered up by the
trim. Much more meaningful, I think, than simply signing one's name on the
trim. As always, it was a bit fiddly and frustrating finding some of the
holes for the trim screws when time came for reassembly. In a rare moment of
lucidity I started all the screws loosely before driving any of them home,
thus allowing the headliner to be "maneuvered" (TeeHeeHee) a bit to
facilitate easier insertion of subsequent screws.
There came a point when the edges of material around the sunroof opening
needed to be re-glued. Wish I had three hands. With no convenient place to
keep the cement, I ended up with the bottle in my shirt pocket and that
worked fairly well although I did feel a bit silly. Sadly, I somehow
managed to smear a bit of cement on an exposed area of the headlining but
some lighter fluid dispensed with that little problem....well, most of it,
anyway. I wasn't very pleased that I goobered up the headlining a bit. Oh
hell, I can always say the DPO did it, right ?
Adjusting the sunroof assembly is not technically difficult....the
adjustments are self evident....three brackets on each side....but it did take
quite a bit of patience. The brackets ....indeed, the entire assembly....
seemed rather flexible and"springy". It took about an hour and fifteen
minutes of back-and-forth adjustments to get everything even.....much longer
than I anticipated, not that I had anything else to do today except, of course,
my laundry.
Anyhow, I got everything just where I wanted....or damn close.... and
cinched down all the bolts good 'n' tight and then rechecked the fit again.
Ahhhhh...much better. Perhaps the odd little wind-rush noise will be reduced
now, too.
OK, I pressed on with reassembly, which went quite well. No leftover bits
and no more bloodshed. Somehow, though, the panel had levitated a millimeter
or so. Other than poltergeists I have no explanation for this occurrence.
As fun as all this was, I'll confess lacking the enthusiasm to take it all
apart again. Hope you guys don't think any less of me ! :-)
All-in-all, a major improvement and I only wish I hadn't waited so long.