04 LS430 Stuck Sunroof!

[Antharro]

A search of this forum revealed plenty of people reporting their sunroof randomly opened or got stuck while open, but I haven't seen anyone report this - my sunroof is stuck CLOSED! The previous owner said he never bothered opening it as he preferred air conditioning. I can hear the motor trying to open it, but there's no movement from the glass panel, either in open or tilt modes. If I apply pressure to the rear of the glass panel then it will lift slightly, so it isn't stuck against the roof.

Anyone come across this before? Is it likely that I'm going to need to drop the roof lining? (I hope not...)

[Antharro]

Today I took down the roof lining to take a look at the sunroof.

I removed the motor to see how it connected to the rest of the mechanism. The motor has a large cog on it. This connects to a pair of plastic gear racks which then run in pipes to each side of the sunroof panel. The driver's side one moved freely but the passenger side was stuck. I dropped the sunroof down (12 bolts/nuts) to find the passenger side was full of rust. Cleaned out as much as I could but still no movement.

Looks like I've found the problem... but I can't figure out how the heck to remove the sunroof mechanism from the car. The roof liner is far too large to fit through a door opening; looks like it was probably put in before the windscreen (great). If the liner was gone I could probably fold the seats as flat as possible and find a way to get the sunroof mechanism out, but I'm a bit stuck otherwise.

Might have to find a local sunroof specialist to look at this, if I can find one. Otherwise it's £1500 to Lexus for a replacement (yeah, not gonna happen).

[Antharro]

Ok, I've just spent a while reading through the repair manual. Looks like I was so close to getting this fixed. The manual states to remove the roof lining, you need to remove ALL the seats. I bet it'll come out with a bit of a wiggle if I fully recline the front seats. And I was only two trim pieces and six bolts from having the glass panel removed!

Thankfully I didn't put the entire interior back together (just the handles, sunroof control panel/sunglasses holder/lights and mirror - enough to hold the roof lining in place. So I'm going to have another go with this and see if I can figure it out.

[steve2006]

You may get away with removing just the front seats ( 4 bolts and a couple of plugs but disconnect the Battery and wait 10 minutes to allow the airbag system to fully discharge.)

Assistance removing the seats from the car recommended!

If you need any parts try Paul Frost at Lexussparesdirect on eBay, he breaks LS models.

[Antharro]

I managed to get the roof lining AND sunroof out just by moving the front seats as far back as possible and reclining them as far as possible! I checked the procedure in the workshop manual and it was easy enough; just awkward.

Turns out the metalwork around the glass panel is a rusty mess. It hasn't entirely disintegrated but it's beyond saving. And the mechanism is jammed on the passenger side. Driver's side moves freely. It was full of rust and debris and even cleaned out it wouldn't move. So I've ordered a complete replacement (second hand from eBay, not from Paul this time!).

Folks, if you have a sunroof, open it from time to time and give it a check over! And some TLC if it needs it!

As a side note I also found why the driver's seat rocked back slightly when I sat on it - one of the front bolts was only in half way... and cross-threaded. Seriously. So I removed it (with some effort), cleaned up the bolt, applied a little grease and refitted it. There was enough thread left on it that it went in with some effort. Problem solved!

[cruisermark]

2 hours ago, Antharro said:

I managed to get the roof lining AND sunroof out just by moving the front seats as far back as possible and reclining them as far as possible! I checked the procedure in the workshop manual and it was easy enough; just awkward.

Turns out the metalwork around the glass panel is a rusty mess. It hasn't entirely disintegrated but it's beyond saving. And the mechanism is jammed on the passenger side. Driver's side moves freely. It was full of rust and debris and even cleaned out it wouldn't move. So I've ordered a complete replacement (second hand from eBay, not from Paul this time!).

Folks, if you have a sunroof, open it from time to time and give it a check over! And some TLC if it needs it!

As a side note I also found why the driver's seat rocked back slightly when I sat on it - one of the front bolts was only in half way... and cross-threaded. Seriously. So I removed it (with some effort), cleaned up the bolt, applied a little grease and refitted it. There was enough thread left on it that it went in with some effort. Problem solved!

Regarding the seat bolt this is a common problem - on my 430 the bracket which attaches to the bolt had broken so the seat was rocking badly - I had to buy a replacement seat and swap the mechanism over.

On my current 430 I have the same loose bolt problem - I have tightened it once but now the problem has returned - last time the only way to access it was remove the seat completely  - remove the plastic seat surround and then tighten the bolt - is this how you done it? Or is there  a way to do it whilst west is in situ?

Also did you tighten it fully- or leave enough slack to aid seat adjustment - please let me know

 

[Cotswold Pete]

3 hours ago, Antharro said:

Folks, if you have a sunroof, open it from time to time and give it a check over! And some TLC if it needs it!

Totally agree, my LS roof works a dream, gets used most weeks including winter.  I check drains every few months as well.

I find cars without sunroofs a little gloomy, and I like getting a sunburnt bonce now and again

[steve2006]

Both my 1994 Celsior and my present 2004 model don’t have a sunroof and given the problems with clogged drains, rust and water ingress I can live happy without.

Never suffered a burnt bonce either 😀

[BMCWP]

On 3/17/2022 at 9:57 AM, steve2006 said:

Both my 1994 Celsior and my present 2004 model don’t have a sunroof and given the problems with clogged drains, rust and water ingress I can live happy without.

Never suffered a burnt bonce either 😀

My 2006 has no sunroof either and I don't mind as I also like that little bit of extra headroom 😁

[BigBoomer]

7 hours ago, BMCWP said:

My 2006 has no sunroof either and I don't mind as I also like that little bit of extra headroom 😁

Crikey! Mine has the sunroof and I'm 6'4" and have at least 6" of headroom. 
Just how tall are you?  

[BMCWP]

14 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

Crikey! Mine has the sunroof and I'm 6'4" and have at least 6" of headroom. 
Just how tall are you?  

Its not about the height its the amount of room you need when you go over a humpback bridge at speed that you didn't see the warning sign for 😳🤣