Sunroof is non-responsive

[2004_blue_zhp]

Hi all,

Got in my ZHP today and pushed up on the sunroof button to get some air. (Was trying to raise the back end of the sunroof, not slide the panel back.) It opened. But was reluctant to close. Had to try sliding the button forward 2 or 3 times to get the vent to close.

After that, the sunroof will not open close (slide fore-aft) no matter how much I push toward the front or back of the car on the sunroof button.

I'm away from home for the weekend, so am reluctant to play with it too much (I just know I'll get it stuck open and it will start to rain).

What are likely causes here? Could the button itself have somehow gotten disconnected? Are there any fuses that could be blown that would explain this? Is that that a motor of some sort has died?

To be clear: as best I can tell, nothing has fallen out of a track or a groove or anything like that. I can still manually slide the black sunshade (the one closer to the ground than the glass sunroof) without any problem.

Thanks in advance.

[danewilson77]

Do you hear motor spin when you hit the button? Maybe a fuse blew?

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

There's a manual crank that's accessible when you pop the little hatch for the sunroof motor.

I believe you need an allen key for it. If you're able to move it manually and the fuse is good, then the motor might be shot.

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[cakM3]

I had a similar problem with my sunroof switch and thought my switch was bad. Long story short....what I did to correct my problem was to push the switch forward and hold it in that position for 10 seconds. That is supposed to "reset" the switch and then sunroof should work properly. I haven't had any other issues since.

Here's a few links you can also check out:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=469077

http://www.bmwgm5.com/E46_Moonroof.htm

[2004_blue_zhp]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try tomorrow AM and see how it goes. I really hope the 10-second-hold-to-reset fixes things. Dane, when I push the button there is *zero* response. No noise, no grinding, no movement.

[danewilson77]

That sounds like a fuse to me...or complete failure of the motor. Fuse 46?

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/E46FuseDiagram-1.jpg

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[2004_blue_zhp]

Ok. If the reset procedure suggested above doesn't work, I'll have a look at fuse #46. Is there any visual cue that a fuse is blown? Hard to find a replacement?

[danewilson77]

Ok. If the reset procedure suggested above doesn't work, I'll have a look at fuse #46. Is there any visual cue that a fuse is blown? Hard to find a replacement?

Sounds good. Let us know.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

Ok. If the reset procedure suggested above doesn't work, I'll have a look at fuse #46. Is there any visual cue that a fuse is blown? Hard to find a replacement?

Pull a fuse of similar ampere and try it in #46. That will tell you for sure whether that one is bad. Replacement should be easy to find.

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[iZHP]

I had an interesting issue yesterday...I would have no mirror-down for reverse, my radio was acting up (would work but steering wheel controls wouldn't control anything, and radio presets displayed the same channel but played the different stations), time stayed at 6:52PM, seatbelt warning light on dash stayed lit (even with seatbelt on). Turns out I just had to reset my car by unplugging the battery for a few minutes.

Happened to me about a year ago, but not as many symptoms (just the no-reverse tilt mirror).

Maybe you should try that?

[2004_blue_zhp]

Ok!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Here's how things ended up (in excruciating detail for anyone who ever winds up in the same situation).

I got in the car, turned everything on, and pushed "up" (vent). The rear of the moonroof opened as it should. I pushed "forward" (close). No response. Deep breath, let's try the reset procedure. Push "up" (vent) for 10 seconds. Nothing. Ok, some people said it would take 30 seconds. So I keept holding "up" (vent) and eventually (honestly probably around 25 seconds or so) there was some motor response. Good sign.

Wit the car still on, I then pushed "forward" (close) and had no response. Ok, fine, keep trying the reset procedure. So I held "forward" (close) for around 25 seconds and again heard some motor noise. (It's hard to describe exactly what the roof did when this noise happened. It basically just wiggled a bit. Maybe it vented a bit "higher" but I'm not sure that's the best way to describe it.) Ok. Deep breath. Tried pushing "back" (open) and sure enough everything opened perfectly (including retracting the sunshade fully into the headliner).

Seems like now everything works absolutely perfectly. Thanks everyone very much for your fast, and *perfectly on point* suggestions.

In return for the help, I'll try to snap a few photos of my car this weekend and add them to the (currently underpopulated) Mystic Blue thread.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Good work.


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

Great news. Family troubleshooting and repair FTW.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[cakM3]

Glad to hear that everything worked out :thumbsup

[kayger12]

Good deal, man. Glad it's squared away.