sunroof motor problems(new to forums)

[lonewlf00]

Im new to this forum cause just last week i got a prelude as my second car and i want to make this car look like new
and i have read alot in this forum and i thought it would be a good idea to join

i just got a prelude and it has a few problems but one of the first i want to tackle is the sunroof it can open with no problem but when it comes to closing it falls short it closes half way and then it tries to come down scratching the paint
does anyone know what i can do about this?

[LudemanDan]

Welcome to the forum! You might want to clean and lube the tracks. They can accumulate a lot of grime over the years. They are, however, difficult to access thoroughly. If you can't solve the problem by dropping degreaser in there (or WD40 or your chemical of choice), you can disassemble the sunroof. It's a pain in the ass, but it's possible to do, as I can attest from when I swapped to a 5th gen glass roof. You have to remove the headliner, unbolt the sunroof tray from the ceiling and lower it all downward - be careful because it's steel and very heavy. From there you can kind of figure it out. Don't disassemble anything more than you need in order to clean the tracks, because the retraction mechanism is messy and complicated. I'd give you more detail if I could remember but it's been several years since I worked on it.

Dan

[doutry]

omg thats weird. i have the EXACT problem and situation. im new to the forum my 95 SE prelude is my second car and i wanna make my baby sweet
but my sunroof opens fine and closes just like his. drops about half way and wont go down more but will still open.
is there a tut on how i can take it off completly? i have a 94 prelude that i can use for parts cause it is a junker from my friends uncle and i can get what i need. so maybe the sunroof is broken or somethin? not sure ;/

[LudemanDan]

BTW, if you want to control it manually for any reason during your diagnosis, there is a 5mm hex head in the ceiling under the motor cover that you can use to turn the motor.

[doutry]

wait so if i just lube the tracks it will close fine?
cause what happens is when i open it its almost like it has trouble picking up then when i close it, it closes then a 3rd of the way in it drops and stops going so what i have to do to close it is put my hand on it and push up untill it reaches the end then let it drop

[LudemanDan]

Not sure about that, I've never fixed a bad one.

[doutry]

hmm. what do you think the problem would be if its dropping before the end of the track?
should i still grease it?
i was thinking i should take it off and trade it to my friends uncles junked 94/93 prelude but idk if its actually the sun roof but maybe the thing holding it?

[LudemanDan]

If you take out the headliner and start taking it apart from underneath, it will be easier to see the mechanism. There's not much you can see with it all put together.

[doutry]

unscrew the bolts on the side?
how do i get the ones in the back of the sun roof?

[skyyskyy]

sunroof removal

[doutry]

alright so lets see.
when i take it off what exactly am i suppose to fix lol...
cause i believe someone isnt holding up as strong. cause i close it and it drops to soon(half way) and starts to scrape paint. so is there something i need to replace that holds it up longer?