Body: Sunroof

Lubrication. [Editor] Using Mobil 1 Spray Lube, Superlube, or Valvoline Synpower clear spray oils, spray the following:

Front air deflector hinges and side pivot arm pins.
Cables within cable channels on the side. Locate these from within the car using a flashlight: they are within the side guides.
Pivots, levers, and hinges visible from inside the car.

Operate the sunroof to spread the oil and be able to see any spots you missed. Do this once per year.

Sunroof Motor/Crank Preventive Maintenance

For everyone with a sunroof in a 200, 700 and 900: Remove the crank handle and tighten the gear assembly screws. For electric sunroofs remove the cover and tighten the motor mounting screws. They all work loose over time and will cause the drive teeth and/or the drive cables to bind, wear out or get the lid misaligned and then the roof will not close. You might consider using a little Loctite on them to make certain they don't loosen. This little procedure will save you $100's of dollars

Emergency Retraction. If your electric sunroof will not retract, you can manually close it using a screwdriver. Remove the cover. You will see a large slotted screw, possibly with a ball bearing in the middle of it. Use a screwdriver to depress the bearing and turn the screw to manually operate the roof.

Sunroof Stuck Open: Check Electricals. [Inquiry] The moonroof on my 95' 940 opened tonight and immediately stuck in the ventilation position. The switch makes a clicking sound but the sunroof does not move. The fuse looked fine but I changed it anyway. Any suggestions? [Response: Rob Bareiss] You wouldn't be the first person to have a bad sunroof switch in a 740/940 with a power sunroof. It's likely to be the switch- replacement is pretty straightforward. Get a new one from Volvo, and it comes with a short piece of cable and the connector. How do you tell if it's a common failure item? It'll be IN STOCK at your local dealer (unless they just sold the last one...)

Sunroof Sticks When Closing. [Symptom: I have a 90 740 GLE and noticed that the sunroof is getting stuck when trying to close. I took out the motor, lubed everything and the motor appears to work fine. Also when the sunroof is closed if you look on the outside it doesn't appear to be sitting flush like it should.] [Diagnosis:] If your guides are not broken then you may just be out of adjustment. Adjustment is accomplished by loosening a number of screws, moving the roof and re-tightening. A Haynes or Bentley manual will help you through. If you do need to remove the sunroof there is an easy method. Open the roof to the vent position. Use a screw driver or needle nose pliers to release the springs that hold the sunroof liner to the roof. Push the liner back into the space where the roof would normally retract. This will expose all parts, and adjustment screws. [Response: Rob Abel] Our sunroof in our '93 940 acts goofy at times. Clicks and doesn't move - gets stuck - usually open - have had to close it manually by taking off cover and using screwdriver. On ours it's the switch. I take it out about once every two months, take it apart, clean up the contacts, and it works fine for the next two months. The only manual that will adequately address this is the Volvo factory body manual (Body Fittings: Exterior/ TP 8202201).

Electric Sunroof Alignment. [Inquiry] The power sunroof on my '91 940T has stopped functioning, and is stuck all the way "open" (tilted up, rather) and won't go back down. This follows a few weeks of CLICCLICKLCLIK when opened/closed, and some erratic operation. [Response: Kerry] (Applies to 1986 765) With your sunroof in the vent position you can remove the sunroof liner and check all the bolts on the mechanism and rail to realign the sunroof. To remove the liner:

With the liner out of the way you can check all the bolts and screws. You can see the adjustment Allen (some may be Torx or Phillips) screws in the four corners. Adjust these so that leading edge of sunroof is 1 MM lower than car roof.Adjust trailing edge 1 MM higher than car roof. This gives minimum wind noise. When I checked mine, I found two screws VERY loose and one about to fall out. Use some locktite blue on any you have to tighten up.
Then close the roof and hook the springs back on with the help of the coat hanger hook

The other thing is to remove the cover from the sunroof motor. There is a large screw with a button in the middle on the motor assembly. Turning the screw with a screwdriver will depress the button and allow you to move the sunroof BUT, it also adjusts the stop location for open and closed.

Sunroof Won't Open to Vent Position. [Tips from Ken Dibnah] If you have a 740 with an electric sunroof, when the roof is in the fully closed position you should be able to push the closed switch again and have the rear of the roof pop up to the 'vent' position. If you have a manual roof, after it reaches the closed position you feel a bit of resistance; you then continue moving the crank in the closed direction and the rear of the roof should pop up to the 'vent' position.

If your roof does not move at all, you must NOT pry up the rear edge manually as there are cast tracks at the rear of the panel that hold it in place and you will break, bend, or damage the tracks, roof or the panel.

Most likely it is out of alignment and too tight for the minimal leverage applied by the motor to move it, as well as being thoroughly gunked up. The secret to lack of motion is most likely binding in the up and down motion of the panel. If manual, try moving the crank back and forth, bearing in mind that the first motion the roof makes is that up and down motion at the rear of the panel. If there is resistance to the crank motion immediately, there is 'likely' to not be any damage in the screw mechanism, just binding of the panel in the roof.

If nothing moves as you move the crank towards 'vent', push up gently through that small rectangular opening inside the headliner on the rear of the panel to help it along, by just pushing it free of the roof. The tracks at the rear of the panel move the panel up and down, either to pull it down before retracting or to pop the rear of the panel up for the 'vent' position, and if they are damaged or too gunked up, they will resist opening. The device that is connected to the motor/crank via screw cables slides back and forth in these tracks, raising and lowering the panel, which will not be possible unless you can move the crank/motor. Try to get it high enough to be able to peer inside the roof from the outside to unhook the headliner clips - once you get those, all is revealed and you will be able to see why your roof is not functioning properly.

Re-Aligning the Crank Gears While Aligning the Sunroof. [Inquiry] I removed my crank to try to adjust the position of the sunroof. But the crank no longer clicks to a stop from the crank mechanism pin popping into the hole in the handle. How do I properly time the crank with these cycles?.[Tip from Bob] Start with the roof in the closed position. Remove the crank from the drive gear shaft. Remove the drive gear from the roof. Reinstall the crank, and turn clockwise (vent position) till it stops. Remove the crank and reposition it pointing straight ahead. Now, turn counter clockwise till it locks. Should be 2 revolutions. Reinstall the gear to the roof.

Cable Attachments Loose. [JMars ] If you can get the sunroof to open, you can sometimes work from the top down. Remove the metal stock wind deflector and it should reveal the motor driven gear where it engages the cables. There are two rivets on either side that attach the cables that often come loose. Replace them with pop rivets or self tapping screws and use a faucet washer over the gear to keep it inplace. My sun roof was jamming in the rear raised position and I fixed it in this way.

Sunroof Motor and Cable Alignment/Reindexing. [Qeury] My sunroof motor loosened up on the right side and now my panel is off kilter. (passenger side is one inch lower than driver side. I have removed clips and springs per FAQ but the liner will not slide back to reveal mechanicals... does anyone have a secret weapon for adjusting the worm drive when the motor is still in your way. [Tip from John Sargent] The motor (or hand crank) is supposed to move both cables an equal amount. When the motor was loose, it moved one cable without moving the other, and the cables are no longer indexed to each other. After you get one side of the sunroof where it is supposed to be, remove the motor, and look up at the cables. You'll see them on the front and rear of the opening. Then move one cable using a flat blade screwdriver. Watch to see you are moving the side which needs to be re-indexed. When you have adjusted one side to match the other, re-install the motor and try it electrically. With not too much trouble you can get the cables indexed to each other. [Dave Stewart] I loosened the motor again and using it in "out of spec" locations rocked the panel back to true.. [Don Stauffer] In my case, one side of the sunroof was in perfect alignment while the other was down too low. The result that when the motor was engaged the roof was "racking" against itself and was binding so it couldn't move. To fix it, take the motor out and "zero" it. Lubricate the tracks and the sliding mechanism. While the motor is out, carefully pry the cable which is attached to the errant side of the sunroof so it moves and slides the roof into perfect alignment. Now replace the motor and tighten all screws. When the motor is engaged, the roof should move easily.

960 Sunroof Adjustment. [Tip from Tom Irwin] Most of the posts I've seen here describe access as through the rear with the roof up in tilt/vent position. Something about unhooking some springs or clips to remove the "push back guard(?)" then push back the headliner panel into the roof....then something about some chingas with a torx screw

WRONG! Not on this run of 960's anyway. It took me a while to figure this out, so I hope someone will benefit. Basically the rear of the roof , when parked, was always about 5mm's below the roof line, while the leading edge was flush. I can hear this at highway speeds.

Don't do anything to the "push back guard", (not necessary) or look for springs or clips, (there aren't any.) Just leave the roof in parked position. Push back the panel was far as it will go without undoing anything. Up on both side of the roof, parallel to the tracks, you will find one per side of black/grey injection molded, plastic strips. Lift the lower edges and they snap right out.

Now there are 4 bolts with an 8mm head. one each at the front and rear of each track, left and right. Loosen each of these 1/2 of a turn. Push up one corner at a time, til it's flush with the roof line, then cinch the corresponding bolt tight. Snap the strips back in place and you are done.

[Inquiry] Recently I've noticed my sunroof seems to be sagging, and I'm wondering if there is some way to get it sitting straight again? [Tip from Rick Tilghman] There are two adjustable screw brackets that allow you to alter the sitting position of the sunroof (silver coppery color, one on either side in the back to control the angle of the "vent"). It is possible for these screws to become loose with time and allow the sunroof to drop down a bit to the lowest possible sisting position. Fix: vent the sunroof; from the outside undo the two springs that hold the headliner sunroof panel to the sunroof; use a long screwdriver to tighten the adjustment screws down while holding the sunroof at the desired angle.

[Inquiry] I tried adjusting my sunroof's sitting position, but it is currently maxed out and is STILL sagging below the roofline. Is there some other solution? [Tip from Rick Tilghman] This happened to the sunroof on my 1985 745t. The answer is a bit long, but bear with me and you'll be well informed. The adjustment screws on my sunroof were maxed, and the sunroof was still low. Looking closely I noticed that there was discoloration on the end of the metal bars that the adjustment screws hold the sunroof onto. These two levers, one on either side of the sunroof running parellel to the car's direction, control the venting action and sitting height of the sunroof. When I looked really close I noticed that the discoloration was, in fact, a spot that was supposed to connect the rear and front ends of these rods. Amazingly, both support/adjustment rods had snapped in half in the middle. The flaw: In 700 sunroofs there is a metal bracket on each side with two grooves in it. The front groove is long and closed at both ends. This groove allows a metal pin to slide back and forth, limiting and manipulating the sunroofs vent action. The second groove is closed at the top and open at the bottom, providing secondary (but pivotal) support for the venting mechanism. When the sunroof is up ALL FORCE is applied to the small piece of metal (about 1/4" square) that closes the top of this second groove. This piece of metal is inadequate for the job, and over time the piece breaks from the combination of upward force applied via the levering and downward pull via springs and resistance. Once this piece snaps in two, the back of the sunroof sags down in the resting position due to the lack of support, making it IMPOSSIBLE to get it sitting right ever again. The interesting thing was what I noticed when I examined NEWER Volvos. NONE of the newer volvos sunroof brackets were snapped, and all were in perfect working order. ALL newer volvos utilize a slightly modified design that redistributes the force applied to the metal bracket more evenly between the front and back of the metal bracket. It does this via one major change: In the earlier models there is a metal arm approximately 2" long that reaches to a pin that sits in the aformentioned open ended groove on the rear of the venting arm. In the newer models this arm is replaced with a 5"- 6" piece that reaches past the mechanism to the every back end of the bracket. Additionally, there is a metal bar extending from one side of the sunroof to the other that helps to push the brackets out slightly and keep the pieces oriented properly. This extender has springloaded ends that slip over silver arm extentions from the front groove. Instead of having the springs slip through holes in the little arms of the front grooves (like the older models), the springs in the newer design have plastic o-rings that slip around the metal rods. Because of this and the extender bar, the pull from the springs and general downward is dissipated over the entire arm, eliminating the possibility of breakage. If you notice your sunroof is sagging constantly, and that you can't seem to get it to stay at the height you want, even WITH massive adjustment of the sitting screws, this may be your problem. Open the roof in the vent position and use a flashlight to take a closer look. This problem is apparently limited to earlier production models, but it is possible that later years could experience the same problem if excessive downward force is applied to the sunroof (a luggage carrier comes to mind). Repair: The fix for this is nasty and tedious, but it is doable and inexpensive if you have access to a junkyard. Replace your sunroof supports and mechanics with the newer design from a junker. The sunroof roof itself is only held into place by 6-8 screws, and lifts out once you gain access to these and remove them. You only need to replace the support struts and accompanying components, not the roof itself (but removing it makes it easier to gain access to the elements). Make sure to take ALL the little pieces you take off the junker... many pieces may look similar to ones you have but they are slightly different (so substitution isn't really possible).

[Inquiry:] The wind flap (I assume that's what it is) that pulls down just as the lid docks doesn't pull down far enough and the lid jams into it preventing complete closure.

[Response: Dennis Jeong ] Tilt the roof up and pull both of the cover flap spring rod loose (it pulls toward the rear of the car). There is one towards each upper corner of the cloth cover . Close the roof and pull the inner cover towards the rear of the car. Check the top of the roof, if it's flush then look at the adjustable catch on the front edge of the roof panel. It should not tightly hold down, there should be a little play. There are four copper colored screw, two per side side. These determine the overall height of the panel and it's fit. Loosen the front catches then adjust the copper screws. Play around with it, you'll figure out how it works. DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING. If you break anything, you'll need to get a used part. The sunroof mechanicals are sold as a unit only. Very expensive.

[Tips from Rick Tilghman] Recently my sunroof flap began to vibrate while driving. Having read other posts from brickers about this annoyance, I thought I'd post my results. While I've disassembled the unit, I've never really thought about the wind flap... it was always just kind of there. Anyway, my first assumption drawn from incidental "looks" at the piece was that the responsibility for anti-rattle lay with the two horizontally mounted springs under the flap (parallel to flap). They just looked weak and responsible. However, when I pulled all the parts I noticed that a cout hanger looking piece of metal was sticking out from under one of the retaining arms connected to the sunroof. I had thought these arms were only responsible for pulling the flap down, but this proved incorrect. After disassembly of the arms it turns out that there is a premolded piece of steel (white metal coat hanger in dimensions) that is curved to bendup into the arm and provide resistance. It also turns out that these pieces and their accompanying brackets aren't stainless, because the whole damned thing was rusting like mad. One of the pre-molded pieces actually snapped as I was playing with it. Anyway, the solution was just to uncouple the retaining arms from the flap (you have to push the flap to a straight up position to do this with it in place), push the arms up out the way, remove the pre-molded resistance piece, bend it appropriately so that it is forcefully "loaded", and reinstall. Once this is completed you may notice your flap riding high and failing toclose properly... generally a side effect of pushing the flap up to get it unhooked and playing with it over time. Just put two blocks under the outside edges of the flap (screw driver handles work well) and gently flex the entire flap down so that its overall shapes doesn't ride quite so high in the middle. Close and open the sunroof after each small flex to make sureyou don't overdo it... you only want it to just clear the sunroof edge. (you could also solve this by altering the bend in the retaining arms themselves, bending them up so the sunroof contacts and drives them down farther earlier, but that metal is a three way piece and much more resistant to general "flexing".) If you need to replace the pre-molded steel first bet is a junkyard brick, second bet is the hardware store (you just need a piece of thin and lightly maleable steel in the appropriate dimensions), final is Volvo (maybe they should be first, but something tells me they don't supply this piece separately). I should also note that the job is slightly easier if you remove the retaining arms entire connection bracket. To do this just loosen the screws that hold teh runner down and gently flex it up about 1/3". The connector can be finnagled out without full removal. End result is an absolutely quiet windflap.

[Inquiry] Does anyone have experience with the plex wind deflectors? Does it help the buffeting? Worth the bother? [Responses] It does seem to cut the wind noise. Wind deflector definately worth it!! My 89 740 has one and it makes driving with sunroof open quiet even at 75 mph...well, not silent but quiet.

Sunroof Leaks. [Inquiry:] We just got an 89 740GL, the owner said that the sunroof only leaked when washed with a high pressure spray. This is not the case, it just rained and the headliner is wet. I looked at the seal? if that's the black strip that goes around the whole sunroof, it seemed ok. I'd imagine that the water goes past that seal and into that black gutter type thing on the aft side and drains overboard. I don't have a manual yet so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work.

[Response: Tony Stanley] If its a factory fitted sunroof the 'seal' is not to meant to be a perfect seal and the gutter should carry away the water. The chances are the drain is blocked, or the hose is kinked. They drain to the front and rear. The front goes down the A pillars flowing out behind the front wheel, the rear goes out the C pillars and down the rear quarter panel, flowing out behind the wheel. [Don Hodgdon] The drain holes for the front sunroof drains are just below the leading edge of the front door. If you feel under the rocker panel, there is a "D" shaped hole that the water from the sunroof and the fresh air vent (at the base of the windshield) drain to. they can be clogged with undercoating. Water from the sunroof's rear drain holes goes back through plastic tubes, down the C pillars, through the trunk (you have to peel back the carpet on the sides of the trunk to see the hoses) and out through a plastic fitting mounted to the lower quarter panels, hidden on the outside by the rear bumper trim. Debris from the rear window drains clog up the plastic fitting which can flood your trunk and cause the sunroof drains to back up. You can disconnect the hoses and use a shop-vac with a hose taped to the nozzle to clear out any stubborn debris. [Editor] To clear blockages in the tubes, use a long cable with a non-snagging end so you can rotate it within the tube as it is pushed down from the sunroof. Compressed air might either compress the blockage or burst the tubes apart deep with the pillars.

[Rick Tilghman] Over time the sealing ring around the sunroof's edge becomes worn and frayed, allowing water to leak in regardless of how the roof is seated. The fix is to pull the sunroof panel and replace the sealing ring with a new one. Note: you HAVE to remove the roof to do this since the ring slips off from the bottom. The seal sits on the bottom lip and can be removed by pressing down on it. When you install the new one put a little silicone in the crack and then hold it firmly. This will help make sure the new ring doesn't slide down and dislodge when you vent or move the sunroof.

This causes the sunroof to perpetually sag and fail to achieve the solid seal that prevents water from entering the cabin, affecting both the sunroof headliner and the headliner surrounding the sunroof opener. See the Sunroof Sag section for details.

[Adam Stevens] In trying to trace a significant water leak from my sunroof, I saw that the water appeared to be getting into the greased 'tracks' that guide the sunroof backwards and forwards (they look like a channel on either side of the sunroof about 2-3 inches from the edge of the sunroof opening and are supposed to catch and get rid of any water that gets past the weather seal around the outside of the glass) and then into the 'guttering' that runs around the outside of the mechanism, thence to the bottom of the plastic corner pieces of the gutter. It seemed a little odd as it was leaking from both sides. It was then that I noticed water between the weather seal and glass on my glass panel. When I removed the glass panel and stood it on its end water dripped out. I pulled the seal off to find that water had been getting under the seal and managing to track around the glass panel thanks to Volvo's crap attempt at sealing the glass to the frame. The sealant was not in the joint for much of the time, but a few mm off which allowed it to act as a nice irrigation channel. The water then reappeared above the guide rails and hence the leak. Had I spotted it before I removed the entire sunroof, I could have undone the 4 bolts holding the glass panel and changed the seal with all other trim and fixtures in place. Alternatively, some silicone sealant would have done the job in minutes. Blast. A few hours job which took me days to trace and fix. [John Seaton]

I removed the seal around the glass and had a good look. It seems the glass is bonded onto a metal frame. This bond had gone in places and was letting water through. So with a little time to clean up and reseal then placing the main seal back , no more leaks.

[Charles Salley] I used a black silicone trim sealant from my local auto parts store that came with a fine nozzle attachment to force the product into tight areas. I first gently pried back the rubber gasket on the glass side and scraped all the crap off to ensure a good seal, then forced the sealant around the perimeter of the glass. Problem solved.

[Tip from Warren Bain. See also Ken Didnah's sunroof overhaul tips below.] These are the procedures I used to fix my sunroof. Mine would not flip up in the back, in fact one side would not flip up, the other would. The sunroof would retract but would not close without my help. I determined one control mechanism was broken so I bought both, since one was bad, the other might not be far behind, and I didn't want to do this repair twice.

The first and most important step is to determine the extent of your sunroof problem. Will it move at all, will it retract ok and not close, will it flip up in the back? I will not discuss the more involved procedures, cable replacement, sealing strip replacement, cable sleeve replacement or complete removal of the frame. I will also not discuss 140's and 240's since I have only experience with 700's. Some 900's have a moonroof, a glass panel instead of stamped steel, like my 965, and I will not address them. I will discuss adjustment and control mechanism replacement.

When you have determined the extent of the problem and want to continue, open the sunroof to the ventilation position. From the outside, release the spring clips from the sunroof lining, a pair of needle nose pliers works for this.

See it wasn't that bad! Take your time, have a friend assist, maybe even videotape the entire procedure, just in case.

Sunroof Overhaul. [Tips from Ken Dibnah on stuck sunroofs] Is the roof manual or electric? If it is electric, there may be electrical problems with motor, switches, wires and fuses, which I will not deal with. Will it open? My experience with them is the 'tracks' at the rear of the roof that raise and lower the panel, pot metal I think, break and jam everything up. Also the roof is rarely cleaned or lubricated: if this is done carefully, the only thing to do is to replace worn/broken bits and then adjust the 4 adjusting screws, one at each corner.
You may also have to replace the sealer that lives around the perimeter of the sliding panel, as it may not provide the exact clearance required to allow movement yet still seal.
I will assume it is electric and the motor works (although it may be seized, have faulty microswitches, or need an overhaul - usual motor clean-up with commutator-cleaning and possibly lubrication, although it may have sealed bearings (most likely)). If it does not work, remove the panel that covers it and use the tool that is supplied in the tool kit, inserted in the shaft, to manually move it. Also, when you look at the motor, there is a guarded-by-paint screw that I believe is used to adjust the microswitches, but I have not observed any change when I fiddled with my own. There may be an issue with these switches as to positioning when the motor stops, but bear in mind it is possible to toss the motor and use a crank/manual version from another model.
Do you know how to get at the roof? Open up the rear roof part in the vent position and peer inside. There are 2 clips that are best removed/gripped with needle-nose pliers, unclip them and these will release the head-liner cover from the moving panel. Go back inside the car and push the headliner back in its slot, but not too far in lest it get jammed, as it likes to do; everything is now revealed.
The panel just sits on the tracks in the front, and is actually a loose fit. Most likely you will see that the screw/worm that drives the roof back on either side will be gummed up with old grease/lube, in typical Volvo fashion; I found that liberal doses of WD40 loosened the goo so it was possible to remove a lot of it. Re-lube was done with spray lithium grease, but beware the close proximity to headliner et al, the grease fairly flies about and careful masking is required.

Sunroof Removal. [Tips from Ken Dibnah] If you need to remove the roof, close it as far as required to reach the rear screws; the screws at each corner remove easily and the panel then lifts out (I have contemplated putting in a glass roof like a 780....hmmmm). Put a blanket on the roof so you have somewhere to set the panel. Taking it off may not be necessary, but it would make it easier to clean all the tracks. I used a dry stick lube on the tracks, but I think something less viscous might help the operation (perhaps the aforementioned lithium grease?), but I would worry about getting it on clothing etc. I have a vague memory of some cables and small springs? I do not have them on my roof, but maybe on an older one? Other car I worked on was a crank-driven roof on an 85 740 GLE, but I think there was no involvement with these cables, except to unclip 'em when the panel came out? If yours doesn't have 'em, forgive my 'old' moment.
If you replace broken tracks/racks, I would replace them in pairs, as whatever shock that has caused the roof to fail may have affected both sides. As I recall, they are involved with split-rings, diabolically small and determined to shoot far under your workbench.
The front of the roof pops up into position only by riding up on the collapsed wind deflector. There are (2?) rubber snubbers that sit under the deflector, only glued in, and frequently these have vanished, therefore not encouraging the roof to finish in the flush position. The rear pops into place by the action of the racks, those that are most likely damaged, and its position is adjusted by the screws that you remove to take off the panel, as well as by the position of the worms when the motor shuts off - you can observe this as the worm should sit in the bottom of the rack, holding it flush, when the motor stops turning. You can remove all the tracking/guides/bearing surfaces from the car, just by undoing everything and replacing it in order, but why would you want to? If a worm has broken, perhaps, but cleaning in situ should suffice. With the roof out, your experience should allow you to fix whatever I have neglected to mention. Look for warping, physical damage etc. [Tips from Dan Williams] Removing the sunroof is not as daunting as you might think. There are 8 to 12 screws that hold it in place. First, raise it to the vent position and from the outside, press down on the inner panel to locate the spring clips. They are fairly obvious and easy to access with needle-nose pliers. Back inside, go from vent to 'slide open' mode but only open the sunroof a few inches. Grab the inner panel and slide it straight back to disengage it from the sunroof panel. A quick jerk is required, or the whole panel will move. I used a lightweight mallet - no damage to be done because the fabric was being replaced. Back outside with the panel almost fully extracted remove the screws mentioned above. They can be easily found by looking at the pan for where they protruce. Some of the serews are machine screwsa and some are sheet metal screws. To access the screws on the front will require you to 'spring' the wind deflector open wider than normal. You may have to adjust any slight bend out when you put it all back in. Now just pull the whole assembly out through the top. Place a blanket on the roof in front of the opening to avoid any scratches. I didn't remove the crank mechanism from the rail network, and was able to get it all out and back in, but I believe others recommend removing it before lifting all out. Be carefull with the inner panel. There are some plastic glides that slip over the end of the panel where it moves in the side guides. They can be broke or lost. Alternate solution: Drop the whole pan that holds the sunroof in place. This requires you to remove the four hoses and clips around the perimiter. I have not tried this, but it may actually be easier if you have a second pair of hands. Might be a good idea in your case since you are concerned about the hoses being clogged.

Removing Sunroof Switch. [Editor] The sunroof switch fails frequently, usually showing intermittent symptoms, because of the high current loads through the switch. See the FAQ section for instructions to remove it.

Electric Sunroof Motor Overhaul.
[Tips on Motor and Cam Follower Overhaul] There have been some comments recently about 740 electric sunroof problems. My experience with my '90 740 GLE follows. Perhaps it may be of use to others.
Problem: occasionally, if the sunroof were opened to either the full back or full tilt position, it would not be possible to move it out of these positions. When pushing the switch, the click if the motor solenoid could be heard, but the motor did not operate. Sometimes, persistence paid off and the roof would close after a few tries, but on other occasions, the only way to get it to close was to remove the plastic panel covering the motor and with a large common screwdriver turn the drive shaft 1/4 turn in the closed direction (as evidenced by movement of the roof) after which the motor would respond to the switch input.

Seized sunroof motor. [Colin Shepherd] Wire 12v direct to the motor connections as a first step to isolating the problem before stripping out the micro-switches etc. Mine had a seized drive motor armature bearing and all worked fine when this was freed off.
Problem in the switch(es) internal to the motor unit.
Repair action for microswitches:

[Photo courtesy of Mike Ponte] With the motor out of the car, remove the white plastic cover over the switch cam (I'm making up names as I go here). It is held in place by three snap clips and is easy to remove. This will reveal a large (2+ in dia) white plastic cam disk that is driven by the motor/gearbox output gear. On this disk are three cams.

There are black plastic cam followers that activate one microswitch each on the top and bottom cams. On the middle of the three cams there is a white plastic follower that moves a plastic leaf that in turn activates both microswitches. The black cam followers had fairly sharp points that rested on the surface of the cam, while the white one had a rather blunt point. My conclusion was that the white one had worn to the point that it no longer activated the microswitches reliably. To overcome this I glued a piece of cardboard (as in cereal box, although others may come up with a preferred method) to the ivory coloured plastic leaf the follower contacts. The cardboard was positioned so that the follower would contact it, thus compensating for the presumed wear to the tip of the follower. I then applied some grease to the surface of the cam with the hope of minimizing further wear and put everything back together.

Result: So far the sunroof has operated 100% reliably. I hope my conclusion about wear to the cam follower was correct and that the roof will continue to work properly.

A properly working motor will rotate (as seen from the bottom and in vent position) CCW about 1 turn to closed, pause, push SR button again and CCW about 8 turns to full open. Not exactly sure about # of turns.

If the motor still just clicks then it will likely one of the two microswitches located in the timing gear cover.

Sunroof Won't Stop at Close: Motor Defective. [Inquiry:] My sunroof will not stop in the closed position and therfore the user must get out and look at the roof to make sure it is closed properly. The local dealer says the "stop" mechanism in the motor has failed and the only solution is to replace the motor or live with the nuisance. [Editor: see overhaul notes above. An overhaul is labor intensive and a new motor might be a better choice] [Response: Rob Bareiss] Replace the motor or live with it. You might get lucky and find a good one in a junkyard. If that fails locally, try calling the used parts suppliers who advertise at the Brickboard. They have more nationwide connections. I will bet that they won't guarantee one of those motors once it's out of their sight. Alternately you can bite the bullet and buy the $300 motor new from your friendly local dealer. Seems to be happening to a lot of '88's lately. Can't guess why except they're about the right age to fail, and they're among the earliest cars to have this unit.

Electric Sunroof Motor Needs to Be Zeroed. [Tip from Jim Urban] Don't know if you are aware of this, but: to zero out the power motor:
1. Disconnect the motor from the gears.
2. Hold the motor in your hand and run the motor rearwards to the stop position (4-5 secs).
3. Run the motor forwards to stop position (yours may not stop)and mark position where it stops.
4. Run motor forwards again (should go to vent position).
5. Run motor forward (1-2 secs). It should close from vent postion. Mark where it stops.
If motor doesn't stop in same position, adjust it using a screwdriver. Adjust it between the two stop marks.
6. Put the control arms in the neutral position (the little wing on the arm is in the notch in the rail.
7. Install the motor. If the motor won't line up, move the control arm forward on one side
(1-2mm). Still a problem? Move that arm back to neutral position and try it on the other side.
Your gears are working, so I think this will work. If not, I can't help.

Sunroof: Replace Motor with Crank. [Inquiry:] My sunroof motor has died and I do not want to spend $400-500 to replace with a new Volvo motor. Can a manual sunroof crank device replace an existing sunroof motor? How extensive is it to perform, or is it a square peg into a round hole... Do you know of a good aftermarket manual crank or motor unit available? [Response: W. Bain] I have a manual crank in my '86 744Ti and it is blissful. My 965 has an electric motor. Go to the junkyard and find a donor with a manual cover and crank and remove the handle, the gear mechanism, the plastic trim and ALL screws. Make sure the sunroof itself sits in the roof properly, i.e. flat and level, while fully and properly closed . Remove the power motor and tape up the wires. Swap the manual for the power parts. The crank mechanism needs to be centered properly, otherwise it will need to be re-centered.

Sunroof: Replace Crank with Motor. [Tips from George Holmer] To convert your manual sunroof to a electric one and enjoy the luxury of a smooth, button operated opening and closing of the sunroof, simply do as follows: At a breakers yard, find a sunroof motor, a motor cover colour matched to your headlining and a switch matching your dash style. Get as much wire as possible. Once home, remove the sunroof rank handle and then the cover to expose the mechanism. Remove the mechanism too and replace with motor, this is a direct fit. Now, you have to wire it in. Remove the trim bit that goes along the top of the windshield and also the mirror, the sun visors and the sun visor clips. Finally, remove the grab handles and trim behind the grab handles on one side to expose the screw fixing the A pillar trim which you then also remove and the panel underneath the steering column above the driver's feet. First, ground the sunroof motor by attaching the black wire to one of the sunroof bolts. The pull the red and blue wire to the switch which you have fitted in a spare switch socket and attach red to red and blue to blue. Finally, wire the black switch wire to an grounding point and the blue/yellow wire to a power supply, preferably the fuse which according to your fuse board is the one for the power sunroof. Now re-connect the ground lead on the battery and test sunroof.

Sunroof Headliner Replacement. [Tip from Chris Mullet] When I replaced my sunroof headliner, I left the sunroof in place, but dropped the back end of the pan (over the back seat) and slid the sunroof headliner panel out the back. I had to remove or loosen all the screws out of the pan except for the ones across the front which kept everything in its proper location. That way, I didn't have to do a bunch of re-adjusting of the sunroof itself when reassembling. Worked slick.

[Editor] There is a Volvo TSB (83910, August 1994) describing a procedure to replace the headliner on the sunroof and the inner panel.

[Rick Tilghman] Let me just say that you want to use 1/8" headliner EVERYWHERE, not just on the sunroof. Don't listen to what anyone else tells you... trust me and ask for 1/8" material. If the store you go to (a fabric store) doesn't have it have them order a new roll. The reason for this is that the headliner must go under various edges around the car (including under that plastic edge at the sunroof opening) and the 1/4" is too thick to fit. Also, the 1/4" material is much heavier and will pull off the headliner backing board over time faster than the 1/8".)

[Tip from Lawrence] With the sunroof in the vent position, release the springs so the sunroof will lay flat (you will need to use needle nose pliers to reach underneath to release the spring, the spring holds the sunroof headliner to the sunroof). Then from inside or outside the car(wherever you can get a good bite) give the sunroof headliner a shove(a mighty shove) to the rear. It's held by two clips in the front. The headliner will release from these two clips when you push it back. A shove will release. But you can't baby it. Pull, shove, whatever. Once you push the sunroof headliner out of the way, you can reach everything else.

Removing the Sunroof Pan to Replace the Headliner. [Dave Rogers] If your car has a sunroof, replacing the headliner is more difficult. It is frankly best to remove the sunroof assembly. When I did my headliner, I removed the pan in which the sunroof is mounted:

Replacing the sunroof is the opposite of install, just make sure that the rear of the sunroof assembly mounts into the holes at the rear of the sunroof pan. In all this took me about 2 hours to do.