hello. im new to the site, and i have a bit of a problem. i opened my sunroof one day on my 01 and now it refuses to close. im pretty sure i still have power to the switch, but the sunroof wont even budge to close. any suggestions? thx.

 

Take it to your Ford dealer now. It could simply be the switch gone bad or loss of power to the motor. But if you have an early '01 with the first sunroof design, it could be much worse. The original sunroof design in the '01 Screws had enough problems that Ford redesigned the entire assembly and you cannot even get replacement parts for the original design anymore according to my dealer. Mine came apart the day before a long road trip and got stuck back inside of the headliner. Luckily the guys at the dealer were able to pull the sliding sunshade out which freed the glass enough for it to close. There was a metal bracket in the original design that pulled the sun shade back when the glass was opened that came apart and got all bent up inside the headliner. The only way to repair it according to my dealer is to replace the entire sunroof assembly since Ford does not have repair parts available anymore for the original. The assembly is about $1,000 bucks installed and requires total removal of the headliner and any overhead consoles, etc. Although my '01 KR 4x4 Screw was out of warrenty when it happened to me earlier this year, the dealer worked with Ford to cover half the cost so I ended up $500 out-of-pocket and was without the truck 3 days. It was not a simple repair (having gone back to the service bay when everything was torn out and seeing what looked like most of the interior laying around outside the truck) but the service guys did a great job getting everything back in place. The new design of the sunroof assembly is much more solid looking and sounding when the glass is moving. I think the assembly even includes replacing the headliner since I remember them writing down the interior color and when I got it back I noticed the section over the back seats looks like it is shaped slightly different. I guess I could have been a pain in the *** and demanded that Ford cover the whole cost since it was obviously a desgin error on their part, but I was happy that the dealer took the incentive and saved me enough that I ended up not paying anymore than I probably would have if they had just repaired the other. To end on a positive note, the new sunroof is getting tons of use and is working flawlessly. I am not scared to use it.

 

thanx for the insight fortel. im taking it to the dealer asap!!!

 

Yes, I know exactly what your talking about. This happend in my 02. Now I have a 05 and guess what it happend again. They just replaced the sunroof assembly and headliner. I won't be buying another sunroof from Ford ever again....and that really sucks. I like having it.

 

Other than waiting to see if it fails , does anyone know of a way to see if I have the original 01 sunroof design or the newer design? I just bought my 01 about a month ago, so I'd like to at least know whether to keep a close eye on it or not - especially since I use it every morning that it's not raining before it gets hotter than heck (but not compared to summer in Texas )

 

whitecrystal1 - I hate that it happened in the new trucks. I hoped that the experience with the '01 assemblies would have helped Ford avoid a repeat but I guess it proves the first year or two of a vehicle redesign is still iffy. I bought my '01 KR 4x4 Screw used and never would have coughed up the money for such a loaded truck new. My personal experience is that the King Ranch leather is very nice looking but a very large pain in the *** to take care off. I will never get another KR package since I use the truck as a truck and the KR leather is not suited to anything but dressing up and going to town to the movie type of use. But the sunroof is something I have really enjoyed and used. Here in Missouri the weather allows me to use it a majority of the year other than dead of winter and right in the middle of summer. I love having the top open. I hate to think that for what a F150 costs, you can't depend on the sunroof operating correctly. Keep us posted on what the story is with your '05.

kdias - my guess is the only way to know is if you have a good, honest dealership that would look at it and tell you. I looked at the replacement again yesterday and honestly I can't remember enough of the old assembly's details to describe a difference between the two. I seem to remember the old headliner was smoother where the replacement has an obvious shape molded into it for the glass to retract into.

 

I wanted to get the king ranch this time as well. I bought my truck this year and was shopping for a 05 left over because it had an additional 1500 in rebates. Well I did find one KR but like you said about the leather 2 kids and boating on the weekend was not a good match.
Kdias I would guess and say you have the old style as did my 02. Good luck with it.

 

It can be manually retracted if it is not off track…

I recently went though this were my roof in my 2001 Supercrew was stuck in the retracted position. After an hour of taking my truck apart I dropped the headliner and there is an allen head that you can put a T wrench in and retract it. I had found that one of my coil springs was out of the cover that it was supposed to go into. I lubed it and put it back together (also safety wired it in place).

All is well and I also drilled a small hole in my headliner which is 5 and 7/8” from the center clip that is visible when the headliner is back in place (from the center spot, of the large push in clip). If this ever happens again I should be able to put a wrench up through the hole and into the motor and manual retract it or close it.

I tried it ½ a dozen times and it worked great (both open and closing as well as using the cracked open position).

All is well and my “auto” function works once again. .

Later
153K and still running strong…

 

WFO 180

Thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU

I know it has been 3 years since you posted your solution, but you were right on. My Lincoln Blackwood's sunroof stuck open. I followed your advice and measured back 5 7/8 inch, cut a very small hole and there it was! A 1/4 inch Alan wrench and I manually closed the sun roof! Fixed the hole and all is well.

You saved me a bunch of bucks!!!!

 

You boys cutting holes in your headliners are killling me

 

The sunroof on my 2003 F150 4x4 got stuck in the open position today.
Forums say to manually close it you must remove the entire interior headliner or drill a hole at the sunroof motor in the headliner.

I found an easier way.

1. Find two plastic push pins in headliner near interior rear window. Pull out.
2. Rear of headliner can now be pulled down a few inches.
3. Open rear cab center sliding window.
4. Now exit cab, climb into the truck bed, stick hands through rear cab window and pull down headliner. You can now see above headliner.
5. Sunroof motor is right in front of open window in center. There is a white/grey gearbox to the right of motor. On the gearbox is a small hole.
Insert 1/8" Allen wrench into hole, and turn clockwise to manually close sunroof.
6. Re-intall plastic push pins,

It's a little hard to fit hands above headliner and turn Allen wrench, but approx. 15 turns gets the sunroof closed.

This way took only 10 minutes!!! Pretty neat to fix problem while standing in the truck bed.

 

I'm resurrecting a decade old thread to give a huge thank you to @windprof . You just saved me a ton of work and money.

Yesterday I hit the Auto button on my 2002 F-150 King Ranch's sunroof. It opened further than it usually does and then refused to close. Close button did nothing - no clicks, didn't even try to engage the motor. Your procedure (quoted below) worked like a charm. I got under the headliner from the back, kneeled down in the bed, put my hands through the sliding rear window under the headliner and cranked the sunroof motor with the 1/8" Allen wrench just enough to close the sunroof a couple of inches. After that the close button started working again. I've opened and closed the sunroof several times now and it's working great.

I didn't want to spend hours pulling the entire headliner off and was about to give up and call the dealer when I came across your post. Had it fixed in 15 minutes. You just saved me a couple grand. Thanks buddy.

 

rpdubz
Glad this site saved you. That's what it's here for.

windprof hasn't posted in 9 years, but he may still be around lurking.