sunroof / moonroof reseal

[aardvarkash10]

Its May, and yet here in NZ it feels like a particularly benign UK spring. We have had so little rain, the council is now enforcing a 50% reduction in water use.

But it must be coming. And in fact it is tomorrow - forecast tells us 20-25mm an hour for 8 hours or so.

And Moomin's sunroof was still leaking Niagara Falls of rain on occupants, as it had been doing for four years.

The delay in action was out of fear. At least the seal was on the glass yeah? If I took it off, would it crumble and leave me seal-less? And the instructions for removing the roof and its mechanisms looked daunting. And confusing.

Is a glass sunroof a sunroof, or a moonroof? When people discussed removing or repairing a sunroof, did they mean glass, or steel? AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaargh!!!!

Lockdown boredom overcame all that crap.

I can confirm that a GLASS roof is spectacularly easy to remove. Push the sunshade (the slidey-inside-the-car bit) back as far as it will go. On each side of the now exposed sunroof, directly beneath the glass itself, is a thin plastic trim. It unclips easily so go right ahead. Now you can see the two bolts on each side that hold the glass itself to the mechanism. The heads are 8mm, so get your 1/4" drive socket set out and undo them.

And pull the glass out!

Damn, that was easy - why did I wait four years???

I hardened up and pulled the seal off the glass. It's NOT constructed as I thought it was. The seal grips to the 1.5mm steel surround that the glass is glued to. There is a shoulder to the glass, and the seal cozies up to that shoulder and slightly over the edge of the glass.

The shoulder SHOULD have caulking or sealant in it, but 20 years of weather and stuff and that was non-existant. A previous owner had used semi-liquid black sealant gunk to refit the seal, but had been parsimonious with it.

So, I cleaned the entire sunroof with an alcohol-based solvent. I then used a standard wet-area silicone sealant in a caulking gun and liberally coated the entire shoulder area of the sunroof. I then cleaned and filled the inside of the seal with the same stuff.

I planned on doing this just once.

I left the sealant to tack off slightly and then refitted the seal. To clamp it firmly to the glass and make sure there were no gaps or places where the seal hadn't "bottomed" I wrapped a tie-down around the perimeter of the sunroof over the seal and tightened it down good and solid. This clamped the seal to the glass while the sealant set up. Once it had set up, it was easy to scrape off excess sealant with a razorblade.

Haynes has excellent refitting instructions which I followed to the letter.

Today, I tested the repair and I'm pleased to say it was a success! I TOTALLY regret not having attacked this earlier. I now look forward to going out in the rain and playing in puddles.

[Ian21401]

Well done Ash. I haven’t yet managed to update re my replacing the seal and deflector on my steel sunroof but hope to do so in the next few days. Removing the steel sunroof is slightly more involved.

[Laird Scooby]

Good work Ash! Hope you enjoy playing in your puddles!

Don't forget to rub silicone grease into the rubber outer part of the seal to keep it supple andconditioned so it continues to seal to the body - it also quietens down a "squeaky" seal that you notice as you drive down a bumpy road.

Like Ian says, the steel sunroof is a lot harder to remove - i have that joy to come in reverse (for the inner sunroof panel as i tried retrimming it) at some point.

Also got a similar job to yours on my Rover, i have an older glass sunroof panel from a Mk1 Rover which is plain brinze tinted and i'm going to fit to mine. First reason is the Mk2 roof panel (which i currently have) is a screen printed pattern of dots on an otherwise plain glass panel - horrible as you drive along a road with trees in the sun, it's like sitting in a strobe chamber!
Second i've fitted a new seal to that bronze panel ready to fit it.

Just waiting for some decent weather now.............

[Ian21401]

I've decided to post my steel sunroof "how I did mine" onto this thread to keep both methods together. I hope that you do not mind Ash.

There is a lot of information available on this forum at "Volvo Owners Club", Tech Stuff, 600/900/90 FAQ, then scroll down to the drop downs and select Body:Sunroof. There are various contributors with varying information, some of it duplicated but that is not an issue. Most of the required info. is under "Procedure to Remove Sunroof Panel" but there are some helpful snippets elsewhere. I needed to read through it a few times but it only became really obvious when I actually started the job.

The replacement seal for my sunroof is part number VO352889.
My sunroof was not leaking but the seal was so old that the area exposed to the elements was deteriorating and growing mould so that whenever I washed the roof of the car bits of the seal would come off.

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First I checked that the new seal was the correct length. I measured the old seal in situ with a piece of string. It was 2,800 mms. The new seal was 2,830 mms. So that was OK.

Next step is to release the sunroof headlining from the sunroof itself. Move the sunroof to the vent position, ie up at the rear. The sunroof is linked to the headlining by roughly rectangular metal frames which clip under a bracket on the upper side of the headlining. From outside the car, ease the headlining down, away from the sunroof with a trim removal type tool.





Then reach in with your fingers to release the sunroof frame from the headlining bracket, one on each side. Then, from inside the car, push the headlining back into the roof space taking care to ensure that the moveable vent panel remains in the down position so that it does not become wedged against the sunroof fixed frame. This proved a little problematic as the headlining was reluctant to slide back. I persuaded it by lifting the vent panel enough to enable me to slap the the fixed edge of the headlining with the flat of my hand. When it eventually moved it did so with a rush and the vent panel did wedge against the frame and I needed to move the headlining forward again to free it then slid it back into the roof void quite easily.
BUT, DO NOT PUSH THE HEADLINING COMPLETELY BACK INTO THE ROOF SPACE OR IT IS LOST. Just push it far enough to access the rear fixings on each side.
The inside/underside of the sunroof is now exposed. Disconnect the rear of the coil springs on each side which connect the tranverse rod across the sunroof frame with the metal rectangular frames which were unclipped from the headlining earlier.









The sunroof is secured to the frame by eight torx screws. (T25) One each side at the rear, one central on each side halfway forward and two in each of the front brackets. The halfway forward screw on each side is in a fixed position but the rear and forward fixings are adjustable so try to memorise the positions of the roof relative to the brackets as you loosen them. CARE, do not lose the rectangular washer/spacer on each of the rear fixings. They have three holes in them. The central hole is for the screw and the two outer holes locate over nibs on the rear roof bracket. The two screws at each side may be seen in the above image showing the coil springs. The front screws may be seen in the following images. I removed the rear screws first on each side, then the central screws, then the front screws.








Having removed the eight screws the sunroof may now be lifted up off it's frame and removed from the car. (Tip: place some old carpet or similar on the roof of the car behind the sunroof location so that the removed panel may safely be laid on the roof.)
Having placed the sunroof upside down on some old carpet on the ground the next stage was to actually change the seal. The joint on my original seal was halfway along the right side of the panel. For some reason this did not seem logical to me. The FAQs, page 12, indicate that the joint should be on the rear edge, 100 mms. from the passenger rear corner, but, as that is probably American, is that the right side corner? i elected to have the joint halfway along the rear edge, which seemed sensible to me. The old seal removed easily. I cleaned the sunroof edge and fitted the new seal without any additional sealant, carefully cutting off the excess to form a perfect butt joint.
Then it was reassembly time. I fitted the centre/halfway screws first as their position is fixed. I had noted when removing the other torx screws that my sunroof had been secured in the highest position on each of the adjustable fixings so I replaced it with the fixings in the same position so far as I was able. There are two comments within the FAQs that when refitting the sunroof panel the front edge should be between 0 & 1.5 mms lower than the roof and the rear edge should be between 0 & 1.0 mm. higher than the roof.
My sunroof appears to line up satisfactorily with the main roof and conform to those criteria so that is how it is at present.
Next job is to reattach the rear end of those coil springs to the rectangular frames which clip onto the sunroof headlining. See the following image showing the spring.






This may seen daft, but stay with me. Before sliding the sunroof headlining forward again, pass a piece of string, about 40 cms. long through each of the rectangular frames. One each side. This is to be used as a loop to pull the frame rearwards against the pull of the spring.
Then slide the sunroof headlining forward again and reattach it to those frames. This is much easier said than done as one needs to pull the frame to the rear against the spring action whilst at the same time holding the headlining down away from the sunroof and manoeuvring the rear of the frame under the bracket on the upper side of the headlining. I found this to be impossible until I inserted the string. With one hand reaching into the car through the open door window, pull the string around the rear edge of the headlining and down below the headlining and in towards the inside of the car. This pulls the frame back and down towards the headlining. At the same time, with the back of the same hand, stop the rear of the headlining from dropping down too far. At the same time, using the fingers of the other hand, working from outside the car to locate the rear of the frame and press it down and under the headlining clip. Once achieved, remove the string.

So that's it. I hope that it makes sense and is useful and sincerely hope that after all this work the post loads without any problems.

I also needed to fit a replacement wind deflector but I will describe that in another post.

[Laird Scooby]

Excellent write up Ian!

I've only skim-read it at the moment as my brain went into cabbage mode earlier when i found i no longer have a 36mm socket (don't ask!) so a couple of bits weren't clear but i'm 99% certain that is down to me.

[aardvarkash10]

great write-up Ian. I do luv me some formal English prose where the indefinite first person is referred to as "one".

The dismantling and mantling of the steel roof is definitely more fiddly than the glass.

Dave - a VW type 1, 3 and 4 all use 36mm on the rear axle nut. Go find a VW aircooled maniac!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by aardvarkash10

Dave - a VW type 1, 3 and 4 all use 36mm on the rear axle nut. Go find a VW aircooled maniac!

Thanks Ash - already ordered one from fleabay, it should land some time soon.

[Free940]

Thanks for posting this! I will have to deal with my sunroof sooner or later.

It has never worked, although it tries to move. I put foil tape all around in fear of water coming in. Many of the pieces fell out when I slid the headliner back, but nothing looks broken.

Some questions!

My headliner is pushed all the way back. Am I in trouble?

My 940 is a 1994. Is the seal used on yours the same as I need for mine?
I tried Googling the part number you listed with no results. Do you have a link as to where you purchased it? Could your part number be wrong? (I did find a 3528809.)

How exactly does my metal sunroof work? I am yet to find a video of one opening and closing. Does the rear tilt up and then proceed to slide fully back while sliding the headliner disappears between the rear headliner and the roof?

I hope I am not overwhelming you with all these questions.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Free940

Thanks for posting this! I will have to deal with my sunroof sooner or later.

It has never worked, although it tries to move. I put foil tape all around in fear of water coming in. Many of the pieces fell out when I slid the headliner back, but nothing looks broken.

Some questions!

My headliner is pushed all the way back. Am I in trouble?

My 940 is a 1994. Is the seal used on yours the same as I need for mine?
I tried Googling the part number you listed with no results. Do you have a link as to where you purchased it? Could your part number be wrong? (I did find a 3528809.)

How exactly does my metal sunroof work? I am yet to find a video of one opening and closing. Does the rear tilt up and then proceed to slide fully back while sliding the headliner disappears between the rear headliner and the roof?

I hope I am not overwhelming you with all these questions.

Chances are the part number you found is likely to be correct, try typing it in to :

https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/p...6/3528809.html

As you can see it fits! Forget Giggle for searching, it doesn't always search all the right places!

Your sunroof has two methods of opening, tilt and slide. In tilt mode, the rear end lifts up. Pressing the bottom half of the switch closes it again.

Once closed (it will stop when it reaches the closed point) release the switch and press the bottom half again, the back end of the roof will drop down and slide all the way back.

I don't get what you mean about your headlining being pushed all the way back unless you can see the inside of the outer roof panel. If so, you might be in trouble and have to take the headliner down, very easy on the estate (Wagon), remove the rear view mirror, sun visors, grab handles aka panic straps and the turnbutton trim buttons from the headlining and ease it past thetrim over the top of the door areas.
With the 945/Wagon models, slide it out the back, not so easy with the 944/saloon/sedan models and i'm not quite sure but i expect you'll figure it out.

[Ian21401]

Thanks Dave for answering Free940’s questions especially as you were able to comment regarding the electric sunroof operation, about which I know nothing.

Free904: Questions are not a problem, that’s what this forum is all about.

My apologies for mistyping the seal part number. It should be VO3528809. (thanks Dave.)

The sunroof headlining should be attached to the underside of the sunroof panel by those roughly rectangular lightweight steel frames which fit under a small clip on the upper side of the headlining. The clips can be seen in my image of the underside of the sunroof showing the frame and the spring connecting the frame to the transverse rod of the sunroof main frame. If your sunroof headlining is still attached to the sunroof panel it will move back into the roof void with the sunroof panel and will so apparently disappear into the roof void and should re-emerge when the sunroof is closed again. The only way that the sunroof headlining can move back into the roof void without the sunroof panel is if it has become disconnected from the sunroof panel. If it has become disconnected I would assume that when an attempt to open the sunroof is made, then the sunroof panel would move back and it’s headlining would remain in the closed position, or, the sunroof panel would jam and refuse to move back.

Q1) Is the sunroof headlining still attached to the sunroof panel?

Q2) Have you tried both operations of the sunroof? That is the “vent” position with the rear edge up, and the “open” position where the panel moves back into the roof void as described by Dave (also know as Laird Scooby).

Hope this helps.