Hello

A bit disappointed because my ever reliable 380 has a problem. A week or so ago, I tried to open the sunroof and it got stuck about 3 cm open. When I try to close it now, there is no mechanical movement, just a ticking sound coming from the sunroof. This did happen the same time last year and eventually started working by itself a couple of months later. However, I don't want to wait that long this time, it actually rained tonight in Perth if you can believe that so I'd prefer it closed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please see video for occurring problem.

The vehicle is a 2005 380 GT.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRoyuXM_-4s

I have the sunroof, and (touch wood) it has been perfect.

Doesn't sound like a fuse issue, since it's happened before and you can still here clicking.

I'd look at accessing the motor and giving it some "percussive maintenance" while holding the switch. Might be enough to get the brushes contacting and the roof moving.

If the click sound is a repetitive, loud and fast sound - then I'm guessing the motor is fine and you've stripped some of the gears.

Have you tried pulling on the roof with your hands while someone operates the switch?

Have you tried pulling on the roof with your hands while someone operates the switch?

This. Works well for electric windows that have stiffened up over the years.
The clicking might just be the overload protection doing its job. ie the mechanism has stiffened up and now won't move.

If you get it to move, do some lubing - where and with what I will leave to others.

Pity you didn't do that last time it acted up, waiting for it to come good all by itself is probably not the best way for solving mechanical problems on a car.

My money would be on the electric motor brushes being worn, but yes, it may have seized in the tracks. Tapping on the motor while holding the switch down will determine this very quickly.

Funnily enough, Mitsubishi dealer has never lubed my sunroof in 8 years. Perhaps they aren't supposed to be lubed beyond manufacture.

Funnily enough, Mitsubishi dealer has never lubed my sunroof in 8 years. Perhaps they aren't supposed to be lubed beyond manufacture.

Mainly because you never asked them to? Why should they care anyway, as long as the car and sunroof last out the warranty period.

At a minimum, seeing the sunroof sits out exposed to the elements, I'd be lubing metal on metal sliding points (*) with high temp grease, and rubber seals with silicone spray, annually.

(*) Possibly has roller bearings rather than metal on metal, but they would love a bit of grease too.

Disclaimer:
I can't find any detailed pics of the sunroof construction on the Internetz, so I'm guessing.

Worse, I can't find my 380 manual DVD. 8-(

Like washing the car, keeping tyres pumped up, making sure all light bulbs are working and lubing the door window channels etc, it is the owners responsibility.

there 'should' be a way to manually retract or close the sunroof.
Usually it involves removing any coverings over the motor itself, there should be a keyway (usually takes a hex socket) that you can get a ratchet onto to manually turn the motor by hand.

http://ebayapi.loc8apartltd.netdna-cdn.com/00/s/NTI4WDcwNA==/z/uDIAAOSwqu9VN-ur/$_1.JPG

See the nut and shaft in the centre? You would stick the hex socket in that and turn.

This pic is off the internet, apparently for a pajero so hopefully similar to your car.

Mad max:

My dealer knows what they are doing. I don't know why you insinuate all they want to do is survive the warranty period. If that's all my dealer or mechanic was interested in, I'd have changed mechanic years ago.

Mine hasn't been done - because it doesn't need doing. There's heaps in there already. You can see it all over the tracks whenever it is open. And it's not grease, it's a dry lube, sort of like a wax.

High temp grease - really? That's made for actual high temperatures in applications like wheel bearings, not a slow speed rolling track that's used once or twice a week and which never gets hot.

Petroleum based greases would most likely dissolve the proper stuff and also attract grime and dust - I wouldn't be recommending it. I don't expect it will ever need doing, but if it did I'd approach a sunroof specialist and get the proper dry wax.

It is probably white lithium grease which requires annual maintenance. The heat Max was referring to was that of the sun. Heck, my panel lift door requires annual re-greasing with the white lithium grease and it only gets morning to mid day sun on it. Lithium grease is not dry. It has an oil carrier which will evaporate and the heat from the sun makes it evaporate faster, leaving a white chalk like residue.

Mainly because you never asked them to? Why should they care anyway, as long as the car and sunroof last out the warranty period.

At a minimum, seeing the sunroof sits out exposed to the elements, I'd be lubing metal on metal sliding points (*) with high temp grease, and rubber seals with silicone spray, annually.

(*) Possibly has roller bearings rather than metal on metal, but they would love a bit of grease too.

Disclaimer:
I can't find any detailed pics of the sunroof construction on the Internetz, so I'm guessing.

Worse, I can't find my 380 manual DVD. 8-(

I have the ISO. PM me if you need it.

Flyboy: Ask your dealer to have a look at the sunroof lubrication next time you visit.

Vlad: Thanks for the offer, but I have it somewhere, just couldn't be arsed having a serious look when I wanted to check sunroof construction.

Mad max - No, I won't. For the exact same reasons I said in my last post. Maybe you didn't read it.

Vlad - high temp grease is for actual high temperature in spinning metal components and is normally used in applications which require grease packing - such as wheel bearings. Something which sits in the sun does not get anywhere near the temps which high temp bearing grease is designed for.

I'll ask for it to be done (and with the proper stuff) when it actually needs it. Wheel bearing grease slapped all over sunroof tracks will attract so much dirt and grit.

Interesting response!
A quick Google search may help you.

Mad max - No, I won't. For the exact same reasons I said in my last post. Maybe you didn't read it.

Vlad - high temp grease is for actual high temperature in spinning metal components and is normally used in applications which require grease packing - such as wheel bearings. Something which sits in the sun does not get anywhere near the temps which high temp bearing grease is designed for.

I'll ask for it to be done (and with the proper stuff) when it actually needs it. Wheel bearing grease slapped all over sunroof tracks will attract so much dirt and grit.



I am not saying to use high temp grease. Was simply pointing out what Max was on about. Google sunroof maintenance for some pointers. Service centres only service what is in the book and nothing more unless you ask for it. Why would they spend extra money and time on something that is not in the book? Just went through a 380 service schedule from beginning to 210000kms and sunroof maintenance is not listed in there.


On my Pajero's manual, it suggests to use the following:
Frame assembly
Grease: Use resin - proof silicone grease
Rear drip assembly
3M ATD Part No. 8531 or 8646 Auto Sealant or equivalent

lol at "Wheel bearing grease slapped all over sunroof tracks will attract so much dirt and grit."

You are the first to suggest that a large quantity of inappropriate grease should be used.
A small quantity of the right grease needed, obviously.

The first Google search link I found recommends twice yearly clean and re-lube of the sliding tracks.

If you find a wax like substance on the tracks, it is the carrier for the oil in the grease left over after the oil evaporates. The wax carrier has minimal lubricating properties by itself. But it probably is holding a lot of the dirt and grit it met over the years.
By the time you think it might need lubricating, ie when it slows down, the motor struggles or it jams, the damage has been done and no amount of fresh grease will fix it.

In the end though, it is your car, your sunroof, and your attitude, so I'm not fussed.

My final comment(s):
1. What would Mal suggest as to how to fix the OPs problem?
2. What would Mal suggest as to keeping a sunroof maintained?

You're the sort of person who googles their symptoms rather than visits a doctor, aren't you?


If you find a wax like substance on the tracks, it is the carrier for the oil in the grease left over after the oil evaporates. The wax carrier has minimal lubricating properties by itself. But it probably is holding a lot of the dirt and grit it met over the years.
By the time you think it might need lubricating, ie when it slows down, the motor struggles or it jams, the damage has been done and no amount of fresh grease will fix it.

Sigh.

It isn't a leftover residual from grease - you're just guessing, again. It's the correct lubricant. It looks JUST LIKE IT DID WHEN THE CAR CAME OFF THE PRODUCTION LINE. It's not dried up remnants.

Do you even own a 380 with the factory sunroof? Stop guessing and telling people to use wheel bearing grease on a sunroof based on some Google search. That's all I'm asking.

To the OP - how'd you go? Did pulling on the roof or tapping the motor while holding the switch down get it moving again?

You're the sort of person who googles their symptoms rather than visits a doctor, aren't you?

To the OP - how'd you go? Did pulling on the roof or tapping the motor while holding the switch down get it moving again?

I do both. I suggested you ask your mechanic to check the sunroof lubrication, but you shot that idea down in flames. Why is that? Don't trust him, all of a sudden?

. . . and now you are concerned about the OP's problem, hoping the same won't happen to yours.

*SIGH* indeed!

Mal, what do you think?

flyboy, whether it is a magna/verada/380 or Pajero, they can all come with sunroof and maintenance is the same for them all. I already pointed out what the Pajero's maintenance is. Do you go to the dealer to get your light bulbs and wiper blades replaced? I know some that are like that. They themselves do not do any sort of maintenance and when problems occur, it is too late. Those with electric antennas will know to clean and lubricate the mast at regular intervals as otherwise the motor struggles to pull it in and eventually breaks the plastic shaft and it no longer lowers automatically.


My KS had issues with the electric windows not going up and I took it to a dealer. The mechanic just gave the channel a wipe and sprayed silicone lube and all was fine. I was told to do it regularly.

My KS had issues with the electric windows not going up and I took it to a dealer. The mechanic just gave the channel a wipe and sprayed silicone lube and all was fine. I was told to do it regularly.

Same here on my TL, a regular maintenance event. Makes a bit of a difference to the speed of the windows going up and down, and keeps the rubber from deteriorating. Don't want the motors to struggle or strip gears/pulleys/break cables, or for things to get so tight that the overload mechanism kicks in, do we?

(Same for a sunroof, actually.)

But checking these things are not a normal service requirement, you can't expect a mechanic to check every window or sunroof and go "Umm, that's a bit slow, better lube that" - more an owner's responsibility.

I'm hoping Mal will chime in with definitive answers.

Hahaha, no Vlad, I do a lot of my own maintenance. Used to work on the tools in a previous life.

Thanks for posting up the proper Mitsubishi procedure. If mine ever does need doing I'll get some resin proof silicon grease for the job. Think I'll save the high temp grease for the correct application. Right tools for the job and all that :beer:

A week or so ago, I tried to open the sunroof and it got stuck about 3 cm open. When I try to close it now, there is no mechanical movement, just a ticking sound coming from the sunroof.

Back to the OP's problem. (Welcome to the forum, by the way. lol)

Any resolution to your 'it's stuck' problem?

(This thread got derailed by a trivial argument about the sunroof's operation benefiting from some regular servicing or not, which didn't help you any.)

Thanks for the replies. I haven't had any luck as of yet. I havent had a few spare hours to work on it in between fulltime work, fulltime study and interstate travel. Flat out. I'm really hoping to avoid having to take the roof lining and components off.

I have tried a lot of WD40 around the mechanism - No luck.
Tried some solid pushing and maneuvering while my GF works the switch. The most I got was about 2cm of mechanical movement, then nothing.

Unless a miracle, I'll have to take of the lining and play with it. Thanks for all the replies and I appreciate anymore. I'll post feedback when I get some success.