Sunroof help again.

[Jscott]

Ok. So I have 90 olds CS and I’ve been bagging my head trying to figure out why the sunroof won’t retract fully. It tilts fine. I thought it was an aftermarket sunroof but I checked the RPO code 5F3 which states it is factory. I was told that gm never made a fully retracting glass in those years. Is that true??? It’s just funny how they have a whole roof system with guide rails all the way back and only have a tilt option. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks. 

[Black92GS]

They're supposed to retract.  They don't "fully" retract in the sense you no longer see them, but they're supposed to retract nearly all of the way. When I had my 92 Cutlass many years back, the sunroof didn't move properly.  I believe the drive gear was stripped, and I ended up just pulling an entire sunroof unit from a car in the junkyard and replacing it.

I also had the sunroof in my 2000 Regal break, to where it wouldn't retract properly, and would only tilt.  I never looked into fixing it...but it acted similar to a power window with a broken track. 

[Psych0matt]

what do you m ean by wont retract "fully"? When all the way back there's probably 3" or so iirc that doesn't fully go back into the roof

[Jscott]

I just mean that when I toggle the switch it only opens to tilt. It feels like it’s not getting any power to open up. However the relay box says Inalfa with two relays and the control circuit panel. I thought Inalfa was an aftermarket sunroof company.  Both of those relays open and close fine. Which button usually retracts the roof, the front button? Or rear?  Either way it does nothing. Except tilt. 

[Jscott]

I ordered 2 spdt relays thinking I could possibly hard wire it to replace that circuit board. Maybe that control board is bad. I don’t know. Cause like I said retract does nothing. Not even trying to open. 

[Psych0matt]

does this sunroof "close" in between the vent position and the slid back position, or open->closed->vent? Or is it closed->vent->open? 

[Jscott]

It’s basically a rocker switch with two contact pin on the backside. Looks just like the windows switches 

[Psych0matt]

right, but what positions does the sunroof go in relation? The switch and relay setup are separate

[Jscott]

Just open to vent and close   I not sure if that helps. When it closes all the way the glass drops a little below the roof line. Like it does when it’s supposed to retract back. But obviously never does. 

[Psych0matt]

is it supposed to drop a little further, and then continue sliding back? I wonder if it's a bit tight and getting bound up. Mine kinda pops a bit sometimes after i haven't used it in a while, but being this old if the motor is a bit weak i could see that stopping it

[55trucker]

When retracting...... the entire glass frame lowers to below the roofline & then retracts along the runners to the full stop position at the back end of the runner assembly. 

When the assembly is in the *closed position* the glass is flush with the roofline exterior.

[Psych0matt]

right, thats how mine is and i was trying to deduce if his was the same setup (as I assume it is). reason being, from fully slid open -> closed, and closed -> vent both use the same side of the button, the same direction, and vice versa for opposite direction. if it's venting and closing/closed to venting properly, it may be getting bound up, but if it's one side of the switch every time it may be a different issue. If it drops a bit below, I'm thinking maybe it's not getting past the point of being down far enough to start sliding back; bound up, or even something wedged in there, but if it's going down below the roof line then it's at least attempting to start moving to the slid open position. 

Do this, with it vented, can you see a little tiny button on the side of one of the hinge/slide mechanisms? I thought for a while mine was just getting stuck pressed so it thought the sunroof was closed

 

My issue was from vent -> close and close -> slid open that side of the switch/button/relay would work about 50% of the time for a while and then it got to the point where it would work less than 1% of the time, until I finally grabbed that other newer  relay unit to experiment, and it worked out

Edited 2 hours ago by Psych0matt

[Jscott]

Yep. Same with mine. I did order that relay box from GMpartsGiant. Definitely worth a try.