1997 Discovery. The front sunroof automatically opened upon starting the car. Its now stuck open, all the way retracted and tilted up. I opened the tab to the manual crank and stick a 4mm allen wrench in, but it won't budge.

I can hear the switch for the sunroof click...pause 2sec...click again. Then repeat after about 15sec. I've now pulled the fuse to the sunroof. But I need to crank it closed, and it can stay closed too. Is there something I am supposed to disconnect before manually cranking it?

I searched this forum for help, but not seeing much where people are saying they can't crank it.

 

did you try hand cranking it with the fuse pulled? maybe the motor was trying to open it while you were cranking(??)

 

Thank you for the note jimvw57. Yes, I sure did pull the fuse. I too thought maybe I was working against the motor. But no luck. I've also had a family member operate the open/close switch as I added pressure to the glass forward and backward. I inspected the track on both sides of the sunroof and as best as I can tell, I'm not seeing an obstruction.

Should the process be as simple as, insert an allen wrench into the manual control and twist (I tried clockwise and counter-clockwise)? Or a I missing a step?

Thank you.

 

The sunroofs in the 90's model Discovery's were awful in every way. They were a bad design for longevity from the start. If you can ever get it closed, DO NOT attempt to use it or open it again. You will also have to check to make sure that when you do get it closed that it is sealed around the top outside and there are no gaps. Rain water will pour into your cabin if not. They are unreliable and not worth throwing any money into trying to correct.

 

When I got my 99 D1, the roofs didn't work. as neither front window work. I replaced the window ECU with my rebuilt spare and now the windows and roofs work. I don't use the roofs as I don't trust them to close completely.

Maybe you will need to remove the motor if it locked up and is keeping you from being able to turn the manual crank by hand. not sure how you do that but it is all I can come up with. moving the glass while turning the crank would have been my first idea (which you already tried)

 

Thanks for the note. Ya, when my 17-year-old son told me the sunroof was open, I read him the riot act for opening it. He's been around these rigs a lot and knows better than to open one of them. He swore up and down on his life that he didn't open it and that the vehicle opened it on its own upon starting the car. And I now see I have a rear dome light flickering which I can not get to extinguish. I'm now pulling the battery leads off to assure it doesn't kill the battery.

So between that behavior and what I've read on these threads about compromised wiring and how it can make those sunroofs move on their own, I let my son off the hook. I guess I will have to do some searching of what the mechanism looks like inside to understand what could possible be preventing me from hand-cranking it. And ya, I guess I will have to have my first shot at taking the head liner down.

Thanks guys.

 

When the Sunroof ECU either gets wet or corroded it's very common for the sunroofs to just magically open. If you disconnect all the connectors to the Sunroof ECU = it will no longer activate the sunroofs. For the dome light check all of your door switches to make sure one isn't stuck or not working properly.

 

Thanks Best4x4. And is that relay box up in the ceiling, above the headliner somewhere?

I'm guessing something is corroded and questionable up there as my rear dome light is flickering with the ignition off and doors closed....as well as when I'm driving. Wasn't doing that last a few weeks ago, but is now...though, the rig hasn't been in the rain. Well, I've had it tarped for suspicion of leaking, maybe something got in.

 

Sunroof ECU is right up there behind the switches/dome light area. You should be able to pop the switch plate out the way and unplug it.