2004 forester sunroof

[Scrappy]

Hey all. New to the forum here. Sunroof question.

2004 forester. Non turbo XS model, so it’s got the smaller sunroof.

stopped opening and closing a couple years ago. You can hear the motor working, and it tries to move a little, but not much. Mechanism will open and close if I remove the glass. Apparently it won’t work with the weight of the glass installed. It’s all buried up under the head liner , so a little hard to get at easily.

Is this a common problem with this system? Is there a common cause? Anyone correct this issue before?

 

[Ecmbuster]

The motor itself may be exhibiting an internal failure - loss of torque but with the glass removed, inspect the tracks for damage, misalignment and or rust.
Check the Power and Ground circuits with a multi-meter and apply the "voltage drop test" on all connections.
Poor connections = loss of torque. Seized motor components = loss of torque.
Cleaning the tracks and lubricating the assembly may help with the movement.
It is obvious that the motor may not have a "short circuit" because the fuse has not been burned.
If the track(s) functions and moves easily, the motor is not providing enough "torque".
Track guides have been known to crack / break and the best solution is to remove the headliner for an inspection.

 

[Scrappy]

Thanks. When I was first investigating this, I had checked about everything on your list. Tracks are perfect, everything visually in great shape. Only thing out of sorts was the mechanisms ability to function with the glass still in place. The motor was working, but things weren’t moving. It made sense to me that something must be slipping somewhere?

 

[Ecmbuster]

With the glass in place (the motor removed) and if easy to tilt and slide the sunroof by hand, there may be some internal damage to the motor.