Sunshade won't open
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
Okay, that's a bad one. I was afraid this is where we were heading.
Yep, there's no alternative here other than to replace the track. It's possible you can snip the cable and get the guide to the closed position and disable it. No, there's no worry about the airbags.
Sorry for the bad news there that you found
If you have the headliner out, you're most of the way there already. Personally I'd go ahead and do a track
Yep, there's no alternative here other than to replace the track. It's possible you can snip the cable and get the guide to the closed position and disable it. No, there's no worry about the airbags.
Sorry for the bad news there that you found
If you have the headliner out, you're most of the way there already. Personally I'd go ahead and do a track
Sunroof & Leak Specialist
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 655
Likes: 363
THANK YOU for the confirmation. Very helpful to know I'm thinking through things correctly. I'm gonna call the dealer in the morning to see what their price is on the new track. They mentioned that I'd need the new track and that with this new track, the old motors don't fit so I'd need to buy 2 new motors as well. Does that sound right to you?
I still do that some today if people don't want to buy them. Even Ford Extended Service Plan, when the dealer calls to get approval from them for a track, they argue about whether it needs the motors or not.
Now if you have one bad motor and need to replace it, you need to replace both because the new motors will not program together with an old one. But if both of yours work, just reuse them.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
No, you do not need the motors. They have been updated, but if yours work there is no need to replace them. The parts book tells you you're supposed to, but there's no actual reason. Prior to them updating the motors a couple of years ago, whenever you did a track, you just reused the old motors.
I still do that some today if people don't want to buy them. Even Ford Extended Service Plan, when the dealer calls to get approval from them for a track, they argue about whether it needs the motors or not.
Now if you have one bad motor and need to replace it, you need to replace both because the new motors will not program together with an old one. But if both of yours work, just reuse them.
I still do that some today if people don't want to buy them. Even Ford Extended Service Plan, when the dealer calls to get approval from them for a track, they argue about whether it needs the motors or not.
Now if you have one bad motor and need to replace it, you need to replace both because the new motors will not program together with an old one. But if both of yours work, just reuse them.
Sunroof & Leak Specialist
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 655
Likes: 363
$2250 with taxes at my local Ford dealer. I ended up buying from tascaparts.com for $1750 with taxes and shipping (saved $500). Now I get to sit & wait for the part to arrive and get back into it. Thanks for all your advice & help, @Pacfanweb !!! 🙏🏼
$2250 is kind of high. The highest quote I've been given at a back counter so far is about $2k. Weird, 2 years ago I'm pretty sure they were like $1300-ish.
The trickiest part, IMO, of replacing the track is transferring the shade over. Oh, and be sure you open the shade all the way before you remove it.
Hopefully, I can walk you through it. If I do a track between now and whenever you go to do yours, I'll try and do a video on the shade part, although I'd really need another person filming. We'll see. I have one or two track jobs floating around out there, waiting on parts or the customers to come back for the replacement.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
It's ridiculous the different pricing you get from different dealers. I've found that different parts guys at the same dealership will give you different prices, too.
$2250 is kind of high. The highest quote I've been given at a back counter so far is about $2k. Weird, 2 years ago I'm pretty sure they were like $1300-ish.
The trickiest part, IMO, of replacing the track is transferring the shade over. Oh, and be sure you open the shade all the way before you remove it.
Hopefully, I can walk you through it. If I do a track between now and whenever you go to do yours, I'll try and do a video on the shade part, although I'd really need another person filming. We'll see. I have one or two track jobs floating around out there, waiting on parts or the customers to come back for the replacement.
$2250 is kind of high. The highest quote I've been given at a back counter so far is about $2k. Weird, 2 years ago I'm pretty sure they were like $1300-ish.
The trickiest part, IMO, of replacing the track is transferring the shade over. Oh, and be sure you open the shade all the way before you remove it.
Hopefully, I can walk you through it. If I do a track between now and whenever you go to do yours, I'll try and do a video on the shade part, although I'd really need another person filming. We'll see. I have one or two track jobs floating around out there, waiting on parts or the customers to come back for the replacement.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
Well, I finally got the driver side lift arm to go backwards to the “full tilt” position so the main circular peg was aligned in the hole… popped it out… took about 2 hours of reviewing every inch I could see, dropping the rear glass and sliding it forward to see if I could find anything in the rear sections of the channel… cleaning everything in sight… and after all that, I tied a shoelace to the lift arm and just started tugging. Got it to move forward which allowed the arm to get into the vented position that was needed.
After that, I wanted to test out the movement of the piece that rides the rails and connects to the lift arm. On the passenger side it glides relatively easily… on the driver side it won’t budge. Absolutely not a centimeter. See the video here of my attempt to move it. My intention is to push them both all the way forward with the new lift arms installed, like you show in your how-to videos. However, with a non-operational track, or lower guide, I don't think the motor is going to be able to move that side either.
I figured it’s better for me to figure this part out before I put the new lift arms on and button everything back up, since I’m guessing it won’t work with the motor if I can’t get it to move at all as-is. Any thoughts on what could be wrong now?
Video of stuck piece in the lower guides: https://imgur.com/a/gavGktp
Does this mean I've gotta drop the entire headliner and replace the whole track / guides? Please say it ain't so... 🙏🏼
After that, I wanted to test out the movement of the piece that rides the rails and connects to the lift arm. On the passenger side it glides relatively easily… on the driver side it won’t budge. Absolutely not a centimeter. See the video here of my attempt to move it. My intention is to push them both all the way forward with the new lift arms installed, like you show in your how-to videos. However, with a non-operational track, or lower guide, I don't think the motor is going to be able to move that side either.
I figured it’s better for me to figure this part out before I put the new lift arms on and button everything back up, since I’m guessing it won’t work with the motor if I can’t get it to move at all as-is. Any thoughts on what could be wrong now?
Video of stuck piece in the lower guides: https://imgur.com/a/gavGktp
Does this mean I've gotta drop the entire headliner and replace the whole track / guides? Please say it ain't so... 🙏🏼
pics below…
Sunroof & Leak Specialist
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 655
Likes: 363
Okay, you see the big aluminum bar that runs from side to side? That has to come out. In order to access those 13 mm bolts that hold it in, you're going to need to take the two side airbags loose.
then you're going to need to remove the three 10 mm across the front of the bar. And unplug your satellite antenna and get the wire out of the bar. It's kind of clipped in there. And then you can work the bar out of the truck and place it outside somewhere. Then the sunroof from there on is held in by 10 mm bolts.
Last edited by Pacfanweb; Sep 27, 2022 at 07:41 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
Well, I finally got the driver side lift arm to go backwards to the “full tilt” position so the main circular peg was aligned in the hole… popped it out… took about 2 hours of reviewing every inch I could see, dropping the rear glass and sliding it forward to see if I could find anything in the rear sections of the channel… cleaning everything in sight… and after all that, I tied a shoelace to the lift arm and just started tugging. Got it to move forward which allowed the arm to get into the vented position that was needed.
After that, I wanted to test out the movement of the piece that rides the rails and connects to the lift arm. On the passenger side it glides relatively easily… on the driver side it won’t budge. Absolutely not a centimeter. See the video here of my attempt to move it. My intention is to push them both all the way forward with the new lift arms installed, like you show in your how-to videos. However, with a non-operational track, or lower guide, I don't think the motor is going to be able to move that side either.
I figured it’s better for me to figure this part out before I put the new lift arms on and button everything back up, since I’m guessing it won’t work with the motor if I can’t get it to move at all as-is. Any thoughts on what could be wrong now?
Video of stuck piece in the lower guides: https://imgur.com/a/gavGktp
Does this mean I've gotta drop the entire headliner and replace the whole track / guides? Please say it ain't so... 🙏🏼
After that, I wanted to test out the movement of the piece that rides the rails and connects to the lift arm. On the passenger side it glides relatively easily… on the driver side it won’t budge. Absolutely not a centimeter. See the video here of my attempt to move it. My intention is to push them both all the way forward with the new lift arms installed, like you show in your how-to videos. However, with a non-operational track, or lower guide, I don't think the motor is going to be able to move that side either.
I figured it’s better for me to figure this part out before I put the new lift arms on and button everything back up, since I’m guessing it won’t work with the motor if I can’t get it to move at all as-is. Any thoughts on what could be wrong now?
Video of stuck piece in the lower guides: https://imgur.com/a/gavGktp
Does this mean I've gotta drop the entire headliner and replace the whole track / guides? Please say it ain't so... 🙏🏼
pics below…
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Charleston, SC
Okay, you see the big aluminum bar that runs from side to side? That has to come out. In order to access those 13 mm bolts that hold it in, you're going to need to take the two side airbags loose.
then you're going to need to remove the three 10 mm across the front of the bar. And unplug your satellite antenna and get the wire out of the bar. It's kind of clipped in there. And then you can work the bar out of the truck and place it outside somewhere. Then the sunroof from there on is held in by 10 mm bolts.
As always… THANK YOU!
Sunroof & Leak Specialist
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 655
Likes: 363
they are no big deal. I usually only take out the front 10 mm bolt that holds the airbag in and pull it back a bit but I have a quarter inch impact socket that will kind of turn the corner and let me get those 13 mm out. You probably need to take the airbag completely loose so you can get a socket on it because those things are tight. They are structural.. that bar is structural support for the roof because it's got such a big hole in it and it's only aluminum.