Forester moonroof problems (merged thread)

[pleiad7]

Very strange things were happening with my moonroof today. I had it partially open as I was driving around town; when I arrived at my destination I pushed the button to close it as usual, but each time it reversed itself just a couple of inches before sliding all the way into place. I turned the car off and back on a few times in hopes to "reset" the system, but to no avail. I checked the tracks and pulled out a few tiny twigs, but nothing that could've impeded the moonroof's path enough to cause it not to close.

I tried again, and this time it closed all the way, sealed, stayed in place for a couple of seconds or so - and then re-opened all by itself without me even touching the switch! I repeated this three times, and it kept happening each time, until I shut the power off just in time before it had a chance to re-open again after it had completely closed.

I left and took my doggie for a walk in hopes that, by the time I returned, things would have settled down. I was almost expecting the moonroof to open all by itself again when I started Subed back up afterwards, but this time it stayed put. However, I didn't feel like pushing my luck and checking if everything was operational again.

This is the second time this sort of thing has happened in a period of a few months. Has anyone else experienced something similar? What could be causing this? A bad switch? Moisture in the system? Gremlins?

Should I call in the exorcist?

[SubaJew]

I occasionally get part of your problem.
It goes fine until it reaches the point where it folds in the metal wing, then it stops & reverses.
I can "walk" the roof forward with short button presses, and once the wing folds in it will close ok by itself.
I've never had it open on it's own though.
Fortunately, it doesn't happen all that often.
Unfortunately, I can't get it to happen when I'm at the dealer (even though we tried it like 50 times).
At least I've documented the complaint though.
Obvoiusly, something in the safety circuit is messing up.
As long as I can close it (& keep it closed), I'll deal.

[BenMara]

Wish mine had a moonroof, so i could feel the air flowin throught my hair er or lack of haha.

[T.Huckit!]

Hope you exorcise your moonroof demons pleiad....the moonroof its one of the only thing I worry about, something that HUGE has to run into problems. has anyone had problems with the seals etc?
+1 on the "lack of" Ben;) however I'm sure their are plenty of folically challenged F.O out there... look at my avatar... would anyone but a bald dude have that much crap on their face ?


edit: opps spellchekwha???

[pleiad7]

Originally Posted by Boca_Yid

I occasionally get part of your problem.
It goes fine until it reaches the point where it folds in the metal wing, then it stops & reverses.
I can "walk" the roof forward with short button presses, and once the wing folds in it will close ok by itself.

Yeah, that's very similar to what was happening. I tried the short button presses too, but it would still reverse once it reached the point where the metal deflector folds down.

I'm not going to mess with it today, since we're in the middle of a 36 hour rainstorm right now.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to troubleshoot if this keeps happening? Replace the switch maybe?

[Roo]

Originally Posted by T.Huckit!

Hope you exercise your moonroof demons pleiad...

I think they're getting plenty of exercise running around her car playing little games. I figure the best way to exorcise them is to keep the moonroof closed until we can string together some dry weather in measurements of days instead of hours.



What happened to the 40 days/40 nights clause?? Or was that just constant rain, and since we get a few hours of sun in between, it doesn't count??

[ferret]

The only thing I can imagine is that there is a 'bind' in the sunroof mechanism causing it to reverse. All the sensing and reversing is done in the motor module.

Other than that you might try 'resetting' the sunroof motor. Refer to section C of the attached .pdf.

Either way, wait for a dry day.

[sirwilliam]

Originally Posted by BenMara

Wish mine had a moonroof, so i could feel the air flowin throught my hair er or lack of haha.

Ever try rolling down the window?JK

Silke, sorry your fancy retractable roof window is giving you problems.

[BenMara]

Originally Posted by sirwilliam

Ever try rolling down the window?JK

Silke, sorry your fancy retractable roof window is giving you problems.

haha opening the windows at 70+ takes off my MPG hah
hmm rag top ?? hmmm time to call in friends from the Lowrider crowd muhaha

[efelker]

Yo, Ben:

... 75 mph -- moonroof open -- unimpeded typhoon across cranial flesh -- eat your heart out!!!!

[BenMara]

guess ill have to fine those Euro or JDM window vent visor dealies

[pleiad7]

Originally Posted by ferret

The only thing I can imagine is that there is a 'bind' in the sunroof mechanism causing it to reverse. All the sensing and reversing is done in the motor module.

Other than that you might try 'resetting' the sunroof motor. Refer to section C of the attached .pdf.

Either way, wait for a dry day.

Ah, thanks for posting the .pdf file; it looks like a reset might be my best bet in case it happens again. And I'm definitely waiting for the weather to dry out first... ;-)

[Kevin]

I've had no problems with the FXS's moonroof so far. But my Outback sunroof (original equipment ordered but was actually after-market installed here before delivery) had heaps of problems with quirky behaviour.

Turned out to be a misaligned sunroof frame and the whole unit had to be replaced (under warranty).

I hope the reset works.

[twg]

i had a strange moonroof problem too... only happened once... the auto close feature wouldn't work... as long as I held the button down, the moonroof would open/close.. but the 1 touch didn't do anything... after a couple of restarts, it went back to normal...

I had the same issue on my 05 forester i just kept taking it back to the dealer and they ordered a new moon roof and its fine now. its under warranty so im sure theyll replace it.