It’s getting a bit Autumnal ish in Oz, and with all the recent rain, I thought it was time to tackle a problem I’ve had with my P38 1999 Range Rover. The sunroof is “floppy” and leaks badly in the rain.
The fault is obvious: one side doesn’t close, leaving air whistling in. I could see immediately that this was because one of the cast iron spigots has snapped off this side, and it didn’t make a tight joint. When I took it apart, I found I’ve also got the other common fault – that of a snapped plastic runner.
I didn’t want to take out the entire sunroof (and hence ceiling liner) to fix this: I can get at the sunroof lifting arm without taking any of the gubbins out. Which saves about half a day’s work – it’s possible to get at most of the parts while it is still in the car.
I thought you might want to see some details. As I had quite a few people asking me about the repair for my skipping Alpine multi CD playerin my P38 (the 6 CD changer in the boot), I took photos all the way through again.
Firstly, open the sunroof fully, and remove the wind deflector by unscrewing the 2 torx screws. I was always curious as to why this silly bit of metal is there: try driving your P38 without one though, and the banging noise of the wind is incredible.
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Then remove the 2 mechanism plastic covers by sliding them rearward.
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Remove the 4 torex screws, and 2 C clips connecting the mechanism to the the sunroof panel.
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Release the sunroof panel from the locating pins.
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And at the front too
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Lift up, and out, the sunroof: it helps to have 2 people to do this! Otherwise you can slide it through the car.
Now you can get at the mechanism. Remove the bar that holds the two sides together by taking out the four Phillips head screws.
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Then remove the plastic cover over the cable by lifting up with a screwdriver.
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To get at the slider, remove the front of the slider mechanism: this will give you an extra inch to get at the slider.
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Pull it forward and out. Mine was snapped in two pieces.
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So I've come up with another solution this weekend.
My first attempt to repair the broken plastic used glue & a tiny plastic splint. This fractured straight away.
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After several attempts to fix the plastic slider, I used some brass sheet to build a splint that encased the snapped plastic, soldered at the front to a 12BA screw that just about fits into the plastic. I also tried copper wire, and that just fractured: there is a lot of stress on the sunroof puller. I also melted the plastic at the split, joined it together without glue... and lo, it holds.
File the whole lot down so the profile is the same as the original, and there ya go.
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To replace the broken spigot in the arm, I drilled out the cast iron arm to 10BA tap at a 45 degree angle, tapped the hole to 10BA, and used a 10BA tempered steel socket head screw. Don't try brass: they snap! And equally, a cheese head screw digs up the plastic it slots into: a socket head screw was the only thing I had left after I raided the toolbox that would work.
OK, it looks crude, but works a treat. And saves me the odd hundred quid into the bargain.
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While you are here, and before you replace everything, I’d clear the drains out. There are four in the sunroof: my front two were clogged with loads of muck. Pushing a cable down them seemed to work wonders.
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The strip around the sunroof seems to go rusty and this expansion means it doesn’t make a good seal. Again, take it off, and clean it.
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Put it all back into the motor, adjust those torx screws at the back so that the sunroof sits firmly and level in the roof (the torx screws are in slots so you can move them and and down a bit to adjust) and bingo… the top of my head now stays dry.
The fault is obvious: one side doesn’t close, leaving air whistling in. I could see immediately that this was because one of the cast iron spigots has snapped off this side, and it didn’t make a tight joint. When I took it apart, I found I’ve also got the other common fault – that of a snapped plastic runner.
I didn’t want to take out the entire sunroof (and hence ceiling liner) to fix this: I can get at the sunroof lifting arm without taking any of the gubbins out. Which saves about half a day’s work – it’s possible to get at most of the parts while it is still in the car.
I thought you might want to see some details. As I had quite a few people asking me about the repair for my skipping Alpine multi CD playerin my P38 (the 6 CD changer in the boot), I took photos all the way through again.
Firstly, open the sunroof fully, and remove the wind deflector by unscrewing the 2 torx screws. I was always curious as to why this silly bit of metal is there: try driving your P38 without one though, and the banging noise of the wind is incredible.
Then remove the 2 mechanism plastic covers by sliding them rearward.
Remove the 4 torex screws, and 2 C clips connecting the mechanism to the the sunroof panel.
Release the sunroof panel from the locating pins.
And at the front too
Lift up, and out, the sunroof: it helps to have 2 people to do this! Otherwise you can slide it through the car.
Now you can get at the mechanism. Remove the bar that holds the two sides together by taking out the four Phillips head screws.
Then remove the plastic cover over the cable by lifting up with a screwdriver.
To get at the slider, remove the front of the slider mechanism: this will give you an extra inch to get at the slider.
Pull it forward and out. Mine was snapped in two pieces.
So I've come up with another solution this weekend.
My first attempt to repair the broken plastic used glue & a tiny plastic splint. This fractured straight away.
After several attempts to fix the plastic slider, I used some brass sheet to build a splint that encased the snapped plastic, soldered at the front to a 12BA screw that just about fits into the plastic. I also tried copper wire, and that just fractured: there is a lot of stress on the sunroof puller. I also melted the plastic at the split, joined it together without glue... and lo, it holds.
File the whole lot down so the profile is the same as the original, and there ya go.
To replace the broken spigot in the arm, I drilled out the cast iron arm to 10BA tap at a 45 degree angle, tapped the hole to 10BA, and used a 10BA tempered steel socket head screw. Don't try brass: they snap! And equally, a cheese head screw digs up the plastic it slots into: a socket head screw was the only thing I had left after I raided the toolbox that would work.
OK, it looks crude, but works a treat. And saves me the odd hundred quid into the bargain.
While you are here, and before you replace everything, I’d clear the drains out. There are four in the sunroof: my front two were clogged with loads of muck. Pushing a cable down them seemed to work wonders.
The strip around the sunroof seems to go rusty and this expansion means it doesn’t make a good seal. Again, take it off, and clean it.
Put it all back into the motor, adjust those torx screws at the back so that the sunroof sits firmly and level in the roof (the torx screws are in slots so you can move them and and down a bit to adjust) and bingo… the top of my head now stays dry.
