So I have my 2005 Outback, H6 with 88k and we are in the process of getting a few things fixed. Yesterday at the dealership they took a look at my sunroof/moonroof combo. The first piece of glass normally pops up, then the latter part slides back. That first piece of glass pops up on the passenger side, but the driver side doesn't pop up. The sunroof is then stuck at this point, and it won't open or close.
So I remove the glass at this point (which has a lot of tension upon removing the 4 bolts). I can then open the sliding glass all the way. Inspecting the sunroof tracks I notice a difference. On the passenger side the track looks like this:
![Image]()
The driver side looks quite a bit different:
![Image]()
Notice how the plastic piece moves away from the track (upward in the orientation of this picture below)
![Image]()
I can push the plastic mechanism back in (downward in the above photo) and slide it to match the point on the passenger side. I can put the glass back in and everything closes like it is supposed to, proceeds to open and everything. Normal operations. Then it stops working, and that plastic piece pops back out of track again.
Until the next day, then it repeats the process. I took it to the dealership and they told me I need a new sun roof assembly, $1,200 in parts and $700 in labor. Surely I can permanently fix this plastic piece without needing to replace the entire thing right? I am going to try to do just this.
So with this, does anyone have any pointers? I think at this point I am going to pull the head liner down and pull out the entire assembly to inspect it.
So I remove the glass at this point (which has a lot of tension upon removing the 4 bolts). I can then open the sliding glass all the way. Inspecting the sunroof tracks I notice a difference. On the passenger side the track looks like this:
The driver side looks quite a bit different:
Notice how the plastic piece moves away from the track (upward in the orientation of this picture below)
I can push the plastic mechanism back in (downward in the above photo) and slide it to match the point on the passenger side. I can put the glass back in and everything closes like it is supposed to, proceeds to open and everything. Normal operations. Then it stops working, and that plastic piece pops back out of track again.
Until the next day, then it repeats the process. I took it to the dealership and they told me I need a new sun roof assembly, $1,200 in parts and $700 in labor. Surely I can permanently fix this plastic piece without needing to replace the entire thing right? I am going to try to do just this.
So with this, does anyone have any pointers? I think at this point I am going to pull the head liner down and pull out the entire assembly to inspect it.
