my sunroof wont close

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
8,518
8
91
'Moonroof' is just a marketing term coined by Ford in the 70's. Anyone who pretends there is a difference is silly.
 
Last edited:

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
36
91
It's actually that. It is a hard definition. Anyone who doesn't adhere to those definitions is just ignorant of them.

Actually, all moonroofs are sunroofs, but not all sunroofs are moonroofs. (Just like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.) It is proper and correct to call a moonroof a "sunroof" because a moonroof is simply a specific sub-category of sunroof. It would not be correct, however, to call the fiberglass sunroof in my 951 a moonroof.

ZV
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
Actually, all moonroofs are sunroofs, but not all sunroofs are moonroofs. (Just like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.) It is proper and correct to call a moonroof a "sunroof" because a moonroof is simply a specific sub-category of sunroof. It would not be correct, however, to call the fiberglass sunroof in my 951 a moonroof.

ZV

A moonroof is a glass roof. A sunroof is a metal roof.

I have not found any controversy on those definitions until this thread. :colbert:
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
36
91
A moonroof is a glass roof. A sunroof is a metal roof.

I have not found any controversy on those definitions until this thread. :colbert:

Those are incorrect definitions.

A sunroof is a roof panel that opens (a simple metal roof is, by definition, fixed in place). "Moonroof" is a term invented in 1973 by Ford Motor Company to describe the glass sunroof they installed in the 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV.

I say again, all moonroofs are sunroofs, but not all sunroofs are moonroofs.

ZV
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,155
59
91
Those are incorrect definitions.

A sunroof is a roof panel that opens (a simple metal roof is, by definition, fixed in place). "Moonroof" is a term invented in 1973 by Ford Motor Company to describe the glass sunroof they installed in the 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV.

I say again, all moonroofs are sunroofs, but not all sunroofs are moonroofs.

ZV

Not really.

"Moonroof" was just a marketing term. Those 1973 "Moonroofs"? Lincoln sent the cars to an aftermarket company to have them installed. The installation company? American SUNROOF Company.

So there's really not a hard, fast definition, and either is correct. There is no difference between a sunroof and a moonroof, they are exactly the same thing, and either term is correct. There are certainly different types, but for pretty much all the electric ones, either term is correct. Ford uses Moonroof. GM uses Sunroof. Same thing.
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,514
36
91
Not really.

"Moonroof" was just a marketing term. Those 1973 "Moonroofs"? Lincoln sent the cars to an aftermarket company to have them installed. The installation company? American SUNROOF Company.

So there's really not a hard, fast definition, and either is correct. There is no difference between a sunroof and a moonroof, they are exactly the same thing, and either term is correct. There are certainly different types, but for pretty much all the electric ones, either term is correct. Ford uses Moonroof. GM uses Sunroof. Same thing.

Agree that moonroofs are sunroofs, that's what I've been saying.

And yes, I know that ASC made the mechanism for the '73 Mark's moonroof.

But as far as I've been able to tell, the '73 Mark was the first car to use a glass panel for a sunroof which makes the "moonroof" distinction correct as a designation of the subset of sunroofs where the panel is translucent glass instead of opaque metal or fiberglass.

A glass panel sunroof can be called a moonroof. But an opaque panel sunroof can never be called a moonroof. For example, the sunroof in my Volvo is a moonroof. But the sunroof in my 951 is not (since it's opaque fiberglass).

ZV
 

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
7,306
5
0
Sunroofs (moonroofs, cable-operated-sliding-glasshole, whatever you wanna call it) can be a PITA to deal with. But this isn't exactly the catastrophe you're making it out to be. In most all cases, you should at least be able to get it closed, and then it's simply a choice of paying the money or not using it.

So you've gotten the closed part...have you made any attempt to see what's binding? You're unlikely to find many people who will want to actually troubleshoot it rather than just quoting you a new track assembly. So you're probably going to have to look at it yourself.

First thing I would do is get access to the motor. Should be behind the plastic panel holding the map lights, right above your rearview mirror. Pull that and it should be staring you right in the face, at which point it's usually like three bolts to remove it. Once removed, the glass should slide by hand. If there is a really rough spot, you'll find it. The fix could be pretty simple...could just be the little wind deflector at the front jamming it up.

It could also be perfectly fine but in need of lubrication. If it's physically capable of closing, but the slides and/or cables are dirty and dry, the smallest little hiccup could keep it from closing. Some cars are more sensitive than others...I know I've seen the 'auto up' function on windows malfunction due to something as trivial as aftermarket tint causing extra friction inside the the rubber guides for the glass.