HOW TO: Sunroof Drains / Headliner Removal / Sunroof Removal, Pictorial for sunroof equipped 6GC healiner and sunroof ass. removal Options

[JoshuaM]

I have been planning to do this for a long time, but here it finally is!!!

As some of you may remember, after I bought my car last year I had some problems with the sunroof making me... well, very cold and wet

Yesterday I had my car parked facing up the hill in front of my house when It was raining. When I drove off the gutter to drive back in the driveway, a couple of liters of water suddenly splashed down my back from the roof. I was shocked, and got out of my car to inspect. The sunroof (factory fitted) was closed properly, and none of the interior or roof lining was wet (other than what I saw drop).

I have owned the car for a couple of months now, and I have not had any other trouble with it - but I don't recall it raining when it was parked in that position before.

From my research on the Internet, I thought it might be one of the sunroof drainage hoses. The way the car was parked, any water that got in would have pooled at the back on the driver side (right side over here), which is where the water splashed me from... So I was thinking that drain might be clogged.

To fix this problem I had to remove the headliner, and then the sunroof, to clear out the rear drains (which were the culprits). I have documented this for you all below.

There are many orders in which you can proceed with removing your headliner. Ther order I am demonstrating is not the exact order I followed, but is what I think would be most efficient if I was to do it again. I have broken it up into a few phases.

Phase 1 – Removing plastics at front.

1. Remove sun visors by unscrewing the 2 screws on each piece.




2. Unscrew each of the clips where the free end of the sun visor attaches, once unscrewed these require firm pressure by hand to pull out.





3. Remove the clip-on cover over the rear view mirror.... have fun! This took my ages because I had no idea how it attached and was going at it from the wrong angles (And didn’t want to break anything!). Please use this pic to your advantage when deciding your plan of attack.



4. Unscrew rear view mirror.

5. Remove sunroof control / domelight facia (Single screw).

6. Remove other screw (circled) holding in the controls.



7. Pull down from the left hand side and remove; unplugging the electrical connection.








Phase 2 – Removing pillar mouldings.

Please note, to remove your roof linings it is not necessary to remove any of these panels, you simply need to make enough slack at the top to be able to pull the lining out without causing damage. Other people may have completed this procedure removing less plastics than I did, but this would increase the risk of damaging / cracking anything during the process.

1. Remove coat hooks using screwdriver.



2. Remove seat belts using 14mm socket.





3. Using your fingers, unclip the overlapping plastic at the roof behind the doors (B-Pillar). To do this you just need to use gentle but firm force to pull it off. Once you have got it started you can follow along the roof line, and down the pillar a short amount. Be careful as this piece has cracked on my car between the roof and seat belt mounting point where there is a hidden clip, this may or not be a common weak point to take care







4. (OPTIONAL) I can’t remember why I did this, or if it was at all necessary (I suspect it may not have been), but I also removed these screws at the back to try and lever greater visibility behind the plastics.



Phase 3 – Removing Headliner

1. Remove the 3 clips at the back of the headliner near the hatch. I managed to get one out without completely destroying it, and ended up having to snap off the other two and order replacements (They cost about $3.50 each here... just got them done a week ago... over a year after I did this ).

2. Remove trim around sunroof opening by just gently pulling away by hand.



3. Gently slide out the headliner through the open hatch, ensuring that you have plenty of gaps between the pillar plastics that we detached in the previous phase, so that nothing gets snagged.



Phase 4 – Remove Sunroof Assembly

From here you can view and access the drains, but my blockages were in the basin of the sunroof itself, so it still needed to come out.

1. Remove each of the 4 drain hoses (Either by hand or both the assistance of vice grips.... I can’t remember how tight these were, I think I did it by hand.)







2. Unplug more electronics (Sunroof motor controls).





3. FIND A FRIEND!!! This should be a two person job to make sure you don’t damage anything.

4. Use your socket set again (I think it stayed 14mm, but I can’t remember) and remove the numerous bolts attaching the sunroof assembly to the roof. Remember the motor controls are coming out of the car with the sunroof! Gently lower and remove via hatch again.



Phase 5 – Clean Sunroof Drains

Now you have your sunroof out you can do whatever you need to do; clean sunroof drains, change fabric on the sunshade, replace glass, repair motor etc. etc.

There is one drain at each corner of the basin;



Here were the culprits of my problems;







Then clean;







Then you have to put it all back again!!!

A few more random pics, including sunroof out.



































Wow.... my car was so stock back then


I do have more pictures, but I think there were the most useful. There are a few places that could do with a few extra photos – if you have some that are relevant I can chuck ‘em in or I may end up taking some more at a later date.

As I mentioned before, I did this over a year ago now, so my memory isn’t crystal clear (And it is 1:30AM here atm) If there is anything that I have missed or if you have any more specific details or suggested alterations I am more than happy to update this so that it is a one-stop shop of sunroof model headliner removal and sunroof removal.


This post has been edited by JoshuaM: Jul 24, 2013 - 10:22 AM

[JoshuaM]

~ Reserved for future additions to guide ~

This post has been edited by JoshuaM: Jul 24, 2013 - 10:28 AM

[azian_advanced]

sticky!

[Tigawoods]

comprehensive write up!

[Box]

Awesome write-up! While you are there you can dye the headliner and visors black so they match the rest of the interior.

[Keiri]

Well done post, Josh!

[JoshuaM]

Yay - It is a success then I was prompted to do it now because somebody on Celica Club UK needed a hand with it, and now it may be added to their stickies as a link to 6GC

[slo_celly]

Second that... Sticky icky.

[BonzaiCelica]

yo to where do the drain hoses lead too. I pulled one out and its a little over 60 inches long.

[RavenAegis45]

Great write up, I got a question though, My sunroof stopped working, the tilt button won't do anything and the slide buttons move the sunroof just a tad before they start making a grinding noise, any ideas what this could be?

[BonzaiCelica]

since google wasn't much help. anybody where the pictures that show the differences between the sunroof and hard top celica pics side by side.

[benzo]

Nice write up. I had to do the same exact thing. I got soaked twice before I did it though. hahaha

Great write up, I got a question though, My sunroof stopped working, the tilt button won't do anything and the slide buttons move the sunroof just a tad before they start making a grinding noise, any ideas what this could be?

bump... my sunroofs been outta commission for a long while now. I held the botton to close it while a friend pushed it shut. it has stayed that way for some time. I want to fix it but cant seem to find any diy info.

[JoshuaM]

Great write up, I got a question though, My sunroof stopped working, the tilt button won't do anything and the slide buttons move the sunroof just a tad before they start making a grinding noise, any ideas what this could be?

Sorry, I didn't see this at the time. Probably the motor needs replacing or the gears have stripped. You would need to pull it out to know for sure. Best to find a working unit from a junkyard and swap it over (or just the motor) I'd say

since google wasn't much help. anybody where the pictures that show the differences between the sunroof and hard top celica pics side by side.

Exactly what do you want to see? Surely there will be some hardtop pics floating around from GT4 and rally builds? Check the sticky for headliner removal because I think that was a non-sunroof (But its been a long time since I've seen that).

Nice write up. I had to do the same exact thing. I got soaked twice before I did it though. hahaha

Great write up, I got a question though, My sunroof stopped working, the tilt button won't do anything and the slide buttons move the sunroof just a tad before they start making a grinding noise, any ideas what this could be?

bump... my sunroofs been outta commission for a long while now. I held the button to close it while a friend pushed it shut. it has stayed that way for some time. I want to fix it but cant seem to find any diy info.

I got soaked about 4-5 times, haha I started carrying a towel around with me.

When you press the button what do you hear? Is the motor definitely getting power? It is a common thing for sunroof motors and gears to wear out and need replacing after a while. I would keep an eye out for a car being parted out here or in a local junkyard and get a replacement motor, or if you can just get the whole assembly and chuck it in.

[BonzaiCelica]

Since I plugged up my sunroof. I want to see if there is enough room to weld the moulding where the interior light goes, from the hardtop, in order that I can make my car r look like a hardtop Celica from the factory