Ok, I got it figured out and it wasn't that bad. I want to put this issue to bed, and hopefully anybody with a similar issue can benefit . . .
As stated, the problem was the sliding brackets which open and close the moonroof as they advance and retract - some resistance caused by a piece of broken plastic had caused the motor to become out of sync with the brackets' position. The link I included above really has all information needed, but I decided to articulate a bit more . . . here's my pic:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50438230/Moonroof Calibration Position.jpg
This is what I did (referencing picture). This is apparently the accepted procedure:
- First, I positioned moonroof to closed (just get it at least close to being closed). This makes things easier during adjustment.
- Removed access panel cover from roof above rear seat. The motor can then be removed by taking out two screws, one on each side. You might need to turn the assembly slightly to disengage it from the cog.
- Wrapped some old electrical tape around cog to protect threads (to prevent stripping them) and turned it with pliers until the forward pins were at position of YELLOW arrow in pic (looking at passenger side).
- There are 3 screws holding glass panel assembly onto the sliding brackets. The BLUE arrow in pic shows the rear-most of these. When I had taken the glass out a while ago to clear out the plastic pieces, I must have put the panel back in wrong with respect to these 6 screws. So to fix this, I loosened all 6, and with the help of my son holding flashlight, I gently lifted from underneath to position glass panel flush with top of roof and tightened down screws. At the rear pair, the glass needed to go about as high as it could, and I didn't adjust the front 2 (though afterward, I did notice the front of glass panel could have come up a smidge). The middle pair are really just there to hold it in place better.
- With the glass fine-tuned to flush with top of roof, and sliding brackets in the right position, turn key to on to power the moonroof motor. Operate the VENT button (driver's side) open, which will auto stop. Then hold down the close button until motor stops. The motor is now sync'd with the position of the moonroof.
- Reinstall motor, turning slightly to re-engage with cog, and being sure to keep firm upward pressure while replacing screws. Test moonroof operation and feel free to further fine-tune if desired. If not, pop access cover back on and crack one open. The 6 screws can be adjusted at any time really.
That is the accepted procedure, more or less. But looking back, I think it might make more sense to set the moonroof to fully vented, pushing the sliding brackets as far forward as possible, before calibrating to THAT point. This syncs the motor with a hard stop, instead of a point "somewhere" near the yellow arrow in my pic that still might be a wee bit too far forward, thus causing the motor to expect more forward travel when there is none. If this happens, you'll hear the motor relay clicking. But then if you don't hear the clicking, you might wonder if you set the brackets a bit too far back, thus preventing the vent position from rising as much as it should. With the forward-most/high-vent position calibration, you'd know for sure that the motor's shut-off vent open point would match to where you physically extended the brackets.
