GEN 3 SHO FAN
SHO Member
As I completely restored the sunroof this last summer, I put the info here on how I made it before I forgot it entirely. I know it's more a thread for TCCA but I prefer how the infos is easier to find here.
I did this thing because the black plastic frame which close the shade when closing the sunroof was completely falling apart and when I was opening it I heard some plastic parts broke farther in the roof... After some time, I was very tired to re-put the shade at his place when leaving the car and sometime it was very far in the roof. Moreover, the rubber on the glass maybe had stretching with time and heat creating a hole between the glass and body. I had wind noise coming from that area too... Before to have leaks there (many had one), I choose to keep things on hand.
I go to scrapyard with the measurements of my sunroof glass. Besure to have a magnet stick before. It appears that all gen 3 and gen 4 Taurus have the same window there (1996-2006). The window is exactly the same with the same bolting patern. I completely unbolt one to see how it work and keep all the parts (rails, screws, deflector, window, the crappy black plastic and by the way take the motor, for sale at 150$ on Rockauto...). When choosing your new window, observe carefully if the rubber all around is in good shape (no crack, no bad fold, no hole, no decoloration) and you way take one with a better or darker tint (as me).
Advice : Do this job with the sunroof closed. Do not touch open or close buttons when parts is retreived. You will lost the good "closed" position of your sunroof.
Additional advice : If you care about your leather seats, as you work in the car at a higher level than driving, you will be tempted to put feet on them. A very small metal part on a shoe can do a real good scratch on your seat. I did this job without my shoes to be sure.
To unscrew the window, you must be careful, there are 3 screws on each side and 4 are almost invisible. (These screws are painted in black with a Phillips head.) You must point at the good place with your screw driver without seeing them. Once the window retreived, you have place to work. I retreived all black plastic parts some were in the far bottom beside the sunroof motor. It seems that there is grease on the rails from factory but with time the grease accumulate all the dust going there became like mud. I tryed therefore to slide the shade (the interior sunroof part with tan or grey tissue under it), it was very difficult to slide it probably because of the mud. Maybe it's the reason why the plastic broke (high heat doesn't too). I tryed to clean it and re-put good grease (I tought to put oil but there is too much heat there, the oil will not stay).
To reinstall the black plastic frame, you have to snap it at each end (it's U shaped) at the motorized part on the rails. It's a delicate job because you have to twist it a little and it's very tight in the sunroof hole for it. You can change also the deflector (the black metal part elevating when you open the sunroof) because it may have some pucks or be sandblasted by dust. I don't remember how exactly is thighten but it was easy to retreive. When all this is done, you can put in place your new window. I suggest to put it with four hands if you don't want scratches on the body (the window have 6 metal "legs" for the screws under it).
It's now the hardest part of the job, bolting window. At this point the magnet stick become very, very usefull. It can takes some (many) times to insert the screws in their hole and turn them enought to prevent them falling on the rails or worst, deeper beside the rails. When you are able to screw them, don't fix them tight, you still have to adjust the height of the window after all the screws are in place. Tight them up just enought to keep the window at his height. Take a look outside the vehicule and watch the height difference between body and sunroof window. We have around 1/2 inch of adjustement on the height there. Give some gentle hits inside the window to reach the same level as the body (with a hand on the sunroof and one under). When the height is good on all corners, return under and thighten all 6 screws. I had no leaks in next month of service.
I suggest to make an opening/closing test(s) at this step to see if all is working correctly. If it must all fall apart, better to have all tools near and at home...
Good luck and don't forget the magnet stick !
I did this thing because the black plastic frame which close the shade when closing the sunroof was completely falling apart and when I was opening it I heard some plastic parts broke farther in the roof... After some time, I was very tired to re-put the shade at his place when leaving the car and sometime it was very far in the roof. Moreover, the rubber on the glass maybe had stretching with time and heat creating a hole between the glass and body. I had wind noise coming from that area too... Before to have leaks there (many had one), I choose to keep things on hand.
I go to scrapyard with the measurements of my sunroof glass. Besure to have a magnet stick before. It appears that all gen 3 and gen 4 Taurus have the same window there (1996-2006). The window is exactly the same with the same bolting patern. I completely unbolt one to see how it work and keep all the parts (rails, screws, deflector, window, the crappy black plastic and by the way take the motor, for sale at 150$ on Rockauto...). When choosing your new window, observe carefully if the rubber all around is in good shape (no crack, no bad fold, no hole, no decoloration) and you way take one with a better or darker tint (as me).
Advice : Do this job with the sunroof closed. Do not touch open or close buttons when parts is retreived. You will lost the good "closed" position of your sunroof.
Additional advice : If you care about your leather seats, as you work in the car at a higher level than driving, you will be tempted to put feet on them. A very small metal part on a shoe can do a real good scratch on your seat. I did this job without my shoes to be sure.
To unscrew the window, you must be careful, there are 3 screws on each side and 4 are almost invisible. (These screws are painted in black with a Phillips head.) You must point at the good place with your screw driver without seeing them. Once the window retreived, you have place to work. I retreived all black plastic parts some were in the far bottom beside the sunroof motor. It seems that there is grease on the rails from factory but with time the grease accumulate all the dust going there became like mud. I tryed therefore to slide the shade (the interior sunroof part with tan or grey tissue under it), it was very difficult to slide it probably because of the mud. Maybe it's the reason why the plastic broke (high heat doesn't too). I tryed to clean it and re-put good grease (I tought to put oil but there is too much heat there, the oil will not stay).
To reinstall the black plastic frame, you have to snap it at each end (it's U shaped) at the motorized part on the rails. It's a delicate job because you have to twist it a little and it's very tight in the sunroof hole for it. You can change also the deflector (the black metal part elevating when you open the sunroof) because it may have some pucks or be sandblasted by dust. I don't remember how exactly is thighten but it was easy to retreive. When all this is done, you can put in place your new window. I suggest to put it with four hands if you don't want scratches on the body (the window have 6 metal "legs" for the screws under it).
It's now the hardest part of the job, bolting window. At this point the magnet stick become very, very usefull. It can takes some (many) times to insert the screws in their hole and turn them enought to prevent them falling on the rails or worst, deeper beside the rails. When you are able to screw them, don't fix them tight, you still have to adjust the height of the window after all the screws are in place. Tight them up just enought to keep the window at his height. Take a look outside the vehicule and watch the height difference between body and sunroof window. We have around 1/2 inch of adjustement on the height there. Give some gentle hits inside the window to reach the same level as the body (with a hand on the sunroof and one under). When the height is good on all corners, return under and thighten all 6 screws. I had no leaks in next month of service.
I suggest to make an opening/closing test(s) at this step to see if all is working correctly. If it must all fall apart, better to have all tools near and at home...
Good luck and don't forget the magnet stick !
Last edited:
Any accompanying pics to share?
