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My parents are concerned that if I get a car with a sunroof I will have nothing but problems, as they have heard a lot of stories about other people having problems. Just wondering how the sunroofs on the MX-3's holds up and if anybody has had any serious problems. Thanks

No problems here - very reliable and a great feature to have.

only problem that is common w/the mx3 is the sunroof not popping up when you first click the controls. You often have to give it a nudge with your hand to get it to pop upward.

I never had any problems with leaks. IT has a drainage system anyways so even if water does get through somehow, it won't ever go in the interior.

I haven't really worried about it, but what causes that sticking? I've had bigger fish to fry, but eventually I want to fix that because I'm afraid my dirty hands will start smudging up my roof

My problem with the sunroof is that it grinds when it is fully closed and I push the button the wrong way (trying to close it ) . Then it stops midway in the opening process so I have to release the button, then push it again to make it fully open...

The stickyness exists on my parents '90 626 as well

Basically, you need to help the sunroof with the first initial movement to get it out of the closed position

verzutiko wrote:My problem with the sunroof is that it grinds when it is fully closed and I push the button the wrong way (trying to close it ) . Then it stops midway in the opening process so I have to release the button, then push it again to make it fully open...

you can fix this one pretty easily... open your sunroof all the way, then take off your headliner and remove the sunroof motor. leave the motor connected to the power supply. then hold the sunroof switch in the open position, until the motor stops (like it currently does midway), and then put it all back.

that way your sunroof is "calibrated" to stop at the proper times. if it's grinding though, that means it's slipping gears, so that'll throw it all off again if that does happen.

you can try lubricating it too, mine sticks sometimes on hot days when closing only.

When I bought mine the sunroof would sometimes fail and be very hard to close. After cleaning the tracks it has never failed since and worked perfectly every time.

I know this is an old post, but i didnt fancy starting a new one if some of the answers are in the search function.
Any how i have no end of problems with my sunroof some times it gets completely stuck!! it grinds and clunks and sometimes only goes down fully on one side only and ends up all wonkey !!. At speeds of 80mph + the sunroof also lifts on one side !! It doesnt leak even with these problems. Do you know if the mx3 has the same motor assembly as any other mazda models, i.e probe, 626, 323, mx-6 ??? I presume the motor and gear assembly is knackered am i right?? I did try to find details in the mazda chilton repair manual, but they list nothing on sunroofs??
Cheers

dont be too hasty and get a new motor -- ive got the same problem as you.

when i first bought my car, the sunroof didnt do anything, so i assumed the motor was dead. i bought a new one, and only then discovered that the original wasnt plugged in!! the guy disconnected it, i guess to hide the problem youre having and give the impression that it was just a simple motor swap.

at any rate, i have two motors now, and with either in place the problem still remains, so i doubt it would help your situation. i'll be taking it to get looked at whenever i stop being so lazy.. i'll keep ya posted

-Jim

ok keep us posted or pm me once youve had a chance to get it looked at, seems like such a poor design the sunroof, i tend not to even open it now as its not worth the bother of trying to get it closed !!!
Id be quite happy with just a tilt manual sunroof rather than the electric tilt and slide one.

Grants wrote:When I bought mine the sunroof would sometimes fail and be very hard to close. After cleaning the tracks it has never failed since and worked perfectly every time.

How did you clean it? What did you use? Mine is very slow closing, I think it may be dirt.

Thanks, Mike

Just with a rag, a bit of time and a bit of hard work. Clean every inch of the rails right to the end as well as you can. I then put a bit of grease on the rails but to be honest I don't think that did much - it was definitely the cleaning that worked.

you can fix this one pretty easily... open your sunroof all the way, then take off your headliner and remove the sunroof motor. leave the motor connected to the power supply. then hold the sunroof switch in the open position, until the motor stops (like it currently does midway), and then put it all back.

that way your sunroof is "calibrated" to stop at the proper times. if it's grinding though, that means it's slipping gears, so that'll throw it all off again if that does happen.

Ah! Good! Hmm, slipping gears, that can't be good... But thank you very much for your answer ninjajim4, it was most helpful!