2004 Camry - sunroof won't close

saintbargabar

So my friend was driving her car and the sunroof won't close. When it gets to the end of the track, it opens itself back up again. We found a piece sitting on the right-hand track but don't see anyplace where it would fit. It's Saturday pm on a holiday weekend and no place is open.

Here's a picture of the part (with a pen for scale)
imgur.com/BYCeMgU

Is there a way to force this thing to close so the car doesn't get ruined by rain until she can fix it?

stever

Sounds like the only way is to remove the motor. Big pain (as is fixing the sunroof, it sounds like). See this post at justanswer.com.

Mr_Shiftright

I suspect what you are seeing is a feature called "pinch protection"---this occurs when the motor senses too much resistance to closing. I think you must have something still caught in the track, or perhaps the track is distorted and is squeezing the glass too hard. Get a flashlight and inspect for obstacles. If you don't see any, you might try some light white grease and see if that helps. Something is binding, is my guess. If that little plastic thingie is a guide, then the roof could be torquing off center as it closes.