How do you close a stuck open moon roof on a 97 Lincoln town car?

Answer 1

I actually own a 97 town car signature and had this problem just hours ago, and wanted to share my fix online. My sunroof/moonroof was stuck open, and it pulled the visor/cover with it, so that the visor and the glass were both pulled back under the roof. Usual operation will leave the visor cover accessible, but this time it was jammed back there with the glass so I couldn't get to it. I tried to grab it with needlenose pliers and pull it out to no avail. I tried to pull the glass while hitting the switch, also to no avail. Pressing the rocker type control switch one direction made a faint clicking noise, while the other direction did nothing. So I drove home and looked up a fix for this, but found nothing specific to this year of town car, much less any real answers anywhere for any type of town car.

I did find out which auxillary fuse (it's actually a CB or circuit breaker fuse) powered the moonroof, I found this in the owners manual that I was able to download online. I checked that but don't really know how to test it since it's not a standard fuse that is either visably blown or not. But it also controls the power windows. My windows still work, so I don't think it's the circuit breaker. So eventually I went back out to my car and tried to clean the tracks but they weren't very dirty. I then noticed a blank panel plate in the roof of the car inside over the rear seat. It pops right out with a flathead screwdriver and reveals the moonroof motor.

Remove two screws, slide the motor around back and forth a bit until it drops down. Above, where the motor was, you'll see a round metal stud/peg with teeth on the outside diameter of it. Get a pair of pliers or vice grips and gently clamp down on this toothed wheel/cog stud. Don't strip the teeth on it. Turn it the direction which allows it to move, I think it was counter-clockwise if I remember correctly, just make sure that it's turning and you're not stripping the teeth. Continue a few turns and try to push the now freed up glass back to the front of the vehicle. Push it as far as you can and then turn that toothed cog until it stops turning that direction. That's what I did, and it worked.

I also wondered if it would seal and so I got a bucket of water and poured just a 1/2 gallon or so around the moonroof on top of the car, around the seals, looked inside the car and saw no leaks. Then I poured the whole bucket and still saw no leaks. I'll probably diagnose this further when I get a chance and see if I need to replace the switch or the motor, but for now I at least have a sealed car that I won't have to worry about rain or theft.

I'm still amazed that I was unable to find an answer to my problem online. But it feels good to be the first one to post a fix for this very stressful problem that requires an urgent fix for all those who experience it. I also saw in other places that people called dealerships who wanted $1000 to replace the motor or $200 just to manually close it for a temporary fix. So hopefully my post will save some people some money. It was very easy for anyone halfway mechanically inclined.