98 ETC Sunroof Problems

[98ETC9]

Sunroof was acting erratic for awhile, i would loose control to the sunroof and my power windows. Window would rool up bout 1/4 at a time. Sunroof opens sometimes when key is turned off. Pulled the front side of the head liner down and got a look at the relay its marked Starlite VI,VII. It is stuck in the vent position and drains my battery over time. I get a clicking sound when the button is pushed... any help would greatly appreciated

[rockfangd]

Is this a Dealer add on moonroof or the original astroroof?

I would start by pulling any DTCs.

Sounds like a grounding problem to the moonroof. that could be why it is staying to vent all the time

[Cadillac Jim]

In my 1997 FSM, the factory sunroof schematic is on page 8A-122-0, and is very simple. The power to the sunroof is through the Windows circuit breaker, and if your windows aren't rolling up all the way something is probably tripping the breaker, such as dragging windows making the motor draw too much current.

The power to the sunroof is from the retained accessory power, the same power that powers the radio. When the radio won't come on, the sunroof should not do anything. But, the retained accessory power is *not* turned off with the ignition key by itself. If the key is off and you open one of the doors, this will turn of the retained accessory power. You can use the radio to tell when the retained accessory power is on and off.

My car has a dealer-installed sunroof that I had put in before I took delivery of the car. It's made by the same company that provides the factory units to GM, but you can tell the difference between them by the small console above the rear-view mirror. If it has the push-and-click compartment for sunglasses, you have the dealer-installed sunroof.

The dealer-installed sunroof operates slightly differently from the factory unit. Power is through a red and a pink wire spliced onto the wires going between the ignition switch and the headlight switch under the dash. The red one is always hot and the pink one is the ignition-on signal. When the ignition is turned off, the sunroof will automatically close, even if the key is off. The dealer-installed sunroof does not use the retained accessory power.

The power window schematic in the 1997 FSM for the Eldorado is on pages 8A-120-2 and -3. They are powered by the retained accessory power, the same as the factory sunroof. There appears to be a solid state circuit breaker in each window motor. This could be tripping due to a dragging window, causing the window not to go all the way up or down. If the sunroof cuts off too when this happens, then the windows circuit breaker in the LH Maxifuse block is tripping.

I can't say what might be making the sunroof move when you aren't touching the switch. But, a short in the wiring could account for both tripping of the circuit breaker and things happening when you aren't touching one of the switches.

The retained accessory power wire to the power windows in PNK, and it runs to the power window switches on both doors. There are two wires that go between the doors, LT BLU and TAN. Wires to the motor are BRN and BLU. The BRN wires are interior lighting power that dim with the headlight switch rotation. All the BLK wires are to grounds.

ON the factory sunroof, the wires to the switch from the control module are ORN, DK BLU, and BRN.

[rockfangd]

thanks for the extra info. I wish my moonroof worked On RAP. I always forget to shut it and have to turn the key back on to shut it. mine is dealer installed but does not shut when I turn the key off. wIsh I could wire mine into the RAP circuit

[Cadillac Jim]

rockfangd - apparently there is some difference in how it's wired, or possibly in the design and installation instructions. Mine has an "always hot" wire and a "hot in run" signal, so when the key is turned off, it closes.

I remember a scene in Caddyshack at the country club at night where some kid is drunk and the valet pulls up with a customer's Porsche or other low-slung, expensive car and gets out to go get the customer, and the drunk kid pukes through the open sunroof. More to the point, my wife doesn't have the auto-close feature on her Pontiac and she has been known to have left it open while parked, and it rained.

98 ETC L37 - one thing that has occurred to me that might help explain all of your problems is a bad connection on the battery cable, the positive terminal where it hooks to the battery. There are three power lugs sandwiched together inside the big red plastic cover and sometimes corrosion accumulates inside it, unseen. One wire goes to the starter solenoid, one to the alternator armature connection, and the third goes under the radiator across the car to the main car power bus in the Maxifuse blocks. So, the car can start and charge fine but have intermittent power problems with the rest of the car. I suggest that you disconnect it and pry all three lugs out of the big red connector and clean them well, perhaps with some supplies and a big copper spacer washer from the auto parts store, to make sure that everything is making a really good connection.