I cannot get the cover to the someone motor/map light off. It appears to be internally fastened by 4 screws. Everywhere I've looked said to pry the cover off. I've pried it loose but can't actually pry it off because when I look inside, the cover is fastened to internal components by screws. How can I get this cover off so I can manually close the sunroof. Is there another way? I need to get this roof closed before the rain comes, and it's coming tonight. If anyone is in the NYC area I will pay you to close it. And then I'll probably let you buy the entire car for ~2500.

I am confident this is not an electrical issue as I was able to open the sunroof just fine right before it got stuck. The tracks are clean. The sunroof is not tilted to one side; it's not out of alignment. I can also hear a clicking sound from the sunroof motor--it clicks 3 times before it gives up. It clicks but the sunroof won't move anywhere, so I'm pretty sure it's not just a blown fuse.

 

Look in the owners manual it should show what to do. Post a picture of the covers etc.

 

Nothing in owners manual about what to do. I sat around all afternoon in the car before the rain hit reading the manual trying to find something. I believe the 98-00 LS400s lost the ability to manually close the sunroof. At least that's what I've read one person say online. A person who claims to have 14 years of experience.

Say it isn't so!

I would take pics but I just left the car in a parking garage and walked 2 miles home in the rain ... not going back until tomorrow!

EDIT: tried going back after consulting a parts diagram. It looks like I can't simply pry off the cover to the sunroof controls. It looks as if there are SCREWS fastening the plastic sunroof control cover to the roof of the car?! Picture below.

Note the white piece in the picture. It is screwed into the sunroof control cover. The white piece is also screwed into a metal bracket which is attached to the roof (not in this picture). There are numerous other screws that anchor the plastic sunroof control panel to a bracket which attaches to the roof.

Why would Toyota make this trim panel so hard to remove? I'm used to just popping trim panels off. I'm not used to having to access screws that aren't even facing me just to remove trim panels!! I tried using an 18 inch tire iron to pry this trim piece off and it didn't work. I think all I did was just bend the metal bracket to which the sunroof panel is attached to!

 

I'm not much help with that year car. Your right doesn't make sense, should just come off easy. If dealer is close look at a manual.

 

There is no way to manually close the sunroof that I'm aware. Maybe you can try pulling the sunroof as you move the control. Motor is probably dead.

 

YOu have to be missing something simple here. You can see where it screws to the bracket, so the end of that screw must be accessible

 

The motor clicks but it doesn't move. Makes me think that the gears are stripped rather than it being dead.

 

I mean, I guess the screw is accessible with enough effort. It's about 1, maybe 2 inches recessed and I can only pry the cover off a little bit. I'd have to use one of these things:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg

And there are lots of these screws, even on the side of the panel next to the windshield. It just seems like a total nightmare to take off. Which makes me think that I am missing something--it's a Toyota, after all--it should be easier to remove plastic trim panels.

 

Are you sure you removed the screws?
​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-ls-400-a.html

 

The Gen 1's can be manually operated. I'm at a loss on the new stuff.

 

Maybe try having a helper press the close button while you give it a little push from outside the car. Might be worth a try to get it closed. Also, I am pretty sure it has a safety feature to retract if there is an obstruction like a kids hands. I would look for something in the tracks.

 

I tried already.

So if there's no way to manually close the roof, what would a dealer do? Replace the whole roof? Because I'm about to take the car to a dealer or a shop because this ridiculousness needs to stop. I can't be driving around and having to open an umbrella in the car each time it rains (which is nearly every day this week).

 

That is one reason on one of the cars I had, I disconnected the wire to the motor so no one could open the moon roof. You really need to go to the dealer and look at the manual to see what to do. Or do the tech site thing and look for it.

 

Yep, hindsight is 20/20! The moonroof had been working well up to the point I decided to open it all the way to clean the rails. I opened it all the way because I've been getting a lot of water in the cabin when it rains and one of the first things anyone says to check is the moonroof rails. Well, I opened it ... it was clean ... and next thing I knew I couldn't close it again.

 

The motor is what holds it in place so if you can remove the motor you should able to slide it forward.