After Market Sunroof..Can It Be Leak Proof??

Joeychgo said:
Yeah - but what I was referring to was that cars dont come off the line with the sunroof installed. The car is actually taken to a 3rd party for the sunroof to be installed.

I wouldn't be suprised. Look back several decades and you will find that cars were sent to carriage companies to have bodies put on a rolling and running chasis. The buyer pretty much has custom carriages or passenger compartments design for the chasis after the fact and the companies that did the work were often 3rd party.
 
JPsBored said:
ok so basically i should not do it,, or if done, got with high quality sunroof kit and good installer?

yea i know i had some friends in past years got roofs put in and everyone of them leaked,, could be bad insall or bad roof kit.

so want4ed to know if there anyone out here that has done it,, and how they feel bout it now.

I have tpondered it and even asked my dealer(s) service shops about it and they just did not recommend it. I think it is a big risk to take on a car like this.
 
eL eS said:
I have tpondered it and even asked my dealer(s) service shops about it and they just did not recommend it. I think it is a big risk to take on a car like this.

thanks el,, was thinkin the same thing,, be nice to have,, but not worth the risk of leakin forever, and ruining interior.
 
I unfortuneately spent a lot of time in the shop with my car and had a lot of bench time where I was just sitting and chatting with the SAs or the Techs and admitedly they never seen an LS with an aftermerket sun roof they had had several other cars in with them and they said the long term result was never in favor of the owner.

My next car will have one. I settled on a car that didn't have one and I could shoe myself in the :qs for not waiting to buy the car I wanted rather than the want the sale guys got me all ecited about.

My wife... she didn't settle she got her car the way she wanted it roof, wheels, spoiler engine etc and has been pleased as pie. I a bitte old bastard now! I want my pie :)
 
Yeah back on the topic my mom had a 99 stang and my grandfathers shop installed a sunroof and it never leaked but the guy who did the electrical sucked and it sometimes didnt work like when it rained we had a hard time to get it to close but yeah it didnt leak Im not sure but im thinking there is a cut-out section in the hood and they just have to follow it ( just like some cars have extra harnesses incase the factory needs to install an up grade ) just my 2 cents on the topic
 
SilverLS said:
Yeah back on the topic my mom had a 99 stang and my grandfathers shop installed a sunroof and it never leaked but the guy who did the electrical sucked and it sometimes didnt work like when it rained we had a hard time to get it to close but yeah it didnt leak Im not sure but im thinking there is a cut-out section in the hood and they just have to follow it ( just like some cars have extra harnesses incase the factory needs to install an up grade ) just my 2 cents on the topic

Hey do youthink you might be up to coming to tampa on aug 20th? A buch of the LSers and MArks are going to be getting together. Check out the tiopic in the SE section. The links are in my signature.
 
If you get a quality sunroof and have it installed by quality installers it should not leak. I used to install sunroofs and to the best of my knowledge (been years since I worked there), but none ever came back. At least they did not in the years that I worked there. We used quality sunroofs, so it was less likely that they would leak. One good quality company is Webasto. There are others, but Webasto is one of the best. ASC also makes a good quality sunroof.

Here is a good website that has helpful info for all kinds (not brands) of sunroofs.

Hope that helps a bit.
:Beer
 
I did it in my 94, it was that brand (don't have the car, still have the book)was fine for 10 years and I liked it far better than the one that came with the car from the dealer. The dealership that I bought my 94 from and had for 10 years without any leaks had a guy do them on the other side of town, when I bought mine, I told them I wanted a sun roof so they put it in.
T
The features of the sunroof were better also, when I shut the car shut off the sun roof closed 30 seconds after on it's own, one touch open, one touch close and re touch to stop at any position up or open/closed - I'd much rather have it, but the kit did not come with the front spot lights feature, never missed em, really miss the one touch closed feature after "one touching" then going in to work and having a strom pour into my ride - not much done, did have it half shut (dang it!). I've never personall known anyones to leak, but have read some.

Oh place is still open, Westerville, OH how far you want to drive?
 
I pretty much did not want to be the 1st LSer to have it done after all the nay saying from the dealer. The features you mention MsM8tress sound far better than the one installed by the factory.
 
MsM8tress said:
I did it in my 94, it was that brand (don't have the car, still have the book)was fine for 10 years and I liked it far better than the one that came with the car from the dealer. The dealership that I bought my 94 from and had for 10 years without any leaks had a guy do them on the other side of town, when I bought mine, I told them I wanted a sun roof so they put it in.
T
The features of the sunroof were better also, when I shut the car shut off the sun roof closed 30 seconds after on it's own, one touch open, one touch close and re touch to stop at any position up or open/closed - I'd much rather have it, but the kit did not come with the front spot lights feature, never missed em, really miss the one touch closed feature after "one touching" then going in to work and having a strom pour into my ride - not much done, did have it half shut (dang it!). I've never personall known anyones to leak, but have read some.

Oh place is still open, Westerville, OH how far you want to drive?


sounds good, but ride from Mass to OH,,lol think I will sit in the dark for now..
 
Don't know for sure on the Lincoln, but many OEM Ford sunroofs are made by Webasto, one of the larger sunroof manufacturers. I have been to dealers in the past that often put aftermarket Webasto sunroofs on since they were essentially OEM but could be had in larger sizes than the ones Ford used. They have a website.

I have had 4 cars with sunroofs, 3 of them Ford products so probably Webasto. None of them leaked as long as the weather seal is in good condition. The one I did have trouble with leaked at the gap on the back where the ends of the seal come together.

One thing to watch for if your seal does start to leak is that the drains may clog up, this will lead to staining of the head liner. Note that Griots Garage Interior cleaner does a marvelous job of cleaning these water stains out. On a previous Ford SHO, the drains were in the front corners of the sunroof. Sometimes they would clog up and need a cleaning out.

T tops are kind of nice, but the few American ones(I think mostly TA's) that I have had some experience with leaked when you went on an uneven surface like a driveway at an angle. The T Top weakens the structural rigidity of the car so it twists and you lose the seal. Been more than once I or a friend of mine had a back full of ice cold water during a rain storm when going up a driveway.

Speaking of back full of cold water, my LS does drip cold water on me when there is dew on the roof and I come to a stop with the sunroof open. This is the only sunroofed car I have drive that does that. Don't know if it is just my luck or maybe roof angle.

I like the looks of a T Top but have not heard of a leak proof one.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
 
eL eS said:
I pretty much did not want to be the 1st LSer to have it done after all the nay saying from the dealer. The features you mention MsM8tress sound far better than the one installed by the factory.
Better than the moonroof on the Mark VIII, maybe, but not better than the factory moonroof on the LS (dunno which one you're referencing). The only difference between the features of MsM8tress's sunroof and the features of the LS's factory moonroof is the 30-second auto-close. On the plus side, the LS's factory moonroof is included in the central window open/close feature (at least on the '04s). MsM8tress didn't mention the pop-up/vent function, but I presume it had it, as does the LS.

BTW, I should mention that the entire preceeding paragraph is in reference to the moonroof in LS in the 2004 MY; I can't speak for other years.

I personally don't know anyone who's added a moonroof to an LS. All the advice I've ever heard indicated that it can be satisfactory, but the satisfaction is highly dependent upon the installer.
 
I know of a moon roof that is aftermarket, but the same unit the factory uses. It is one of the cleanest and best units I have ever seen. They also use their own trained installers around the country to have them done. You will NEVER have a problem with them and you will be very hard pressed to tell it didn't come from the factory with the roof.

But since you were such an ass on your post to Joey...and you have all of about 100 posts, you can kiss my a$$. Figure it out for yourself. Your loss jerk.
 
2001LS8Sport said:
I know of a moon roof that is aftermarket, but the same unit the factory uses. It is one of the cleanest and best units I have ever seen. They also use their own trained installers around the country to have them done. You will NEVER have a problem with them and you will be very hard pressed to tell it didn't come from the factory with the roof.

But since you were such an ass on your post to Joey...and you have all of about 100 posts, you can kiss my a$$. Figure it out for yourself. Your loss jerk.

Sport if ur talkin to me,, than u need to watch ur lip,, i never dissrespected Joey, i dissagreed with him,, big difference,, and that was days ago we settled and moved on as u can see on the thread.

About not helping,, than thats ur loss if u don't want to help,, cause u will need it urselfone day.

The funny part is that u just asked me a question on another thread about replacing a shift knob, and i answered u.

You mite want to watch those bridges.
 
yes you did answer me....and I also commented on your horrible feedback. That and your comments here leave me very suspect. You think about what you said and wrote. It was very disrespectful...and others noticed. And yes...I need help from time to time...and I give it from time to time. But I am very respectful of others and hold my comments to those who aren't. I'm done with this....SPORT!
 
2001LS8Sport said:
yes you did answer me....and I also commented on your horrible feedback. That and your comments here leave me very suspect. You think about what you said and wrote. It was very disrespectful...and others noticed. And yes...I need help from time to time...and I give it from time to time. But I am very respectful of others and hold my comments to those who aren't. I'm done with this....SPORT!

lol to funny...u win tuffguy,,lol
 

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