Friday, June 1, 2012

Easy Ford Focus Sunroof Reprogram

I drove to work today in my 2002 Ford Focus SVT with my sunroof open and windows down and everything worked fine. When I got to work, I closed the sunroof and still everything worked fine. When I went back out after work, I tried to open my sunroof and it wouldn't open. While jamming the button trying to get it to work, I hit the forward side of the button and it started venting, but then, of course, when I tried to close it with the backward side of the button, it still didn't work.

I got home and was all set to tear the button out and diagnose a wiring problem or something, but decided to call a Ford dealer first and surprisingly they were actually very helpful. They told me that this is a relatively common problem and that what's happening is the logic controller for the sunroof got confused somehow, but that it is easily reprogramed. In fact, the steps for the reprogram are right in the owners manual for the car.






Here's what you have to do:
  1. Fully vent the sunroof with the forward side of the button (tilt the back of the sunroof up all the way)
  2. Press the same button (the forward part that closes/vents the sunroof) again and hold it for about 30 seconds - the owners manual says to hold it until you see the sunroof move, but mine never did so maybe don't worry so much about that
  3. Then release and immediately re-push the same button holding it again - this time it should start moving. It should close, then slide backwards all the way, then slide forward all the way and end up closed again. Don't release the button until it is fully closed (if you accidentally do, then just start this process over again at step 1)
Your sunroof should now be fully functioning again. If you press the backward button now, it should open exactly like it is supposed to. If there is some sort of larger malfunction in the unit, it will enter safety mode on step 3 and will move in about 2 second intervals - if this happens you just need to keep pushing the button over and over until it closes and then you need to probably bring it in to have it diagnosed.

Good luck and happy driving!