2014 Mazda3 Moonroof Switch Repair

The moonroof switch on my 2014 Mazda Mazda3 wouldn't slide to open, only close and vent. Very odd, it was physically blocked. Decided to have a look.

Getting the overhead console unit out was simple enough, just two screws in the sunglass holder and pop it out. One of the cable harnesses was a bit tricky to unclip. There are also two washers that are just loose up there, so they'll likely fall out when you pop the unit off.

Then it's just removing four screws and some easy clips for the dome light unit to pop off, then four more screws to remove the moonroof switch assembly. The switch cap is clipped on with some hidden clips, you'll have to reach at it with something to unclip it.

The switch assembly is also just clamshells clipped together, but they don't unclip easily. You'll probably break a few of them. There are three pieces: the bottom housing, sliding switch body, and upper housing that has the contacts. There's also a sliding spring contact that will very likely fall out when you pop this black assembly open. It seems fragile, be careful with it. It has two tabs that just sit inside two slots in the sliding switch body. It seems that there was an actual piece of broken off plastic from somewhere blocking the switch from moving in one direction, but I have no idea where it could have come from--it's a pretty well-sealed assembly. It's one of the little black pieces you see on the towel (the other are the clips I broke...). Anyway, when I reassembled it and tested it and it worked, so maybe better not to ask what broke it in the first place.

Definitely continuity test with a multimeter to make sure you've got the switch assembly back together the right way before gluing it together. The grid on the back of the assembly exposes some metal contacts, and moving the switch to the three different positions should close the circuit between different pairs of contacts.

With half the clips broken I decided to use a few spots of superglue to make sure the thing would stay assembled. Installation is reverse of removal. Previous car owner must have had dirty fingers because I noticed some crud on the switch cap that I took the chance to clean off. Also used some school glue to hold the two loose washers in place so I wouldn't lose them during reinstallation.

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