Battery died on me (2007 1.3 Multijet Panda) in town last week. Couldn't jump start it, so had to leave it overnight. The sunroof (SkyDome) was fully open, so I forced it shut gradually by hand (pull closed a bit from one side, then from the other, back and forth). Next day, as soon as the engine fired, the sunroof closed OK, but wouldn't slide open any more – tilt only. Took it in to a garage and they fixed it, and greased the runners, etc. – supposedly good as new – and only took a tenner (€10) for fifteen-twenty minutes work. They're a new garage, so I think they're keen to establish a customer base. That was great until I got on the open road – above 60kmph, when it started to whistle. I took it back, told them about the whistle, which wasn't there before they fixed the roof, and asked the mechanic to have a quick look. We could see it seemed to be a few mm proud on the right-hand side. He reckoned there must be some way of adjusting it, but couldn't find it. He had warned me he wasn't a Fiat specialist, so I didn't feel I could complain. (And you can't really complain for a tenner, can you?) So, I told him I'd see what I could find out about adjustment online (here, on this forum) and get back to him. So, that's what I'm doing. Can anyone tell me how to adjust the sunroof (SkyDome) on a 2007 Panda, please, so that it lies flat to the seal equally all the way around?

Apparently, I've read in another thread on here, there's a 'sticky' with FAQ's and there's a section for the SkyDome in there, but I haven't been able to find it. That might be helpful, if anyone knows where it is?

Just pop SKYDOME in the search bar.
one of the previous posts I found is this one on a Grande Punto

can't post the URL being a newby...sorry!

may or may not help, you never know!

I can now!!!!!
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/235352-sunroof-skydome-3.html?p=3463833

The roof presumably worked before the battery dies so maybe all it needs is opening and closing a few times to settle it back into the runners.

Well done (mastering the paste link trick)! Thank you!

That's great, but it doesn't really answer the question. I need to know how to adjust the glass panel so that it's flush all the way around, not proud on one (the right-hand) side.

Can you see if it's sitting correctly on it's sliding rails? Maybe one of the operating cables is a bit tight so the roof is getting shifted against one side.

DaveMcT said:

Can you see if it's sitting correctly on it's sliding rails? Maybe one of the operating cables is a bit tight so the roof is getting shifted against one side.

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Yes, it seems to be sitting OK. They liberally greased it at the garage and it slides open and closed and tilts – all functions – OK. It's just the whistle causing a problem – the fact that it's a couple mm proud on one side. I don't think the garage I've used would know how to access the operating cables; I don't; and Fiat here will have an arm and a leg to look at it followed by a pound of flesh if they actually do anything, which I'm afraid I just can't afford.

Another thought the mechanic at the garage and I discussed while we were trying to find some means of adjustment, was about the surrounding seal. Maybe that's somehow been deformed?

It's fortunate it's happened at this time of year. The whistle is just an annoying reminder at the moment. I've got a couple of months – the summer – before it becomes critical, before the autumn rains. Mind you, I don't fancy testing it in a summer storm. Unfortunately, we don't have a garage, so it lives outside.

Can you push it forward along the slide with dry hands flat on the glass. If it ****s a mm and the noise stops you'll know it needs adjusting.

To be fair, it probably does because having to close the roof as you did, could easily stretch the operating cables. It's only a mm or so that needs taking up.

Unfortunately I have no idea as my car doesn't have one


It's not in the Haynes manual. Checked they just skip over it.

DaveMcT said:

Can you push it forward along the slide with dry hands flat on the glass. If it ****s a mm and the noise stops you'll know it needs adjusting.

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I'm not sure what the asterisks before 'a mm' means, but I know it needs adjusting.

DaveMcT said:

To be fair, it probably does because having to close the roof as you did, could easily stretch the operating cables. It's only a mm or so that needs taking up.

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Yes, I think that's the case.

Now, can anyone tell me how to take up a mm or so from the operating cables (apart from getting Fiat to do it and taking out a second mortgage) if that's how it's adjusted?

koalar said:

Unfortunately I have no idea as my car doesn't have one


It's not in the Haynes manual. Checked they just skip over it.

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Well, I guess that's good to know. Saves me getting a Haynes manual, in any case, and that's got to be better than a poke in the eye with a stick.

Thank you.

McDdd said:

I'm not sure what the asterisks before 'a mm' means, but I know it needs adjusting.

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I have no idea either. Maybe the forum (or my Mac) thought I was being rude and slapped in something unintelligible.

I think all you can do is remove the interior trim panels and see what you can see. I can't help with details other than trim removal tools are well worth having. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOCHE-6P...261406?hash=item58f25c5cde:g:By0AAOSw6qpa2hjd


Edit: I remember -

I wanted to say "If it SHIFTS a mm and the noise stops, etc". We know the the Net Nanny doesn't like "Fs".

Doesn't ANYONE on here actually know about this?

Have you tried opening it all the way, then closing it and keeping the button pressed for a few seconds? It should adjust itself. It might be the other way round - holding the button once it's fully open - I can't remember. If this doesn't help then you've broken something. Sounds like a bad situation to be in, I know, but if you have to force a mechanism closed like that then you can't expect it to work perfectly afterwards.

McDdd said:

Doesn't ANYONE on here actually know about this?

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He seems to have disappeared in a puff of rudeness, but if anyone else has the same original problem (dead battery) don't forget that there's a manual closing mechanism. See handbook for details, but you just pop off the plug in the headlining and turn it with a socket (there should be something in the toolkit that fits). Only an idiot would force it closed from the outside...

Eddiethemartian said:

He seems to have disappeared in a puff of rudeness, but if anyone else has the same original problem (dead battery) don't forget that there's a manual closing mechanism. See handbook for details, but you just pop off the plug in the headlining and turn it with a socket (there should be something in the toolkit that fits). Only an idiot would force it closed from the outside...

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Sometimes things are not what they seem, but I'm sure I shouldn't patronise you so; after all, only an idiot doesn't know that.

I'm delighted to see someone DOES actually seem to know something about the issue. Yes, there is a section in the handbook describing how to close the sunroof in case of battery failure, just like outlined above. The only problem was, like the true idiot I am, I didn't have the handbook in the car. The more urgent problem was that the sunroof was open, it was six o'clock, the kids were waiting for us to get home, my wife was on her way out of town, there was rain forecast, and an open sunroof is an open invitation to thieves vandals and worse in that part of town, so... Idiot I may be, but forcing the sunroof closed was the right decision. I suppose I could have gone back after supper, but I guess I must be a lazy lout as well as an idiot. Poor wife and kids, eh?

If you consider yourself a polite person, as it would seem safe to presume, I would suggest you consider the possibility that you may not know enough about circumstances to draw conclusions which might be rudely judgemental. But, hey, it's your karma. What goes round comes round. I only hope you're able to make the best of it.

Thanks. I know nothing of your circumstances other than what you posted. I would respectfully suggest that you take the free and well-meaning advice of this forum in a good spirit, and if you really want to make demands of someone who actually KNOWS about this issue - pay Fiat. I apologise for seeming patronising, but you were a bit dismissive. Hope you've got it sorted now.

Eddiethemartian said:

I apologise for seeming patronising,

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I find nothing patronising here.

Eddiethemartian said:

Hope you've got it sorted now.

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No, not really. I fear you're right: I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay Fiat to get it adjusted. Fortunately, I reckon I can spin it out a couple of months until the autumn, saving up for it in the meantime.

You never know: it can't be that rare or complicated a job. I would have thought most good mechanics with a couple years' experience working at a Fiat garage could undertake it, and let me know the basics of how it's done. There's still a (now very slim) chance someone turns up here and I can get it fixed by some means other than the extortionate route; fingers still crossed, not disappearing in a puff of anything.

Not many Pandas had the skydome roof. Chances of someone knowing will be low.

Maybe more 500 were sold with the skydome ? You could try in that section.


Should be the same


Not sure but the Punto is likely to be the same also.

We can be 100% sure that the car's toolkit wheel nut spanner will fit the hand crank and it wont catch/tear or otherwise spoil the headlining. Of course


The snag with all of these electrical goodies is we just use them until one day...


AND - try finding an emergency hand-crank for a front door window. So not looking for one to use on the sliding roof is pretty reasonable thinking.

Preach mode ON
As for forums they should be about banter and maybe a few near the knuckle comments. We all however have to realise there is no voice intonation and stuff we might say face to face looks really harsh when written down. I'm not a big one for emojiis as they really don't help very much and at best clutter the text. But even they have their place.
Mode OFF.