my sunroof has developed a leak which i believe points to clogged front drains. it's a manual/crank sunroof which does not work. i think the gears are stripped out. the question is can that type of sunroof be opened and closed manually ie with the crank not working?

 

Are you sure that the gear is stripped out? The sunroof on my 240 acted as if the gear was stripped out when I purchased the car. What I found was the screws on cranking gear box (if that is what it is called) had loosened causing the gear to partially engage the linear plastic gear that moves the sun roof. I tightened the screws up but they had a tendency to loosen by themselves within a year. Second time I tightened them I used a bit of blue locktight and it hasn't given me a problem since.

Either way, once you remove the crank gearbox, you should be able to slide the sunroof back.

 

ok thanks i'll give it a try