1998 Lumina LTZ-sunroof gear stripped out

I bought this vehicle a few years ago and the original owner told me that the sunroof has just never worked. The sunroof will open to "vent" and close just fine, but once it gets to the point where it is supposed to move backwards to open, it just clicks.

I pulled the headliner down and removed the motor, only to see that the spot where the sunroof motor's gear hooks in is completely stripped out. Has anyone else dealt with this? What was the remedy? Junkyard parts?

:banghead:

I went to the Sunroof Doctor and bought the entire unit for my 99 LTZ. Boxed my old one up and returned for core. You have to take out the headliner, pull off the glass and six or eight bolts. The headliner is a bigger pain than anything.

The plastic parts break and this company replaces with an aluminum piece. It works great.

http://www.sunroofdoctor.com/9599montecarlo.htm