Sunroof Issues...

[COVIDCruiser]

Hello All,

I left my sunroof wide open as well as all four windows when a sudden downpour erupted on a hot summer day. I wasn't able to get back to the car for at least 30 minutes of constant heavy rain. Needless to say I was toweling down the whole interior. Luckily everything is in good shape and no smells of any kind, other than the sunroof. Since this event, when closed, the sunroof makes at times a rattling sound when driving at speed right above where the reading lights and sunroof controls are. My first thought is that maybe the lubricants up there became watered down? Not sure. The mechanism opens and closes properly 90% of the time using the one touch controls. Every now and then the one touch doesn't activate (must hold it down to open or close) but I don't think too much about that. Guys at the dealership are reluctant to look at it. I only have 15k miles so I don't think this is a wear and tear event. I am able to remedy the solution by re-opening and closing the sunroof a second or third time... It seems like its not closing perfectly or not pushing down the wind-deflector bar perfectly every time it closes...Which seems like an odd outcome to result from some kind of water damage.

Has anyone had this issue or any other issues with their 200-series sunroofs?

Teddy,

 

[speyrod]

Not that issue, I am having opening /closing and tilit issues. I think I am going to have to drop the HL. not looking fwd.

 

[bloc]

Hello All,

I left my sunroof wide open as well as all four windows when a sudden downpour erupted on a hot summer day. I wasn't able to get back to the car for at least 30 minutes of constant heavy rain. Needless to say I was toweling down the whole interior. Luckily everything is in good shape and no smells of any kind, other than the sunroof. Since this event, when closed, the sunroof makes at times a rattling sound when driving at speed right above where the reading lights and sunroof controls are. My first thought is that maybe the lubricants up there became watered down? Not sure. The mechanism opens and closes properly 90% of the time using the one touch controls. Every now and then the one touch doesn't activate (must hold it down to open or close) but I don't think too much about that. Guys at the dealership are reluctant to look at it. I only have 15k miles so I don't think this is a wear and tear event. I am able to remedy the solution by re-opening and closing the sunroof a second or third time... It seems like its not closing perfectly or not pushing down the wind-deflector bar perfectly every time it closes...Which seems like an odd outcome to result from some kind of water damage.

Has anyone had this issue or any other issues with their 200-series sunroofs?

Teddy,

You may just need to reset the auto limits for the sunroof. Pretty sure for the windows it is holding the button down for a few second after the window hits bottom, then doing the same for all the way up. The sunroof may be similar, but I’m not totally sure.

Basically it is designed not to chop off a limb caught in the panel by sensing when there is an obstruction, but to do that it needs to know what the usual amount of current is required by the motor. Holding down the button past it’s limit accomplishes this.

Not sure if this is the issue but worth a try.

Also you should pop up your door sill trim on both sides and look for pooled water. Very common to hold water in that area after events like this. A number of floor harness connectors then sit in the water and corrode. It is really simple to pull this trim.. just grab it in the middle and pull upward gently.. then manipulate it so that the catch for the b-pillar trim comes off clean. Under that you will see wiring harnesses, and look toward the front for water.

Good luck with all of it.

 

[AnyMal]

You may just need to reset the auto limits for the sunroof. Pretty sure for the windows it is holding the button down for a few second after the window hits bottom, then doing the same for all the way up. The sunroof may be similar, but I’m not totally sure.

Basically it is designed not to chop off a limb caught in the panel by sensing when there is an obstruction, but to do that it needs to know what the usual amount of current is required by the motor. Holding down the button past it’s limit accomplishes this.

Not sure if this is the issue but worth a try.

Also you should pop up your door sill trim on both sides and look for pooled water. Very common to hold water in that area after events like this. A number of floor harness connectors then sit in the water and corrode. It is really simple to pull this trim.. just grab it in the middle and pull upward gently.. then manipulate it so that the catch for the b-pillar trim comes off clean. Under that you will see wiring harnesses, and look toward the front for water.

Good luck with all of it.

Im definitely going to try this with the sunroof to fix a slight hiss I’m getting on tilt close. Thanks!

 

[linuxgod]

Hello All,

I left my sunroof wide open as well as all four windows when a sudden downpour erupted on a hot summer day. I wasn't able to get back to the car for at least 30 minutes of constant heavy rain. Needless to say I was toweling down the whole interior. Luckily everything is in good shape and no smells of any kind, other than the sunroof. Since this event, when closed, the sunroof makes at times a rattling sound when driving at speed right above where the reading lights and sunroof controls are. My first thought is that maybe the lubricants up there became watered down? Not sure. The mechanism opens and closes properly 90% of the time using the one touch controls. Every now and then the one touch doesn't activate (must hold it down to open or close) but I don't think too much about that. Guys at the dealership are reluctant to look at it. I only have 15k miles so I don't think this is a wear and tear event. I am able to remedy the solution by re-opening and closing the sunroof a second or third time... It seems like its not closing perfectly or not pushing down the wind-deflector bar perfectly every time it closes...Which seems like an odd outcome to result from some kind of water damage.

Has anyone had this issue or any other issues with their 200-series sunroofs?

Teddy,

I'd start by opening the sunroof and checking for any debris which might have ended up around the channel and thus could be blocking the glass from closing perfectly tight.

My sunroof makes a tapping sound on the highway occasionally. I *think* it's actually the metal fairing at the front of the sunroof that pops up when you open it that is slightly misaligned as if I open the sunroof and tap that with my finger I hear a similar "clink". I'm not entirely sure the fix but was considering swapping my sunroof weatherstripping as I'm thinking that after 120k miles it's possibly compressed a tiny bit and allowing some vibration.

Also if you got a bunch of water in your floorboards I suggest you pop the door sills off and make sure no water ended in the channel in there as there's a bunch of wiring and connectors which can corrode and cause lots of electrical gremlins. Those sills are pretty easy to pop off with a plastic putty or drywall scraper.

 

[COVIDCruiser]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I ended up cleaning and "de-greasing" both tracks and re-applying some white lithium grease, WD-40 specialty brand. After further investigation it seemed like the felt pad underneath the center of the wind deflector had been flattened or perhaps thinned out after the water damage. It seemed like on the far sides of the deflector (driver/passenger) were vibrating against the metal material over which it hovers, almost 'bending' on the center felt piece as a fulcrum.

I purchased two felt furniture sliders and applied them on either side of the wind deflector. This provides a very snug fit and removes any and all vibration on that piece. You may see I applied the felt sliders to the top of the wind deflector, this was because I thought that is where the contact point was. Those are redundant and unnecessary. I just haven't removed them yet. That being said, the ones underneath on either side accomplished the job superbly and are much heavier duty than the stock felt piece located in the center.

As you can see, I liberally applied the lithium grease to the rails. I first moved the existing lubricant which seemed negatively affected by the water resulting in patchy coverage. Then I sprayed evenly in the same locations. The piece of glass smoothly glides now as desired.

 

[bloc]

I would look into how the white lithium will hold up over time.. specifically at the elevated temperatures in the roof of the vehicle. Yes Mercedes does some odd things but they have a specialty grease for their sunroof rails and it works great.. and seems to be a different composition than white lithium.

When I get home I can check the FSM to see what toyota specifies.

Glad it’s working now though.

 

[AnyMal]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I ended up cleaning and "de-greasing" both tracks and re-applying some white lithium grease, WD-40 specialty brand. After further investigation it seemed like the felt pad underneath the center of the wind deflector had been flattened or perhaps thinned out after the water damage. It seemed like on the far sides of the deflector (driver/passenger) were vibrating against the metal material over which it hovers, almost 'bending' on the center felt piece as a fulcrum.

I purchased two felt furniture sliders and applied them on either side of the wind deflector. This provides a very snug fit and removes any and all vibration on that piece. You may see I applied the felt sliders to the top of the wind deflector, this was because I thought that is where the contact point was. Those are redundant and unnecessary. I just haven't removed them yet. That being said, the ones underneath on either side accomplished the job superbly and are much heavier duty than the stock felt piece located in the center.

As you can see, I liberally applied the lithium grease to the rails. I first moved the existing lubricant which seemed negatively affected by the water resulting in patchy coverage. Then I sprayed evenly in the same locations. The piece of glass smoothly glides now as desired.




View attachment 2768801View attachment 2768802View attachment 2768803

Wipe that extra grease up for us will ya. It will start to gather dust, and drip into your drain lines and cause issue sooner than later.

 

[COVIDCruiser]

Wipe that extra grease up for us will ya. It will start to gather dust, and drip into your drain lines and cause issue sooner than later.

Good call, wiped it all up and used a pipe cleaner to get the little bit that had approached the drain. Appreciate the advice.