Water, Sunroof and preventative measures.... (1 Viewer)

[categorytheory]

Hey y'all, so I hopped into my lx450 the other day after a nice evening rain and backed out of the driveway. A bunch of water that seemed to be sitting on the roof came pouring down the front of my windshield.... I got a clean windshield from the experience but also had an itching feeling as well and no it wasn't flees.... I've read countless threads about the gaskets in and around the sunroof on here and now im worried that the rubber gaskets will be compromised eventually on my pristine and working sunroof.... question: What can I do as preventive measure to ensure that I can keep the sunroof working and not leaking, and are their replacements for the rubber gasket that I might be able to look into getting.... as of now the gasket is fine but definitely drying out.

Thanks!

 

[lumbee1]

The sunroof gasket is attached to the glass and cannot be separated. Just ensure that the sunroof drains are clear and you should be fine. I use 303 protectant on rubber surfaces to preserve them.

 

[HardyDanger]

I covered the darn sunroof with sheet of magnetic vinyl bought on Amazon. Overlaps by about 2” on each side. It ain’t leaking anymore.

 

[clx16]

The gaskets are not going to keep 100% of the water out, that is why there are four drains. Keep them clean and if you park on level ground you should be good. If you don't, the magnetic vinyl works great as i am using it on a 100 series right now.

On my 80 if it is out side i park on a pretty good incline and it is fine but my drains are clear. If i have an issue i will use magnetic vinyl as i like using my sunroof on nice days.

 

[Malleus]

The gaskets are not going to keep 100% of the water out, that is why there are four drains. Keep them clean and if you park on level ground you should be good. If you don't, the magnetic vinyl works great as i am using it on a 100 series right now.

On my 80 if it is out side i park on a pretty good incline and it is fine but my drains are clear. If i have an issue i will use magnetic vinyl as i like using my sunroof on nice days.

100% correct. The seal around the glass is a dust seal, not a water seal. At best it will only slow the intrusion of water. While the sunroof seal was not intended to be removed, it was glued on before the assembly was put together, so in theory, if you had a rubber seal with the same, or similar enough, cross section, you could replace it. I'm still hunting for one. Toyota learned their lesson on the 80 series and designed the 100 series with a replaceable seal, for about %40 or so. Way better than replacing the glass, but that doesn't help us.

The best you can do is to coat the rubber with a good rubber protectant and hope for the best. Having said that, the protectants on the market will only work to slow the degradation, they will not repair degraded rubber. So if they haven't been used form early on in the life of the seal, they are band-aids at best.

The only permanent solution is to do what Toyota did on the 120 series/LX 470/460: run the drain lines from the sunroof through the floor. If you do this, and there are two ways in can be done, your sunroof will not leak into the cab.

Method 1: pull the drain line out of the pocket behind the kick panel and run it though the drain hole in the floorboard. Not my preferred method, but it will work.

Method 2: replace the front drain lines with new (or used) rear lines (which are longer, but the same diameter). remove one of the two body bolts holding the rear lower fender edge onto the body (you don't need both of them) and enlarge the hole to accept the new drain line, or drill a new hole large enough to accept the new drain line. Problem solved. Permanently. FWIW, the rear drain lines are just long enough to exit the body and discharge about 1/2" below the running boards, so there's no chance the water will foul up anything else.

 

[Rifleman]

Hey y'all, so I hopped into my lx450 the other day after a nice evening rain and backed out of the driveway. A bunch of water that seemed to be sitting on the roof came pouring down the front of my windshield.... I got a clean windshield from the experience but also had an itching feeling as well and no it wasn't flees.... I've read countless threads about the gaskets in and around the sunroof on here and now im worried that the rubber gaskets will be compromised eventually on my pristine and working sunroof.... question: What can I do as preventive measure to ensure that I can keep the sunroof working and not leaking, and are their replacements for the rubber gasket that I might be able to look into getting.... as of now the gasket is fine but definitely drying out.

Thanks!

I hate to say this, but some of the parts that operate the sun roof are made out of plastic. As time goes by, and that plastic ages, those plastic parts will start to fail, just like the rubber parts.

 

[lumbee1]

I added a 24 AWG wire to the gasket perimeter on the sunroof. There is a thin channel on the underside and the wire can be pressed in there. Other folks have used strips from a bicycle tire. It increased the diameter of the sunroof gasket and stopped water and wind noise. Unfortunately it also made the sunroof almost impossible to move with the motor. Last weekend, I pulled the wire from the rear side of the sunroof to give a little more clearance. Sunroof is working again but still tight enough to block most of the water and wind.

 

[DKW]

I covered the darn sunroof with sheet of magnetic vinyl bought on Amazon. Overlaps by about 2” on each side. It ain’t leaking anymore.

hardydanger. Can you send link? I saw others discuss this solution a long while ago, but some had issues with the sheet coming off riding on the highway. If yours works and stays on, that's one we know works!
Thanks

 

[HardyDanger]

Ahh. Mine is behind the air dam on the prinsu rack.
Wall26 24"x 60" (2 by 5 feet)... Amazon product ASIN B01GQ048EQ

 

[HardyDanger]

Barf. My paint.

 

[BILT4ME]

Amazon product ASIN B08D1NP2VV
This is what I bought.

This is my install.

I cleaned everything, then laid it up there, cut it to 24" x 52", then caulked the glass only to the sheet with acrylic caulk because that's easily removed from the glass.

It stays on at 85 MPH.

 

[clx16]

This is what I used Flexible Magnets Customer Testimonials - http://www.flexiblemagnets.net/ in white because it went on a white cruiser but you could somewhat color match

 

[DKW]

Ahh. Mine is behind the air dam on the prinsu rack.
Wall26 24"x 60" (2 by 5 feet)... Amazon product ASIN B01GQ048EQView attachment 2598024View attachment 2598025

Great. Thanks for the links. Acrylic is a good idea

 

[HardyDanger]

caulked the glass

Almost looks like Keith Herring did that!