who has sealed their sunroof?

[concretejungle]

As the title states, i'm really considering just taking some sealant and gluing the damn sunroof closed.

There are plenty of threads on here of rattling sunroofs and leaking sunroofs.. mine does both. Add in that i'm running a RTT which mostly means no highway use of the sunroof because it's just too loud then really what is the point of the darn thing? If you have a roof rack (i used to have an ARB ¾ rack) then most likely if it comes close to the sunroof you can't use the sunroof because of the wind noise and the massive amount of air that is shoved down the sunroof.

I've had my windshield replaced with new OEM gasket and sealed up. I figured maybe that would stop the wet floorboards.... well, went out to the truck yesterday and there is mold growing in the floorboards from all the water in the carpet! Damnit! So i decided that since it was 90 degrees outside i'd test the sunroof with the trusty water hose. So, i put the water hose on the roof and let it run down simulating a heavy rain... next thing i know there is water pouring around the sunroof inside the truck! The sunroof was fully engaged closed because that was my first reaction. I then opened the sunroof (after turning off the hose!) and checked the drains... they were clear.

So at this point, i'm really frustrated with it and am wondering what is the point of even trying to keep the sunroof functional? I have used it maybe 3 times over the last 3 years..

I'm going to swing by Lowes and just look at what clear sealants they have and there is a good chance i may just glue the thing closed once and for all.

Has anyone else done this? IF so, any regrets?

 

[White Stripe]

Why don't you just fix it? Pull the headliner out or partially pull it down and trace the leak. If its rattling, trace the rattle. If you have a roof top tent and some ingenuity, you could probably fab up a duct you could run into your rtt for air conditioning

 

[thatcabledude]

I have nothing to add other than I would use black sealant.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Sounds like you are a prime candidate for sealing it up. As long as you don't get something that sets up hard as a rock you can always cut it out.

I dream of sealing mine up but i like it too much in the spring/fall/winter. I get a similar deluge of water in the carwash.

 

[concretejungle]

What is to fix?! I'm not going to replace the sunroof assembly or tray. If I can replace the weather strip/gasket around the glass and that would seal it up, then i'm open to that.

 

[BruceFZJ80]

Did you check your drain holes at the bottom of the truck to see if they're clogged? I recently had luck using a big zip tie to clear mine. I was greeted by a stream of dirty water after pulling the zip tie out of one hole.

 

[concretejungle]

I did check them. I even took a cup of water and poured it down the holes and watched it drain out of the bottom.

 

[SmokingRocks]

I sealed mine, totally fine with it. Hell even on the hot days I have the shade closed to keep the heat out anyway.

 

[White Stripe]

You can pull the A pillar covers and the kick panels and look at the hose to see if its punctured. They are designed to leak slightly around the glass, water seeps into the tray and then out of the drain tubes.

 

[retrofive]

I sealed mine years ago. For the once a year I used it got tired of it leaking. I don't remember what I used. Bathroom sealant maybe? But its held up great.

 

[TZ62]

I sealed mine with clear flexible marine silicone about 18 months ago after similar leaks/wet carpet issues. After about a year, I started to miss it, so I took an x-acto blade and sliced through the bead to free up the glass, but I didn't remove any of the silicone. Since then, no leaks! I'm guessing the silicone fills in any gaps between the glass and the roof. I also smeared silicone between the top of the glass and the OEM gasket at the edge of the glass when I originally sealed it. I think that's where a lot of my water came in.

 

[Teddy]

Black Toyota RTV.

 

[concretejungle]

lol ok i'm really leaning towards some clear silicone sealant. I may make this happen. I'll try to take a pic of the water pouring in from the garden hose test.

 

[jdayment]

Why not see if there is a Water Doctor in your area when I worked at Carmax we had a guy that would come down and do all of our water leakes for a flat rate 125 usually and he charged the same to regular customers as well.

 

[jdayment]

Eric from Department of Interiors in Raleigh he is mobile and works all over NC (919) 669-7282

 

[concretejungle]

i can glue it for a lot cheaper than $125!

 

[nachoosx]

I put a new glass with new gasket and 4 new tubes. It continius leaking. I take a sika flex black .... no more problems.

 

[Godwin]

Some kinda of clear flowable Permatex sealant. I taped around the perimeter to protect the paint because the 80 still has a good paint job and ran a bead around the shallow valley where the glass meets the body. I'd rather not have a sunroof if given a choice.

 

[yohavos]

Why not commit!?!?

The PO (a friend) used some clear silicone on the truck a few years ago that held up well for the most part. I think the job was rushed and it did end up leaking again. It was a PITA to get cleaned out when the PO decided to fix the sunroof, which also never happened. A while later I bought it and, as part of my chop, ripped the whole assembly out and welded in some 18 gauge.

 

[retrofive]

Why not commit!?!?


The PO (a friend) used some clear silicone on the truck a few years ago that held up well for the most part. I think the job was rushed and it did end up leaking again. It was a PITA to get cleaned out when the PO decided to fix the sunroof, which also never happened. A while later I bought it and, as part of my chop, ripped the whole assembly out and welded in some 18 gauge.

I thought about this route, but leaving as is still allows for the slide to block all sun but if you want some light in easy to open. Moonroof style.