Anyone seal their sunroof?

[kolelt]

I wish my 4runner didn’t have a sunroof. Hate it. Nothing but leaks lol. Today, I was off roading. Truck was at a small angle so the gutter collected a lot of water. Started to drive, leaned to one side and boom water came out splashing. I don’t use my sunroof.

So has anyone sealed it and if so how. Some sorta of tape, silicone ? I just wanna completely seal it from water.

 

[willieboy240]

I just use silicone and seal it shut. I clean the edges with mineral spirits or something similar before I seal it. Never had a leak since.

 

[IBallEngineer]

I wish my 4runner didn’t have a sunroof. Hate it. Nothing but leaks lol. Today, I was off roading. Truck was at a small angle so the gutter collected a lot of water. Started to drive, leaned to one side and boom water came out splashing. I don’t use my sunroof.

So has anyone sealed it and if so how. Some sorta of tape, silicone ? I just wanna completely seal it from water.

Silicone doesn't hold up well to the sun, if you lived in San Francisco where the sun only comes out a few times a year, you could maybe get away with that lazy type of repair. But really if you want to prevent leaks, you need to address the drains, front ones are easy, rears are more trouble. Plenty of write ups here on that issue.
opcorn:

 

[T4R2014]

I used whatever clear silicone I had laying around. Probably not the ideal product, but then again I intend to fix it. Now I just need to find an entire sunroof assembly.

 

[T4topher]

I wish my 4runner didn’t have a sunroof. Hate it. Nothing but leaks lol. Today, I was off roading. Truck was at a small angle so the gutter collected a lot of water. Started to drive, leaned to one side and boom water came out splashing. I don’t use my sunroof.

So has anyone sealed it and if so how. Some sorta of tape, silicone ? I just wanna completely seal it from water.

I like Toyota black FIPG, one time I was putting my transmission drain plug in and I over tightened it. The threads stripped and it was stuck in the pan. (Could spin the plug both ways but it wouldn’t come out) just put some of that stuff on there and no leaks for 2+ years

Genuine Toyota Fluid 00295-00103 Formed-in-Place Oil Pan Gasket - 3 oz. Tube https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EDDTV0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ecAhCbNSHBJNB

My sunroof was leaking too, I ended up finding a part out on Craigslist and grabbed the entire sunroof assembly.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Yes, me. I just did the "seal yo leaky sunroof" mod a few days ago. My sunroof motor broke a few years ago and it's been a moonroof ever since.

Recently I noticed I had a lot of moldy smell in the back of my 4Runner and after tearing out the carpeting I discovered the sunroof had been leaking into the cieling and dripping out of the rear hatch light assembly. I also had a leak from the driver's side rearmost window due to a bad seal.

So anyways I cleaned up the mold washed all my carpet with detergent and let the truck dry out for a few days. Then I sealed up the window and I taped off the sunroof with blue painters tape very carefully before sealing that up as well. I used silicone to seal the gap and was very careful to cover all the inside rubber and painted metal with the blue painters tape before applying the silicone. In all it was quite easy.

Sealing both of these was hardly a great solution, especially the rear window but it seems to have worked. In the case of the sunroof I can easily remove it the seal if I want to use the sunroof properly at some point down the road. For anyone considering this I highly suggest you use clear silicone, not window sealant. I also suggest you clean and wax the painted areas before doing it so that just in case any silicone does touch the paint you can easily wipe if off.

Lastly, I am pretty sure a major reason why I have this problem is because years ago my sunroof drip tray (inside the sunroof) separated and came loose floating around detacted inside my sunroof. I didn't have any simple way or reattaching it without taking everything apart so there was nothing I could do but remove it.
.

 

[kolelt]

Silicone doesn't hold up well to the sun, if you lived in San Francisco where the sun only comes out a few times a year, you could maybe get away with that lazy type of repair. But really if you want to prevent leaks, you need to address the drains, front ones are easy, rears are more trouble. Plenty of write ups here on that issue.
opcorn:

Yeah I know all about the drains. I had my roof liner out and all the tubes cleaned before. The design sucks. You have gutters inside! That are not fully sealed. If you off road, and if it’s rainonf really bad. It’s very very easy to overflow one of the drains/gutters. Then when you start to move especially on rocky uneven surface. That water will splash over the gutter thus onto the liner and leak inside. I figured about painters tape and silicone. Just didn’t know if people had other tricks.

 

[XtremeAdventurer]

Fix It Properly

The previous owner taped the sunroof because it was leaking. I pulled out the sunroof, fixed the split in the front seam of the seal and blew out the drain lines. Leaves, dirt, junk, and even a cigarette butt were plugging the lines. Then ran water down the channels/lines to make sure everything flowed properly. Put the sunroof back on and it's gone through 1.5 winters without a leak.

You could spend a couple minutes sealing the sunroof or a couple hours to fix it properly.

There are write-ups on both fixing the split and cleaning the drain lines here on T4R. Here's one that I used: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/100285-moonroof-leak.html

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

From the looks of it u could possible remove the glass and actually replace the seal around the glass. Total of 6 bolts attaching it to the frame, but finding the weather stripping seems like the most difficult part.

 

[TonyB66]

I dislike these very much too. During rain, I need to park my 4Runner on an incline, ass end up. It's not a blockage in a line, but I think a disconnected line, possibly...

Either way, I plan to do a moon/sunroof delete, the whole unit, and weld her shut. I think at least one person here did that...

 

[BrianSD_42]

Has anyone else has their drip-tray come apart/loose or fall out of the sunroof?

Mine happened around 150k miles and many many years ago. Putting it back in seemed near impossible without removing the whole sunroof assembly and even then I don't know if it could be easily fixed. Anyone else deal with this?

I figure it is possible this happened to others here, perhaps even before you bought the truck. In my case with the drip tray missing any water leaks through the roof and out the back ceiling light causing mold. Sealing it with silicone is definitely not a proper fix but at least it looks clean, works and is fully reversible.
.

 

[nissanh]

No not yet, but contemplating about it!
I clean and lube the interior of sunroof on my 4R and LC once a year.
Sunroof is useless in my opinion.

 

[APhelps]

Has anyone else has their drip-tray come apart/loose or fall out of the sunroof?

Mine happened around 150k miles and many many years ago. Putting it back in seemed near impossible without removing the whole sunroof assembly and even then I don't know if it could be easily fixed. Anyone else deal with this?

I figure it is possible this happened to others here, perhaps even before you bought the truck. In my case with the drip tray missing any water leaks through the roof and out the back ceiling light causing mold. Sealing it with silicone is definitely not a proper fix but at least it looks clean, works and is fully reversible.
.

Nah but I recently pull the whole sunroof assembly out of my car and put another one back in. Not terribly hard but you just need to be careful with the headliner, since it can bend easily.

If you ever want some help I'd be willing to give you a hand.

 

[TonyB66]

Nah but I recently pull the whole sunroof assembly out of my car and put another one back in. Not terribly hard but you just need to be careful with the headliner, since it can bend easily.

If you ever want some help I'd be willing to give you a hand.

Mighty nice of you APhelps.

If you have any photos of the whole assembly, please do share. I imagine the motor is attached, as opposed to being remote, but not sure...

 

[T4topher]

Mighty nice of you APhelps.

If you have any photos of the whole assembly, please do share. I imagine the motor is attached, as opposed to being remote, but not sure...

Yes the motor is attached to the assembly, pretty simple to remove it from the assembly.

Nah but I recently pull the whole sunroof assembly out of my car and put another one back in. Not terribly hard but you just need to be careful with the headliner, since it can bend easily.

If you ever want some help I'd be willing to give you a hand.

Exactly what I did, it’s not super hard but I wouldn’t say it was easy either. Broke one or two small clips but it all went back together just fine. I’d recommend getting 6 of the plastic headliner clips for the back because I broke every single one when I pulled them lol.

 

[kolelt]

So I bought 3M Marine grade clear silicone from West Marine. Again, my sunroof drains are clean, the tray is still there. I just personally think it’s a bad design. You have gutters that are opened inside the truck. If the truck isn’t level , one drain can easily overflow and splash over. It’s just a headache. Not to mention they drain into your rocker panels. The 2 front ones. Rust!

Just going to seal it !

 

[APhelps]

So I bought 3M Marine grade clear silicone from West Marine. Again, my sunroof drains are clean, the tray is still there. I just personally think it’s a bad design. You have gutters that are opened inside the truck. If the truck isn’t level , one drain can easily overflow and splash over. It’s just a headache. Not to mention they drain into your rocker panels. The 2 front ones. Rust!

Just going to seal it !

Seems to me you still have a problem area that you haven't taken care of. The actual sunroof can develop a leak, specifically the middle area that looks like it is split. If your drains are clean and that middle area is patched up the thing shouldn't leak.

San Diego recently received some heavy rain and after taking care of the four drains and patching up the middle area my 4Runner is completely dry.

The drain should flow out water quite easily. I don't see how it can overflow and splash over since I've managed to dump cups of water down my drains and all of it will just flow right out.

 

[kolelt]

Heavy rain and being not leveled. I checked all I could.... everything is good. Drains are not clogged. The tray is attached..... the split area would leak right at the split area. When my truck was in the trail. Because I was walking my path. I came in and started driving. Heard water splash right above my head ( where the drain/drain tube is and spill out through the sun visor area.

 

[TonyB66]

Heavy rain and being not leveled. I checked all I could.... everything is good. Drains are not clogged. The tray is attached..... the split area would leak right at the split area. When my truck was in the trail. Because I was walking my path. I came in and started driving. Heard water splash right above my head ( where the drain/drain tube is and spill out through the sun visor area.

I'm very sure you are correct.

I cannot have my 4Runner in the rain with the rear downhill. I think a disconnected line is the culprit. So, for the past year I make sure the rear end is up when it rains. Well, it rained damn hard last week and found water all over the center console area. I believe the gutter system, at that angle, couldn't contain the volume of water. It was overwhelmed.

It seems that if I find a less steep incline, I'll be fine, but that only works at home where I can better control parking arrangements. Sucks.

For me, the permanent fix is complete removal and welding some thing in its place. In the interim, I leaning toward a seal job, when it stops raining. Where exactly are you all putting the silicone?