Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

[lawwailok]

it's been 2 years of the ownership, it seems like if i open the sunroof shade cover and drive on freeway, there's wind noise coming from that area recently.
does any fellow with sunroof experience this?

i remembered the cabin was very quiet on the freeway even i had the sunroof shade cover opened. but now the wind noise seems getting louder by time.

if it is a known matter, then i guess i'll bring it back to have an warranty fix. just wanna hear some input here before going to dealership...... you know, sometimes dealership MAY make this worse....

 

[K.C.]

...BUMP...

 

[RoughCountry]

I have not noticed any wind noise from my sunroof but when it rains or when I go through the car wash I notice water dripping along the sides of the sunroof and its completely shut. But no water actually comes inside the cab itself.

 

[RoughCountry]

I have not noticed any wind noise from my sunroof. But I have noticed water leaking from the sides of the sunroof when driving in heavy rain or through the car wash. The water does not actually get in the cab itself just along the sides of the sunroof I can see water dripping.

 

[lawwailok]

Kenny, thanks for the bump!

roughcountry, i don't notice any water leaks when going through carwash tho. but only thing is, when i am getting on freeway, especially if i am traveling against the wind or it is a gusty wind day, i do notice there's wind noise coming from the roof, even with the roof shade closed. if i am traveling with the wind, it is very quiet and only minimal wind noise from front windshield and little from windows, but the other way around, major noise was coming from sunroof. that really annoying me.

i don't know if tires play a role in this matter, since i am still running my first set and they are at about 50% wear left, 22k miles on the truck so far. if i have to compare the noise with the same driving condition, with the roof shade open, my 4R has MAJOR wind noise while my 06 TL has almost none.

any feedbacks are welcome.

 

[K.C.]

...BUMP...

I don't have a moonroof...but I'd love to hear more on this issue.

 

[lawwailok]

i hope its not getting any worse, its getting louder recently.... not to mention that is with the sunshade cover closed.

anyway, i still have 10 more months to go with my 4R, next April i'm returning it to toyota when the lease is up. struggled with the decision for few weeks and that's pretty much finalize the ending of my 4R

 

[dollaz]

Hi Eric,

What dealership do you go to? I have had mine in for service a few times at Roseville Toyota with unsatisfactory results. I was thinking maita now if I go back because I have the seat creak now, have you been to that service department?

 

[Falls]

It could very well be the rubber seals that may be dry making contact with the dirty painted area it sets in .

Here is what I do 2x per open/ close sunroof to various positions including tilt to get at all areas . Lubricate seals with a vinyl/rubber treatment , then clean and wax the painted areas where the seals hit the painted area . Done !! this should help with noise , it may not be actual wind noise your hearing , but wind pushing on the glass an the truck flexing it makes a funny noise. I thought then same thing and this worked well for me .

 

[lawwailok]

Hi Eric,

What dealership do you go to? I have had mine in for service a few times at Roseville Toyota with unsatisfactory results. I was thinking maita now if I go back because I have the seat creak now, have you been to that service department?

i go to Hanlees at davis...

 

[lawwailok]

It could very well be the rubber seals that may be dry making contact with the dirty painted area it sets in .

Here is what I do 2x per open/ close sunroof to various positions including tilt to get at all areas . Lubricate seals with a vinyl/rubber treatment , then clean and wax the painted areas where the seals hit the painted area . Done !! this should help with noise , it may not be actual wind noise your hearing , but wind pushing on the glass an the truck flexing it makes a funny noise. I thought then same thing and this worked well for me .

that's what i did few weeks ago... i thought that would help a little but no hope

 

[pickerdd]

it's been 2 years of the ownership, it seems like if i open the sunroof shade cover and drive on freeway, there's wind noise coming from that area recently.
does any fellow with sunroof experience this?

You may need to normalize your sunroof.

In case you haven't already tried this - open the sunroof all the way then close it. Open it again then close it and keep the button in the close position for 15 or more seconds. I think that's how long it takes. If that isn't the correct procedure I'm sure someone on the forum will chime in and correct me.

I had a similar noise issue with my moon roof and normalizing it fixed the issue as the roof wasn't closing all the way.

I hope this helps.

 

[Falls]

Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

You may need to normalize your sunroof.

In case you haven't already tried this - open the sunroof all the way then close it. Open it again then close it and keep the button in the close position for 15 or more seconds. I think that's how long it takes. If that isn't the correct procedure I'm sure someone on the forum will chime in and correct me.

I had a similar noise issue with my moon roof and normalizing it fixed the issue as the roof wasn't closing all the way.

I hope this helps.

Good idea to try

Also make sure the mechanism is cleaned and lubed. I don't know what lube you would use for that , but worth a shot.

 

[lawwailok]

Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

You may need to normalize your sunroof.

In case you haven't already tried this - open the sunroof all the way then close it. Open it again then close it and keep the button in the close position for 15 or more seconds. I think that's how long it takes. If that isn't the correct procedure I'm sure someone on the forum will chime in and correct me.

I had a similar noise issue with my moon roof and normalizing it fixed the issue as the roof wasn't closing all the way.

I hope this helps.

thanks!! sure will try it tonight!

 

[cmb]

Just a 'heads up' for everybody. I've been hearing some additional wind noise for a while. After looking in all the normal places I found the rear section of sunroof molding tucked down inside itself What threw me (not tough to do ) was it looked so uniform I thought I'd lost something.Stopped at a dealer to get a look at a 4R and sure enough my molding was messed up.Went in to make an appointment, service guy said we'll take a look at it now if I had time.This was 3:15, at 4:30 I was leaving with molding fixed.I might be wrong but a "walk in" for service bodes well for the Toyota nameplate.

 

[lawwailok]

Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

You may need to normalize your sunroof.

In case you haven't already tried this - open the sunroof all the way then close it. Open it again then close it and keep the button in the close position for 15 or more seconds. I think that's how long it takes. If that isn't the correct procedure I'm sure someone on the forum will chime in and correct me.

I had a similar noise issue with my moon roof and normalizing it fixed the issue as the roof wasn't closing all the way.

I hope this helps.

it did the magic! i normalized it last friday night but couldn't have chance to drive it on freeway until last night. it was a lot more quieter now.... when i hold the button in close position for ~15 sec or so, i could hear a very short motor activating sound from the roof. thank you for the advice!

 

[Scoobs]

Re: Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

it did the magic! i normalized it last friday night but couldn't have chance to drive it on freeway until last night. it was a lot more quieter now.... when i hold the button in close position for ~15 sec or so, i could hear a very short motor activating sound from the roof. thank you for the advice!

Now that its fixed you have to keep the 4R at the end of the lease

 

[lawwailok]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

Now that its fixed you have to keep the 4R at the end of the lease

i wish, but the decision is made...

now i'm in a situation arguing with wifey to pick the one we are gonna buy... she votes for Q7 but i want a Cayenne GTS.... tough pick...

 

[Scoobs]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

i wish, but the decision is made...

now i'm in a situation arguing with wifey to pick the one we are gonna buy... she votes for Q7 but i want a Cayenne GTS.... tough pick...

The two speed transfer case in the Cayenne vs. the single speed transfer case in the Q7 would make my decision easy.

 

[pickerdd]

Re: Re: Re: Possible sunroof rubber seal wearing out?

it did the magic! i normalized it last friday night but couldn't have chance to drive it on freeway until last night. it was a lot more quieter now.... when i hold the button in close position for ~15 sec or so, i could hear a very short motor activating sound from the roof. thank you for the advice!

Very cool! I'm glad it was an easily resolvable issue instead of something that required the sunroof to be torn apart.