Moonroof Issues

[cthomasparr]

Just last week I had a lot of water in my car. It was sitting at the airport for 5 days and the sunroof was closed. Turns out that one of my front drain tubes was clogged and I had a lot of water on the front seat and driver foot area.

I was surprised how much water. I would guess several gallons !!! All because one drain was clogged. I think it may have been clogged from the bottom because I didn't see evidence of anything in the drain. Spiders??? That used to happen on my Honda condenser drain every year. I also made a slight adjustment to my sunroof since then to get it even all over and at the height of the roof. Was just very slightly off previously.

Several questions... I can see the front drains and I cleaned them by shooting some high pressure water from a garden sprayer down each. Is there any better way to clean/keep clean. Also I don't have access to the rear drains. Suggest blowing air up from the exit by the back wheels?

Finally, I have a noise that I believe is coming from my sunroof. sounds like something is lose. Happens with the moonroof open or closed. Any thoughts? the noise is most likely above the back seat headliner. I hear it when I bump over rough pavement. Anyone have to take down the headliner and tighten any bolts. I tightened the four hex sunroof adjuster bolts and no better.

[Derf]

For the rear drain, some have used small wire to feed up and "snake" the drain. Air would dislodge anything loose, but it sounds like you may have some stubborn buildup requiring more aggressive action.

Could you better describe the headliner noise going over bumps, metallic, soft, clang, thud etc. If the moonroof is working fine, does the sliding interior cover have any noticeable issues? Following link, member took out interior of car, may give you some ideas what to look for before dropping the headliner, the drain tubes are blueish in color.
Link: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=40107" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cthomasparr]

Actually the drains are free flowing now, but I was thinking more preventative maintenance.

The noise sounds like a thump, not metallic. like the back seat is loose. it sounds like it is above me and I believe the noise goes away when I put pressure on the closed sunroof, lifting the entire mechanism up. I bet it is the attachment points of the rails and the roof. Looks like from the pictures in the link that the track is bolted to the roof somewhere near the rear passenger grab bar rear screw. I may have to move the headliner down to check those out.

Was hoping that someone had the same experience and had knowledge of loose fasteners

[cthomasparr]

I think the noise is actually coming from the front of the moonroof area where the buttons to open/close are. I think I will do some digging to look for loose parts in that area.

[cthomasparr]

The moonroof noise is something I would like to fix. Something sounds loose above the headliner. I can stop the noise by pushing up on the moonroof controls. I removed the controls and was able to push up on the mount for the moonroof controls and it definitely had some play and made that noise. I tightened the two bolts by the motor and that play appeared to be reduced. When I took a test drive the noise was still there.

So I can eliminate the noise by putting pressure on the controls, but tightening the bolts right above that area didn't eliminate the noise. Are there a series of bolts that need to be tightened all along the moonroof under the headliner? Has anyone had and fixed this moonroof rattle?

Thanks for the advice.

[Sonders]

Any updates on this thread? I started a thread on maintenance for my moonroof. Mine rattles to and gets very annoying on my commute to and from work everyday.

[cthomasparr]

I haven't done anything with it yet . When the interior cover is closed there is little to no noise. My next step would be to take down the headliner and look for loose fasteners. That is something I am not looking forward to doing unless I knew it was worth the effort.

[Sonders]

Haha I definitely agree with you there. Thats pretty much where I'm at too. The sliding cover rattles like crazy when its slid open, so it stays closed most of the time. I don't see anything that can be done about that.

[cthomasparr]

I checked out a parts diagram and there are a bunch of bolts in the sunroof( probably around 10-12). I will wait until the weather is warmer and then maybe I will try to bring the headliner down and loctite those bolts for good. I do have another 2004 vibe that I bought for my daughter. No sunroof noises on that car.

[cthomasparr]

Sonders,

I noticed that if I pulled down slightly on the frame of the moonroof right above the headliner and directly back from my sunvisor, the vibration noise went away. In other words, put your right hand in front of your face, and pull down just above the headliner with the sunshade opened. You can feel the metal "tray" that is part of the sunroof and holds the sliding mechanism. My thought is if I wedge something that can dampen the movement of the "tray" like a piece of rubber or wood between this tray and the roof of the car directly in front of where the retractable wind baffle sits, that might solve the noise issue. I will try to put something together and take some pictures.

Let me know if you are able to quiet the sound by pulling down on the moonroof tray anwhere just above the headliner opening.

[cthomasparr]

Update,

Just this past weekend I dropped the headliner to check for lose bolts in the sunroof mechanism.

There were two nuts directly above the sunshade area that were lose. They couldn't be spun off by hand because there was friction, but they were not tight. The rest of the sunroof had two attachment points on each side. They were the equivalent of "L" shaped brackets that connected to the sunroof with a nut and the car body directly above the doors with a bolt. All fasteners were 10mm. Those were not lose,b ut I left them tighter than I found them.

I haven't gotten it back together completely, but the play is gone. I removed each fastener one by one and put on thread locker. I tightened them up tight with a small wratchet, but not crazy tight... didn't want to break a bolt. they are kind of small.

I worked pretty fast, so I am not sure the brackets went back on exactly like they were. the bracket holes were a little oversized, maybe to allow some adjustment. I am going to wing it because I didn't really consider this as I was working.

The headliner had some jute fabric that was glued to the body, but had fallen. I just put that about where it should be. I didn't attempt to glue it. Also there were some wires ( antenna, etc) that were taped to the headliner. I left those as they were and just dropped the headliner enough to get at the bolts.

Suggestions. Take your time on removal and get a plastic pry tool. Expect that some of your button fasteners behind the plastic panels, especially in the cargo area, may break and you might need to purchase replacements. Also, removal of the dome lights and moonroof controls seemed to take more force that should have been necessary. The dome lights had spring metal connectors as well as plastic molded tabs that had to be pulled through the headliner!!! As much as the removal takes more time, the reinstall was pretty quick.

[handmedown03]

I thought I would add a couple of things I learned while taking my headliner in and out twice.. You cannot add any insulation to the area directly behind the sunroof. It uses the space up to 1/8" below the metal. I was able to add 1 layer of .070 constrained layer material but nothing else. You can pull the domelights down easier if you insert a small flat bladed screwdriver into the hole and pry the metal tab back first. I don't think it was mentioned but the sunvisor holder has to be twisted to remove and shoved in really hard to get it to catch when reinstalling.
Reading down through the thread, I wondered if it wasn't the side brackets that were loose making your noise. I had to loosen mine up to release it from binding on the glass to move it forward to tear out the insulation I tried to add. Since I put it back together, it seems quieter but I never made the connection.The bolts weren't super tight to begin with. I did blow out the tracks with air and lubricate it with some spray silicone and that made a BIG difference. It was surprising the amount of dust in it. I had my headliner out to do some soundproofing and insulating and it really helped the car have a better feel. I had to drop it anyway in order to remove the antannae to do some paint work so I tried to kill 2 things with the effort.

[cthomasparr]

Just another note on my moonroof rattle. When I tighted the bolts I only dropped the headliner. I didn't want to disturb all of the wires taped on the back of the headliner. Like I said in February the rattle went away. ......

BUT... when the weather got warmer, the rattle was replaced by a single creek/pop whenever the car went over a large bump or uneven terrain. It was actually due to the car twisting. That noise was right above my head and was hard to reproduce by pushing on the moonroof or pulling on the track. Either way it started to drive me crazy and the temps increased. I had to take down the headliner again, but this time completely remove it from the car.

The noise still was there with the headliner out. It only went away when I loosened most of the bolts. As of right now, I tightened up the bolts again, but only using a socket screwdriver. Hopefully it will remain quiet. The following is what I did.

Since all the bolts were somewhat lose for a while, I assume that the moonroof assembly was about as centered as it could be with the moonroof closed. I parked on a level surface and started by tightening the two front nuts with blue loctite on them ( only had blue, but I would have considered self locking nuts or stronger loctite)

The only fasteners remaining were four angle brackets, two on each side. I started with the rear most brackets in the back seat area. As best I could I positioned the brakcet so it was centered on the threaded hole in the roof/body. I put loctite on that bolt and tightened that hand tight. I did my best to get the other part of the bracket and the sunroof track threaded hole to line up and put that bolt in hand tight. I then tightened the bracket to body bolt as tight as I could with two hands and the screwdriver. I took the bolt to the sunroof track out, loctite and put it back in... for this bolt I only put it in left hand tight. In other words, snug but not crazy. I did the same for the bracket on the other side. For the brackets over the front doors I didn't force the track to be higher or lower, just put the brakcet in what I thought was the best possible place for both threaded holes. Like the rears, I loctited both bolts, put them in and then cranked on the body to braket bolt, but left the bracket to sunroof track snug. In one case, I could see that putting the bracket to track bolt over the passenger door very tight would have twisted the track.

I think my original method of making those bolts as tight as could be and putting undue stress on the sunroof track only caused more noise. I have driven the car two days in 60+ degree weather and no creeks or pops.

[whitealltrac]

I had a water leak for a while along with wind noise that started around 45 mph all coming from the moon roof.

I was just about to drop the headliner when by accident I pushed the glass roof and guess what??? The glass was loose! The glue that holds the glass to the metal frame itself was gone!! I then took the car for a ride and discovered that the moonroof glass would lift around 45 mph creating the wind noise and of course a water leak if it was a rainy day as it lifted a good 1/4"
I went to the local salvage yard and found one like new condition nicely glued. Removed 4 hex screws and replaced my old one all for $10 ! No more leaks and no more rattles or wind noises.

Tip:
Make sure someone directs you when installing the moonroof back as it needs to be hand leveled to match the top roof of the car. Tight one screw at a time to achieve this while being directed by your helper who can tell you if the moonroof needs to go up or down before you tighten the screws.

Bottom line, push up your moonroof while its closed to see if there is are any gaps caused by the glass being unglued and loose.
Hope this helps someone in the future....

[Derf]

I had a water leak for a while along with wind noise that started around 45 mph all coming from the moon roof.

What year is your Vibe?
Their is another post about leaking windshields, wonder if NUMMI or sub contractor had a bad batch of glass sealant.
$10 for working junk yard replacement, good find!

[whitealltrac]

I had a water leak for a while along with wind noise that started around 45 mph all coming from the moon roof.

What year is your Vibe?
Their is another post about leaking windshields, wonder if NUMMI or sub contractor had a bad batch of glass sealant.
$10 for working junk yard replacement, good find!

2003 GT

[BustedVibe]

I've been nervous about the fact my moonroof leaks from the 4 corner areas ever since I got it. The drains all function well but that is beside the point.
I did push up on it (near the edge seals, but also on the glass itself) and it DOES rise a slight bit. But I'm not sure how normal that is.

I'm afraid to futz with it due to the whole "hand alignment" thing. I don't want to make it worse, but does it sound like the screws just need to be tightened or something?

Going through a car wash for example, the "leaks" go between fast dripping and a small steady stream depending on the water pressure as the machine passes over that area.

[cthomasparr]

I would concentrate on keeping those drains clean. About this time of year I notice that things can get a little nasty with pollen build up.

I think some leakage is normal and I am not sure you can ever get a water tight seal. I don't use pressure washers or go to car washes so all of my leaks have been "no pressure" leaks. I can only imagine what that would be like in a car wash.

I attempted to adjust my sunroof height by messing with the four torx screws. I think you can only adjust height with those screws, if you try and re-center the sunroof, you probably need to have the headliner down. Big job for little benefit. Be careful, I stripped one of those torx screws using a ratchet and moderate tightening. Luckly the screw was damaged and not the threads in the sunroof track mechanism. I would only tighten with a screwdriver from this point on.

[BustedVibe]

I'm noted wetness and probably very slow drips when driving through rain, or with the car sitting there.

i.e at first when I was really paranoid I stuffed some shop towels up there to see what would happen when it rained (came out soaked, some corners worse than others).

But yeah I am going to concentrate on keeping the drain holes clean. I'm not sure of the best way to do that though. To be fair I rarely open the roof fully, and I generally only have the glass tilted open when its a nice day and the interior is a little warm. I did clean the seals on the roof and glass as best I could a couple weeks ago. Some warm water and a light bit of cleaning stuff (I think I might have used dish soap, or maybe diluted multi purpose cleaner).

Is it worth it to try and lightly grease the seals with silicone or something like that? Was considering doing that for my weather stripping too. Since the car is pretty old and its probably never been changes or maintained.