Noisy moonroof

[ColonelPanic]

I opened the moonroof today and found it was making a pretty loud grinding noise as it tilts open to the vent position. The movement seems somewhat jerky as well. Most of the noise seems to be coming from the front of the moonroof, somewhere around the center... Almost like gears grinding, or slipping, or something...On the way down, it doesn't make as much noise, but the movement is a bit more jerky than what it is when going up.I noticed if I push up on the glass with a small amount of force, the noise goes away. When silding open and closed, the operation is quiet and smooth. It's just the vent position that's noisy (and that's the one I use most of the time.)I have a pretty good recording of the noise that I'll post in the morning when I get back home.Any ideas? I did a bit of searching around but didn't find much on this issue... It would probably be a good idea for me to just leave the stupid thing alone before I end up having my roof getting stuck open in the middle of winter, until I can get it fixed... Back to the shop she goes!

[ragingfish]

I had somethng similar happen on my sunfire, dealer said somehow some sand had gotten in the gears, hence the crunching. They cleaned them out, regreased them, and it worked fine from that day forward...

[ColonelPanic]

DING fries are done! Thanks to the boss, I figured this out. When we got to work today, I closed the moonroof. He was outside the car and was getting his stuff out, when I said "hey, listen to this!"Since he was standing outside, he was looking at the moonroof as I opened/closed it. I was suspecting something purely mechanical - gears, linkages, motor, whatever makes these things move. But, he noticed the front part of the glass panel's gasket seemed to be sticking/binding/whatever.Which explains a lot. The issue didn't occur when it was cold. So, I'm thinking the rubber seal contracts with the colder temps. The issue did not occur when it was rainy or damp if the temp was warm. (the rain = lubrication for the seal, as it doesn't rub on the metal when closing perhaps?) On a dry day above 50, that's when it started making the noise.So, I bought a can of silicon spray, grabbed a towel, and put a good coat on the seal. Also sprayed some on the inside of the metal at the front of the moonroof. Probably not the best thing to do, spraying the metal and all, but... The noise is just about gone. It's still there ever so slightly but I'm wondering what happens once the silicon sets in. Any better suggestions on something to lube the seal with other than silicon spray? Hopefully I used the right stuff (always used this spray in the past for lubricating door seals/etc.) So hopefully it doesn't damage the seal's material. But if anyone has a better product to try, that'd be super... Glad I (er, we) figured this one out, I use the tilt-up feature quite often. It was kinda getting on my nerves!

[ragingfish]

Silicone sounds right to me...nice find! I have a can of it outside, as soon as I get some warm temps I'm gonna do all the seals...it's been almost 3 years since I got her...long overdue.

[ColonelPanic]

Probably wouldn't hurt to lube 'em up a bit! Been 2 years for mine without doing anything to it.So, if anyone runs across this particular issue, definitely give it a shot.

[ColonelPanic]

Woo hoo! Just went out to test it again. No noise at all!!!!I'm pretty stoked about this, no need to go back to the steenkin' dealer!