Concerns - Popping/Creaking Noise from Sunroof

[westcoastGT]

As an owner of a 2018 which sat at a dealer from at least Nov 2018 to Feb 2019 when I bought it, so far I haven't had any noise issues. Not ANY. NONE. I'm certainly not going to meddle with success and start slathering lube around, but there has been so many with noise issues, that as far as I can see were solved mostly with lube, I should get prepared. I found a tube on Amazon, labeled {shudder}
Honda Genuine Shin-Etsu Grease. Is this really the right stuff? Better sources? I guess I could just put a note in my phone notepad to-do list with the info, in case I do ever need it.

Thats the stuff , it wont do anything for sunroof issues BUT it is an excellent lube for all rubber gaskets and seals around the doors and hatch , I use it every 5 or 6th wash

 

[Revvdmedia]

As an owner of a 2018 which sat at a dealer from at least Nov 2018 to Feb 2019 when I bought it, so far I haven't had any noise issues. Not ANY. NONE. I'm certainly not going to meddle with success and start slathering lube around, but there has been so many with noise issues, that as far as I can see were solved mostly with lube, I should get prepared. I found a tube on Amazon, labeled {shudder}
Honda Genuine Shin-Etsu Grease. Is this really the right stuff? Better sources? I guess I could just put a note in my phone notepad to-do list with the info, in case I do ever need it.

While messing with something that isn't a problem isn't good, thinking you should do nothing with the seals is also a bad practice. Seals by nature degrade over time and do require period lubrication with proper products to maintain proper elasticity of the rubber compound. The seals will dry out over the long term without lubrication leading to noise and leaks.

The Shin-Etsu grease should work well as a regular lubricant used periodically. You do not need a lot, otherwise it just makes a mess. Genuine Honda tubes of grease are white with some green labelling.

 

[westcoastGT]

While messing with something that isn't a problem isn't good, thinking you should do nothing with the seals is also a bad practice. Seals by nature degrade over time and do require period lubrication with proper products to maintain proper elasticity of the rubber compound. The seals will dry out over the long term without lubrication leading to noise and leaks.

The Shin-Etsu grease should work well as a regular lubricant used periodically. You do not need a lot, otherwise it just makes a mess. Genuine Honda tubes of grease are white with some green labelling.

 

[Revvdmedia]

The car is going in very soon, but in the meantime, can any of you see if your sunroof glass has a lot of movement when you have it all the way open? I've noticed when grabbing a back corner and trying to move the glass left to right (side to side), it is very loose and does move a lot. Just curious if this is normal. Please mention if yours does that, and if you do or do not have a noisy sunroof.

Just FYI, the movement I see in mine is the part that allows the glass to slide back moving in whatever track it is connected to, the glass itself is firmly affixed to its mounts (bolts are tight). Could be normal, but just more spit balling.

 

[MerlintheMad]

can any of you see if your sunroof glass has a lot of movement when you have it all the way open? I've noticed when grabbing a back corner and trying to move the glass left to right (side to side), it is very loose and does move a lot. Just curious if this is normal. Please mention if yours does that, and if you do or do not have a noisy sunroof.

Rock solid fully open. I have an utterly silent sunroof.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Rock solid fully open. I have an utterly silent sunroof.

Thanks Merlin. With cars, everything is "you never know" but I felt onto something when I noticed this. During the numerous self diagnostics, I always noticed when putting fingers up near the sunroof to find fault when it was closed, I always felt there was what felt like a "lot" of movement up there between the glass and the rest of the car's structure. When I noticed how much movement I had in my sunroof glass with it open, it didn't seem right. When I try to grab a rear corner of the glass and move if from left to right, I notice the structural pieces connected to the glass that run in the track below it move from front to back at least 1/2 an inch. It feels quite loose. Others who noted on a video I posted that me pressing up on the glass with in tilted has some movement and ticking sounds also lends credence to this find, they may go hand in hand, the slop occurs in both scenarios?

I'd like to see some other's feedback on this too, but I think it's another lead I can give to my dealer to look at. I try to not send them on too many wild goose chases, it might cause more harm than good, but this current find seems pretty logical as a source of noise...looseness often leads to noise.

 

[westcoastGT]

Thanks Merlin. With cars, everything is "you never know" but I felt onto something when I noticed this. During the numerous self diagnostics, I always noticed when putting fingers up near the sunroof to find fault when it was closed, I always felt there was what felt like a "lot" of movement up there between the glass and the rest of the car's structure. When I noticed how much movement I had in my sunroof glass with it open, it didn't seem right. When I try to grab a rear corner of the glass and move if from left to right, I notice the structural pieces connected to the glass that run in the track below it move from front to back at least 1/2 an inch. It feels quite loose. Others who noted on a video I posted that me pressing up on the glass with in tilted has some movement and ticking sounds also lends credence to this find, they may go hand in hand, the slop occurs in both scenarios?

I'd like to see some other's feedback on this too, but I think it's another lead I can give to my dealer to look at. I try to not send them on too many wild goose chases, it might cause more harm than good, but this current find seems pretty logical as a source of noise...looseness often leads to noise.

I'd love to help ................but I'm not touching anything now !!!

 

[Revvdmedia]

I'd love to help ................but I'm not touching anything now !!!

I don't blame you lol, I probably won't either once it is fixed.

You had the rails and frame replaced, at the same time. It's hard to say because of that what fixed the issue, but based on the other symptoms you had that mimicked mine, it seems very possible that the rails that the sunroof runs front to back on (which were replaced on your car) could be the cause of fault.

Again I could be totally off, and I'm going to leave it with my dealer that now says "they want it fixed" just as I do, but I'd like to give them as many solid leads as I can to help with the situation. I'm giving them about a week and a half with the car due to the fact I won't need it for over a week. I just hope they don't wreck anything else while they have it!

 

[westcoastGT]

I don't blame you lol, I probably won't either once it is fixed.

You had the rails and frame replaced, at the same time. It's hard to say because of that what fixed the issue, but based on the other symptoms you had that mimicked mine, it seems very possible that the rails that the sunroof runs front to back on (which were replaced on your car) could be the cause of fault.

Again I could be totally off, and I'm going to leave it with my dealer that now says "they want it fixed" just as I do, but I'd like to give them as many solid leads as I can to help with the situation. I'm giving them about a week and a half with the car due to the fact I won't need it for over a week. I just hope they don't wreck anything else while they have it!

be confident that they have enough info to get this fixed , a small paint chip etc wont be an issue when they get it back to you "silent" !! .................fingers crossed for your bud ! Cheers !!

 

[Revvdmedia]

be confident that they have enough info to get this fixed , a small paint chip etc wont be an issue when they get it back to you "silent" !! .................fingers crossed for your bud ! Cheers !!

Thanks. I plan to not even think of it on my trip. I really hope to come back to "we have parts on order" or "we have fixed the problem." Either way, not my problem til I pick it up!

 

[Revvdmedia]

So, not sure what I plan to do next. I had the car in and the service manager seems to hand hold the car through the process of diagnostics. He and the tech drove the car and acknowledged there are noises. They also took a brand new same trim from the lot out and apparently it makes the same noises (believable). The result was to escalate to an engineer to determine if/what should be done further. The engineer told the dealer that the noises are "normal for the ambient conditions" and thus the dealer really has nothing more they can do with it (from a bottom up corporate structure). I could try another dealer, but need to get around to scheduling and whatnot. I haven't gone through the corporate phone line but I think I will. I could try to reverse engineer the problem myself and see if there is any work around. I could dump the car. I could get in touch with YouTube reviewers to try to get some viewership leverage on the issue.

Not sure. I certainly don't want to bend over and take it. Just because the car on the lot has a problem too doesn't mean being low quality or defective should be the level of acceptability.

 

[westcoastGT]

So, not sure what I plan to do next. I had the car in and the service manager seems to hand hold the car through the process of diagnostics. He and the tech drove the car and acknowledged there are noises. They also took a brand new same trim from the lot out and apparently it makes the same noises (believable). The result was to escalate to an engineer to determine if/what should be done further. The engineer told the dealer that the noises are "normal for the ambient conditions" and thus the dealer really has nothing more they can do with it (from a bottom up corporate structure). I could try another dealer, but need to get around to scheduling and whatnot. I haven't gone through the corporate phone line but I think I will. I could try to reverse engineer the problem myself and see if there is any work around. I could dump the car. I could get in touch with YouTube reviewers to try to get some viewership leverage on the issue.

Not sure. I certainly don't want to bend over and take it. Just because the car on the lot has a problem too doesn't mean being low quality or defective should be the level of acceptability.

such a disappointment !! please call Matt Butcher at the Kia delaership in NF and get some perspective on how he was able to get Kia Canada to fix mine ...............If I can help in any way pls let me know ....

 

[MerlintheMad]

So, not sure what I plan to do next. I had the car in and the service manager seems to hand hold the car through the process of diagnostics. He and the tech drove the car and acknowledged there are noises. They also took a brand new same trim from the lot out and apparently it makes the same noises (believable). The result was to escalate to an engineer to determine if/what should be done further. The engineer told the dealer that the noises are "normal for the ambient conditions" and thus the dealer really has nothing more they can do with it (from a bottom up corporate structure). I could try another dealer, but need to get around to scheduling and whatnot. I haven't gone through the corporate phone line but I think I will. I could try to reverse engineer the problem myself and see if there is any work around. I could dump the car. I could get in touch with YouTube reviewers to try to get some viewership leverage on the issue.

Not sure. I certainly don't want to bend over and take it. Just because the car on the lot has a problem too doesn't mean being low quality or defective should be the level of acceptability.

Did they try the rear corner flex test? Does the brand new Stinger's sunroof move or is it "rock solid" like mine? This is a new angle: if silent sunroofs don't flex/move and noisy ones do, that should point directly to an assembly issue.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Did they try the rear corner flex test? Does the brand new Stinger's sunroof move or is it "rock solid" like mine? This is a new angle: if silent sunroofs don't flex/move and noisy ones do, that should point directly to an assembly issue.

Absolutely what I thought when I found that last week, any looseness in a moving mechanism that is not by design is a huge culprit for creating noise. If you put your finger between the sunroof frame and the glass at the front most portion of the sunroof glass when closed, the movement between the frame and the glass over uneven surfaces feels rather significant.

I'm not sure if the dealer tested the roof for movement or only a test drive but I told them about this and it was documented as a concern on the paperwork. I think some feedback on this thread could provide some evidence if this is a likely cause or not. There could be an allowable tolerance for movement, or maybe not. All I know is the glass slides in the track about an inch front to back when I had the glass slid all the way back when trying to manually manipulate it.

I'm not sure if the dealer would allow me to go around manhandling all the sunroofs of the Stingers on their lot lol.

 

[Marc Collins]

I'm not sure if the dealer tested the roof for movement or only a test drive but I told them about this and it was documented as a concern on the paperwork. I think some feedback on this thread could provide some evidence if this is a likely cause or not. There could be an allowable tolerance for movement, or maybe not. All I know is the glass slides in the track about an inch front to back when I had the glass slid all the way back when trying to manually manipulate it.

An inch?!? That can't possibly be "normal" or acceptable.

 

[MartinUK]

I was doing some playing around with mine the other day. I also get a noise when the roof is open but it's rock solid if I try to move it, but there is no noise from the glass until it contacts the wind deflector where it will rattle if I push up on it. So opening it back up and pressing down on it makes a tapping noise (Placing foam pads under it didn't work while driving), but it also seems very loose and has a lot of movement where it clips to the bottom hinge by what looks like a retractable pin, so I'm thinking of unscrewing the entire deflector from the car and taking it out for a drive to see what happens.

 

[Marc Collins]

I was doing some playing around with mine the other day. I also get a noise when the roof is open but it's rock solid if I try to move it, but there is no noise from the glass until it contacts the wind deflector where it will rattle if I push up on it. So opening it back up and pressing down on it makes a tapping noise (Placing foam pads under it didn't work while driving), but it also seems very loose and has a lot of movement where it clips to the bottom hinge by what looks like a retractable pin, so I'm thinking of unscrewing the entire deflector from the car and taking it out for a drive to see what happens.

That sounds like a great idea to diagnose the most likely source of the issue--for those of us who only have noises when the roof is closed.

 

[pufi]

The car is going in very soon, but in the meantime, can any of you see if your sunroof glass has a lot of movement when you have it all the way open? I've noticed when grabbing a back corner and trying to move the glass left to right (side to side), it is very loose and does move a lot. Just curious if this is normal. Please mention if yours does that, and if you do or do not have a noisy sunroof.

Just FYI, the movement I see in mine is the part that allows the glass to slide back moving in whatever track it is connected to, the glass itself is firmly affixed to its mounts (bolts are tight). Could be normal, but just more spit balling.

Mine does not move but I also had some noises (fixed by pressing the metal frame in the front towards the windshield - as mentioned in post #403)

 

[Revvdmedia]

Here is a little video to show the movement (when looking, more like 1/2 inch) that happens when pushing/pulling from the back of the sunroof glass when it is open and slid back. I'm not sure if this is the source of the noise, but it appears to be a lot a slop IMO. I think the next step of diagnosis is seeing if I can hold the sunroof forward (or push back) with enough resistance to hold it in place and see if securing it keeps it from making noise. Maybe a whole whack of grease might give a barrier between the friction points in this mechanism.

As noted in the video description, what you are looking at is the mechanism the glass slides front to back on, when the glass is up and slid back, between the body/sunroof frame and the lifted glass.

LOL at my exhale/sigh at the end.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Here is a little video to show the movement (when looking, more like 1/2 inch) that happens when pushing/pulling from the back of the sunroof glass when it is open and slid back. I'm not sure if this is the source of the noise, but it appears to be a lot a slop IMO. I think the next step of diagnosis is seeing if I can hold the sunroof forward (or push back) with enough resistance to hold it in place and see if securing it keeps it from making noise. Maybe a whole whack of grease might give a barrier between the friction points in this mechanism.

As noted in the video description, what you are looking at is the mechanism the glass slides front to back on, when the glass is up and slid back, between the body/sunroof frame and the lifted glass.

LOL at my exhale/sigh at the end.

Absolutely that is why you have NOISE. There is zero play in my silent sunroof.