Concerns - Popping/Creaking Noise from Sunroof

[D87]

Edit: I guess it was too good to be true. So it continues. On the drive home I noticed the noise went away when u cracked the passenger window... Whatever that means..



Apparently there are two issues at play. Some people describe the issue as a squeak/rubbing whowh others describe a rattle.
My issue was the latter. I tried taking apart my passenger door and installing hockey tape and foam to no avail. I tried lubing every piece of rubber and still the noise would not go away!
Before my morning commute today I stuck a piece of tape on the passenger side roof molding and the noise has gone away!! I was able to get up to 85mph, cross the bridge, and drive for a full 45m without replicating the noise. I'll double check on my drive home this afternoon but I'm almost certain I've pinpointed the issue.
Obviously the tape isn't a permanent solution but now that I know where to focus on I can take it apart and work on a permanent fix.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Has anyone ever applied felt take to the roof molding? I think that may be the culprit. I haven't seen anyone response after getting the sunroof railing replaced.

You missed @westcoastGT's saga of his replaced sunroof; the whole thing; it transformed his car into a quiet ride, and even seemed to improve his sound system experience.

 

[D87]

You missed @westcoastGT's saga of his replaced sunroof; the whole thing; it transformed his car into a quiet ride, and even seemed to improve his sound system experience.

Just read up on it, not looking forward to what I know is going to be a long process.

 

[westcoastGT]

Just read up on it, not looking forward to what I know is going to be a long process.

its the fix ! and they know it , be firm and persistant ..............and of course professional

 

[Revvdmedia]

I had my car in for its first service last week. I had 3 concerns - hard third to fourth shift when cold, driver B pillar ticking and the sunroof. Of course, we were still in this persistent cold snap of -25C on average, and they attributed everything to "cannot duplicate" and "these things happen when it's this cold." They seemed to ignore the fact that I said all of these problems were pre-existing the cold snap. I don't doubt the sunroof was not making noise though, I don't think it does make noise when it's that cold, it seems to happen mostly just above zero celcius. I will have to keep an eye on it and bring it back in if it continues, and take them for a road test to identify it.

**Update** And today happens to be the only day in the foreseeable forecast that is zero celcius, and the roof is poppin'. Because the temps will be going down again, it's probably going to go quiet again. I'll need to wait until a warm stretch to get a tech out for a drive to actually diagnose.

 

[Kamauxx]

I applied the Shinetsu grease yesterday (liberally, I might add). I noticed there was already some grease on the rails. Is that normal factory grease?

My hopes weren't high so I wasn't terribly disappointed this morning when the creaking continued.

I'll be bringing it up to Kia when I go in for my 15k mile visit in a couple of weeks. If my roof has to be replaced I'll probably move on from the car.

 

[westcoastGT]

I applied the Shinetsu grease yesterday (liberally, I might add). I noticed there was already some grease on the rails. Is that normal factory grease?

My hopes weren't high so I wasn't terribly disappointed this morning when the creaking continued.

I'll be bringing it up to Kia when I go in for my 15k mile visit in a couple of weeks. If my roof has to be replaced I'll probably move on from the car.

works great on the doors and all rubber seals , didn't do squat for my sunroof either !

 

[MaraudingWalrus]

Have sunroof noise on my car (2018 GT2AWD that I picked up a couple weeks ago). Have about 1600 miles on it. Noise has been evident since the pickup of the car a couple weeks ago. Only really notice it at slower speeds, and it's seemingly random. Not really connected to bumps or curves on the road. I could cause my GTI's sunroof to pop when I got serious chassis flex if I was going through a deep gutter at a weird angle+ an incline. That was understandable. This is quite different. Need to pop by the dealer when I have a reason, and also as @westcoastGT says, should probably contact Kia NA...

 

[Revvdmedia]

I notice when my sunroof makes noise it isn't happening over ALL bumps, and sometimes not even the big ones. Sometimes it is tiny cracks, but the noise always seems to happen over surfaces that cause the chassis to flex. Uneven seams, potholes or imperfection on one side of the car, etc. Even cornering sometimes makes it do a single pop.

 

[Callum]

Mine started rattling. I sounds like somebody poured a bag of rice on the roof. Insanely annoying.

 

[GT2inSeattle]

I'll chime in here.. I've had problems with my Sunroof rattling. It's annoying as hell and doesn't consistently happen. It seems to happen most often when there is a change in temperature that's significant enough (warm inside and freezing outside).

Not sure what to do about it. I had a similar problem on my 2012 Optima SX. And Kia was never able to fix it. Of course that didn’t start until *after* the warranty on it expired..

 

[Socalstinga]

I just hate sunroofs in general because of this creaking issue. I've had it on all my cars, the only one that hasn't had that issue is my MB. My beemer (M3 & 335), g37, and nissan frontier had it. But all of them had about 50k miles before I started hearing it. The stinger started at about 8-10k miles.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I'll chime in here.. I've had problems with my Sunroof rattling. It's annoying as hell and doesn't consistently happen. It seems to happen most often when there is a change in temperature that's significant enough (warm inside and freezing outside).

Not sure what to do about it. I had a similar problem on my 2012 Optima SX. And Kia was never able to fix it. Of course that didn’t start until *after* the warranty on it expired..

Get the dealer to check it out. A few have had the "rails" ordered and have been/will be replaced. westcoastGT had his frame replaced, not sure if the rails and the frame are the same thing. Regardless, some significant repairs have happened and I hope this means that Kia has documentation to provide the dealers and technicians to help diagnose and repair the issue. I have my car in right now for this, they needed to keep it overnight and should be working on it today (if they didn't start yesterday). The tech rode with me and knows the sound he needs to fix (I made him acknowledge he heard it). We'll see if this leads to some positive outcome. I should know more "later."

 

[eflyguy]

I just hate sunroofs in general because of this creaking issue. I've had it on all my cars, the only one that hasn't had that issue is my MB. My beemer (M3 & 335), g37, and nissan frontier had it. But all of them had about 50k miles before I started hearing it. The stinger started at about 8-10k miles.

That's an unfortunate sequence of experiences. I've had sunroofs on every vehicle I've owned since the mid 90's, and never had an issue. This includes 4 Kias since 2010.

 

[Revvdmedia]

That's an unfortunate sequence of experiences. I've had sunroofs on every vehicle I've owned since the mid 90's, and never had an issue. This includes 4 Kias since 2010.

I've only had 1 car with a quiet sunroof, all others had extraneous noises. The '01 Grand Prix GTP was good, except it didn't close once, but was otherwise quiet.

94 Cavalier had a rattly flappy piece up front in the interior that I just completely removed to make it stop. 09 Cobalt SS had an incessantly rattling sunroof. 12 Sportage had rails that ticked if the shade was open. The 15 Mustang didn't have a sunroof, so to counter that, everything else rattled!

 

[Revvdmedia]

I just received the car back and a "clip" is on order. They did an increasingly invasive diagnostic - started with the track, no change, then the glass assembly, no change. They said they dropped the headliner and heard no more noises when road testing. It sounds like reassembly happened in stages and they supposedly found the culprit piece causing the noise and I will bring the car back in for replacement when it goes in. I really hope that is all and then this saga is done.

 

[Joeygt]

The only time I hear creaking noises from the sunroof is under chassis flex when turning to go up a driveway.

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

I'll chime in here.. I've had problems with my Sunroof rattling. It's annoying as hell and doesn't consistently happen. It seems to happen most often when there is a change in temperature that's significant enough (warm inside and freezing outside).

Not sure what to do about it. I had a similar problem on my 2012 Optima SX. And Kia was never able to fix it. Of course that didn’t start until *after* the warranty on it expired..

Hey neighbor. Great color choice. I hope you have better luck with your paint, though. I concur with the temperature having an impact on this. When I drove to work yesterday I could hear the creaking and popping, but when I drove home at 55 degrees, it was significantly reduced.

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

That's an unfortunate sequence of experiences. I've had sunroofs on every vehicle I've owned since the mid 90's, and never had an issue. This includes 4 Kias since 2010.

Agree. I've never had a creaky sunroof in any car from cheap ones to luxury ones.

 

[Rev_Night]

MAKE SURE YOU MAKE KIA USA AWARE !!! , your dealer needs their direction to enact the frame replacement !!

Hey! So did your new frame replacement permanently fix your sunroof rattle? I am very interested in buying a Stinger GT but I'm very concerned about this issue.