Concerns - Popping/Creaking Noise from Sunroof

[Revvdmedia]

I was offered the sunroof frame replacement after losing my marbles (being professional but firm), but was offered this with strings attached - basically if they do the replacement and that doesn't fix the problem or they end up causing more noises from the fix, they won't even look at it again. First and foremost, that says to me they're not interested or competent, so I'd take it somewhere else.

Some further road testing on mine leads me to believe the following:
-The car exhibits the noise with the sunshade open, the roof completely closed, or tilted.
-Closing the sunshade seems to muffle the noises.
-Sliding back the glass, even 1 inch, seems to eliminate all noises as far as I can tell.

I'm going to start jamming things (thin rags, felt tape) in areas myself as a means to see if my issue is not the whole frame but rather just the seals up front, or the pop-up wind deflector (I think this plays a role in mine). I'd rather save the frame replacement for last.

Oddly enough, my issue only happens when the ambient temperature is warm, or more often above zero Celsius when the car has been exposed to direct sunlight. When cold, no issues.

 

[Rev_Night]

Sure, but then you don't get the nicer Harman Kardon stereo to drown out the noises!

ha. son i'm still on terrestrial radio and i'm happy

 

[westcoastGT]

I was offered the sunroof frame replacement after losing my marbles (being professional but firm), but was offered this with strings attached - basically if they do the replacement and that doesn't fix the problem or they end up causing more noises from the fix, they won't even look at it again. First and foremost, that says to me they're not interested or competent, so I'd take it somewhere else.

Some further road testing on mine leads me to believe the following:
-The car exhibits the noise with the sunshade open, the roof completely closed, or tilted.
-Closing the sunshade seems to muffle the noises.
-Sliding back the glass, even 1 inch, seems to eliminate all noises as far as I can tell.

I'm going to start jamming things (thin rags, felt tape) in areas myself as a means to see if my issue is not the whole frame but rather just the seals up front, or the pop-up wind deflector (I think this plays a role in mine). I'd rather save the frame replacement for last.

Oddly enough, my issue only happens when the ambient temperature is warm, or more often above zero Celsius when the car has been exposed to direct sunlight. When cold, no issues.

The temp issue was the same on mine , but when colder I could hear the doors move a bit when the car was twisting up a driveway etc ............as before I think the sunroof frame is the prime culprit for most of the noises ex the hatch ...............

 

[Revvdmedia]

The temp issue was the same on mine , but when colder I could hear the doors move a bit when the car was twisting up a driveway etc ............as before I think the sunroof frame is the prime culprit for most of the noises ex the hatch ...............

The frame might be the culprit on mine too, but I'd like to be sure before I proceed with anything...and find a new dealer that is actually interested in doing this repair properly and not blacklisting my car for future complaints on noises...

Another oddity I noticed is with the roof closed, the gap on the left hand side and right hand side in the interior is not equal, and the pop up wind deflector can be easily pushed down on the right side with the glass closed, but not on the left. It doesn't seem to be mounted the same on both sides, which I'm sure it should be. Something isn't level? Either way I'll play with isolating the wind deflector as one test, and also seeing if the front of the glass pressing against the seals is the other possibility, even though I've lubed them up numerous times. The fact that it makes noises only when the glass is at the very front, not when I've slid it back, says to me the true issues stems from the front of the sunroof, somehow.

 

[westcoastGT]

The frame might be the culprit on mine too, but I'd like to be sure before I proceed with anything...and find a new dealer that is actually interested in doing this repair properly and not blacklisting my car for future complaints on noises...

Another oddity I noticed is with the roof closed, the gap on the left hand side and right hand side in the interior is not equal, and the pop up wind deflector can be easily pushed down on the right side with the glass closed, but not on the left. It doesn't seem to be mounted the same on both sides, which I'm sure it should be. Something isn't level? Either way I'll play with isolating the wind deflector as one test, and also seeing if the front of the glass pressing against the seals is the other possibility, even though I've lubed them up numerous times. The fact that it makes noises only when the glass is at the very front, not when I've slid it back, says to me the true issues stems from the front of the sunroof, somehow.

......................you're prolonging the pain the sunroof frame is faulty , use me as a reference point with the dealer and Kia Canada and get it fixed .................make them aware that you expect the car to be put back together perfectly , take before pics of potential damage areas roof surrounding the glass , rear hatch rubber ( when removing the headliner ) ................. it will be fine

 

[StingerDog18]

I was offered the sunroof frame replacement after losing my marbles (being professional but firm), but was offered this with strings attached - basically if they do the replacement and that doesn't fix the problem or they end up causing more noises from the fix, they won't even look at it again. First and foremost, that says to me they're not interested or competent, so I'd take it somewhere else.

Some further road testing on mine leads me to believe the following:
-The car exhibits the noise with the sunshade open, the roof completely closed, or tilted.
-Closing the sunshade seems to muffle the noises.
-Sliding back the glass, even 1 inch, seems to eliminate all noises as far as I can tell.

I'm going to start jamming things (thin rags, felt tape) in areas myself as a means to see if my issue is not the whole frame but rather just the seals up front, or the pop-up wind deflector (I think this plays a role in mine). I'd rather save the frame replacement for last.

Oddly enough, my issue only happens when the ambient temperature is warm, or more often above zero Celsius when the car has been exposed to direct sunlight. When cold, no issues.

Hey Mate, Still for the money paid for this vehicle It's Not Right!!,
with mine they did not replace any frame at all & I was not told that there would be more possibilities of noises appearing. I now have to take it back for further investigation "Good Luck with that" .What a wast of time!

 

[Revvdmedia]

......................you're prolonging the pain the sunroof frame is faulty , use me as a reference point with the dealer and Kia Canada and get it fixed .................make them aware that you expect the car to be put back together perfectly , take before pics of potential damage areas roof surrounding the glass , rear hatch rubber ( when removing the headliner ) ................. it will be fine

Yeah I'll make a decision soon about how to best proceed. I still think a better dealer is on order, all things considered. There's even more to the story than I'm telling...many reasons I don't trust them for this work. The worst thing is how more than one person blatantly told me "I don't think we can fix this." Reason enough for me to move to someone else. There are other dealers here.

 

[Bobr]

I'm going to start jamming things (thin rags, felt tape) in areas myself as a means to see if my issue is not the whole frame but rather just the seals up front, or the pop-up wind deflector (I think this plays a role in mine). I'd rather save the frame replacement for last.

Please keep us updated, want to do near the same research here as well to find that exact creaking point... thinking about to use stethoscope on it

 

[Revvdmedia]

Please keep us updated, want to do near the same research here as well to find that exact creaking point... thinking about to use stethoscope on it

I tried putting felt tape (hockey tape actually) on the top of the pop-up wind deflector, that did nothing positive for the noises and it almost ripped off the wind deflector due to the friction of the tape - don't do that lol.

I haven't put a ton of time into diagnostics since most of my nights are spent with my head in school books. I intend to take a little more time to figure this out very soon since my last exam is tomorrow. The only somewhat conclusive thing I have found is if the roof is tilted open, I can press the glass up and it makes a noise, which can be stopped by pressing against the frame on the same side while pushing up, or the wind deflector while pushing the glass up. It might not be what is causing the noises while driving though, it sounds different.

With the roof tilted open I've tried pressing down the pop up deflector and also tried pressing down on the sunroof frame, neither seemed to fully stop the noise and I'm not sure either made it better.

The noises only happen when the glass is in the front-most position. As soon as I slide the glass back even an inch, the noises stop completely. This will reduce the amount of areas I need to look, it has something to do with the sunroof being in the front-most "parked" position, tilted open (worse) or closed (still noisy but a little less).

 

[MerlintheMad]

The noises only happen when the glass is in the front-most position. As soon as I slide the glass back even an inch, the noises stop completely. This will reduce the amount of areas I need to look, it has something to do with the sunroof being in the front-most "parked" position, tilted open (worse) or closed (still noisy but a little less).

That means it is a contact issue; glass edge to metal frame, somewhere. Or, a question I have is: between the sunroof frame and the metal roof, what kind of insulation/padding is there? Because if the noise is coming instead from the contact point(s) between the metal roof and metal sunroof frame, that could be caused by a lack of insulation/padding.

 

[Revvdmedia]

That means it is a contact issue; glass edge to metal frame, somewhere. Or, a question I have is: between the sunroof frame and the metal roof, what kind of insulation/padding is there? Because if the noise is coming instead from the contact point(s) between the metal roof and metal sunroof frame, that could be caused by a lack of insulation/padding.

It is definitely contact of some sort, I just can't quite nail down the source easily. I need to get up there, take some more pictures and reverse engineer it. Because of the rubber vertical "flaps" between the interior and the tracks and the fact mine makes noise when parked at the front, it is very hard to see what is going on, or to reach in and press things like the wind deflector and whatnot.

I know the rail/frame replacement might be the ultimate fix, but I'd really like to see if it was something that requires a less intrusive remediation. I will say, with the glass slid back and no noises, it is a real pleasure to drive. I want that all the time.

 

[MerlintheMad]

As far as I recall, you are the only one to make a distinction between fully closed, partially, or fully open. Other complainants have merely said "noisy!" I gather that very few sunroof owners actually drive much with theirs open.

 

[Revvdmedia]

As far as I recall, you are the only one to make a distinction between fully closed, partially, or fully open. Other complainants have merely said "noisy!" I gather that very few sunroof owners actually drive much with theirs open.

If you see how many American made vehicles are in my signature, you'll understand that I have years of experience chasing rattles...lol. Most people won't know how or care to run something through its paces by touching, prodding, tapping, banging and moving things here and there to find the root cause. I don't think I should HAVE to do this, but my primary dealership has expressed no interest in doing this the proper way. I also don't mind helping the community. It's good that Kia is performing warranty work to replace parts, but we're not getting any info what the true cause of the problem is, and when I ask the dealers if they have access to that info, they say no. That's a pretty useless system IMO, in my industry if you see negative trends, non compliances, as a manufacturer, you perform root cause analysis and distribute information on how to diagnose and nip the problem at the bud. It seems Kia's engineering and quality group does not want to distribute too much information to dealers.

 

[MerlintheMad]

You say "problem", singular. But with this sunroof extraneous noises issue, there has to be multiple causes. Your fix, when applied to the discovered noise making location, will not address all the other noisy sunroofs. So Kia isn't reluctant to disseminate information, imho; they are only capable of dealing with extraneous noise causes on a case by case basis. Frustrating job!

 

[Revvdmedia]

You say "problem", singular. But with this sunroof extraneous noises issue, there has to be multiple causes. Your fix, when applied to the discovered noise making location, will not address all the other noisy sunroofs. So Kia isn't reluctant to disseminate information, imho; they are only capable of dealing with extraneous noise causes on a case by case basis. Frustrating job!

Yes, true. What I was meaning to say was for instances like westcoastGT where they took the sunroof back, they should distribute "where to look" guides for the dealers to start with. When I asked the local dealers if they have access to any of this info, they were unaware of anything of the sort. I know you shouldn't go looking for trouble elsewhere, but a starting point would be nice.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yes, true. What I was meaning to say was for instances like westcoastGT where they took the sunroof back, they should distribute "where to look" guides for the dealers to start with. When I asked the local dealers if they have access to any of this info, they were unaware of anything of the sort. I know you shouldn't go looking for trouble elsewhere, but a starting point would be nice.

But total replacement of sunroofs has to be very rare. I'm guessing worldwide the number of cases has to still be few; not enough to establish any sort of consistent criteria; or else there would already be a TSB on it.

 

[westcoastGT]

As far as I recall, you are the only one to make a distinction between fully closed, partially, or fully open. Other complainants have merely said "noisy!" I gather that very few sunroof owners actually drive much with theirs open.

Not correct , Revs issues are identical to mine . Slightly open it was silent

 

[westcoastGT]

Rev , I would contact the Canadian President or Dir Of Marketing directly , Michael Kopke is their new DOM , go to the top , they know that my replacement fixed everything . I believe a very good body shop would do a much better job if you have dealer concerns

 

[Revvdmedia]

Rev , I would contact the Canadian President or Dir Of Marketing directly , Michael Kopke is their new DOM , go to the top , they know that my replacement fixed everything . I believe a very good body shop would do a much better job if you have dealer concerns

Thanks, I will look at this option.

The reason I didn't immediately jump at the idea of a replacement is because it was worded to me over the phone that "we will replace the sunroof frame since it seems you've done your research." This means they are not confident in the repair. Then, "if this does not fix the problem, we will not look at it again." Furthermore, "if this repair causes noises because something broke in the repair process, we will not look at it."

The above reeks of "goodwill gesture" and not "warranty repair" as it should be. This likely stems from the fact even on 3 drives with the tech/advisor, who acknowledged there is a noise, could not pinpoint the location. The tech thought it was leather squeaking, which it clearly is not. I feel they ignored the fact that I said opening the sunroof (sliding back) causes the issue to go away completely, clearly a sunroof related issue.

Yes, I think I should escalate it. My other thought was I would just deal with the Service Manager exclusively. I don't hate this dealership and they are very convenient (loaner cars, they've otherwise been decent), but they've put a bad taste in my mouth with this issue.

 

[westcoastGT]

Thanks, I will look at this option.

The reason I didn't immediately jump at the idea of a replacement is because it was worded to me over the phone that "we will replace the sunroof frame since it seems you've done your research." This means they are not confident in the repair. Then, "if this does not fix the problem, we will not look at it again." Furthermore, "if this repair causes noises because something broke in the repair process, we will not look at it."

The above reeks of "goodwill gesture" and not "warranty repair" as it should be. This likely stems from the fact even on 3 drives with the tech/advisor, who acknowledged there is a noise, could not pinpoint the location. The tech thought it was leather squeaking, which it clearly is not. I feel they ignored the fact that I said opening the sunroof (sliding back) causes the issue to go away completely, clearly a sunroof related issue.

Yes, I think I should escalate it. My other thought was I would just deal with the Service Manager exclusively. I don't hate this dealership and they are very convenient (loaner cars, they've otherwise been decent), but they've put a bad taste in my mouth with this issue.

I just thought of something , the Service Mgr and GM from my dealer have moved to Ontario to buy in to a Kia dealer in the Niagara ?? They would definitely be helpful to you ...............the guy you are looking for is Matt Butcher , Fixed Asset Mgr , he was very instrumental in all my dealings with Kia Canada ..................EDIT he is at Cardinal Kia in NF , i hope this is helpful ..........