Concerns - Popping/Creaking Noise from Sunroof

[rockydil]

I promised I would write back. My car went in to the dealer one last time (albeit with a new tech assigned).

The new guy heard the noise, listened to what I thought was the issue (sunroof rails) and has apparently solved the problem. I've had the car back for two weeks now and the rattle/creak is gone. I can still hear some faint scritching coming from that area when the car is cold, which I believe to be the insulating foam he used rubbing on something, but it's barely audible so doesn't bother me (much).

What surprised me is that the tech isolated the issue to the B-pillar and not the sunroof. See the attached diagnosis. He took down the headliner and added foam to the B-pillar plastic mount points and around the airbag module. Seems to have done the trick. I could have sworn the problem was in the sunroof rails, but I'm just happy to be riding in silence.

Hopefully it lasts.

 

[mhal8876]

I promised I would write back. My car went in to the dealer one last time (albeit with a new tech assigned).

The new guy heard the noise, listened to what I thought was the issue (sunroof rails) and has apparently solved the problem. I've had the car back for two weeks now and the rattle/creak is gone. I can still hear some faint scritching coming from that area when the car is cold, which I believe to be the insulating foam he used rubbing on something, but it's barely audible so doesn't bother me (much).

What surprised me is that the tech isolated the issue to the B-pillar and not the sunroof. See the attached diagnosis. He took down the headliner and added foam to the B-pillar plastic mount points and around the airbag module. Seems to have done the trick. I could have sworn the problem was in the sunroof rails, but I'm just happy to be riding in silence.

Hopefully it lasts.

Nice! Will show this to my tech for my sunroof issue.

 

[Marc Collins]

I promised I would write back. My car went in to the dealer one last time (albeit with a new tech assigned).

The new guy heard the noise, listened to what I thought was the issue (sunroof rails) and has apparently solved the problem. I've had the car back for two weeks now and the rattle/creak is gone. I can still hear some faint scritching coming from that area when the car is cold, which I believe to be the insulating foam he used rubbing on something, but it's barely audible so doesn't bother me (much).

What surprised me is that the tech isolated the issue to the B-pillar and not the sunroof. See the attached diagnosis. He took down the headliner and added foam to the B-pillar plastic mount points and around the airbag module. Seems to have done the trick. I could have sworn the problem was in the sunroof rails, but I'm just happy to be riding in silence.

Hopefully it lasts.

That's a separate issue that many have had also. I don't think that one was so obviously affected by the sun/heat/expansion-contraction cycles.

 

[Dodger Blue]

So three weeks ago I brought my car in to have the sunroof rattle looked at. They'd done a repair on it back in February (car was bought in August with like 10 miles on it so you can imagine my frustration at such a loud rattle after less than 6 months) and that helped for about 500 miles. I just decided to grit my teeth about it for a while longer until it needed to come in for other work. Finally, I told them about my persistent rattle coming from the passenger side of the sunroof area, and also about the cracking paint on my drip rails. They ordered some parts and when they came in I dropped the car off.

The car is still at the dealership all this time later, because the sunroof rattle just never seems to go away no matter what the tech has tried. They called me in to take a test drive today, to help pinpoint where the noise is. I drove with the technician and the headliner dropped down. Sure enough, the rattle showed up, on the passenger side.

"Christ, it was on this side all along? They told me it was the driver's side!"

To add insult to injury, when we got back, I noticed the drip rails were painted the wrong color.

 

[Nasscar]

So three weeks ago I brought my car in to have the sunroof rattle looked at. They'd done a repair on it back in February (car was bought in August with like 10 miles on it so you can imagine my frustration at such a loud rattle after less than 6 months) and that helped for about 500 miles. I just decided to grit my teeth about it for a while longer until it needed to come in for other work. Finally, I told them about my persistent rattle coming from the passenger side of the sunroof area, and also about the cracking paint on my drip rails. They ordered some parts and when they came in I dropped the car off.

The car is still at the dealership all this time later, because the sunroof rattle just never seems to go away no matter what the tech has tried. They called me in to take a test drive today, to help pinpoint where the noise is. I drove with the technician and the headliner dropped down. Sure enough, the rattle showed up, on the passenger side.

"Christ, it was on this side all along? They told me it was the driver's side!"

To add insult to injury, when we got back, I noticed the drip rails were painted the wrong color.

It’s keystone cops time at the Kia dealership. Unbelievable.

 

[Dodger Blue]

It’s keystone cops time at the Kia dealership. Unbelievable.

Yeah I'm honestly just amazed. After I left, the service manager called to apologize and get my side of the story. Apparently after I left neither side of the shop could agree on whose fault it was. All I know is I've mentioned, both in person and over the phone, several times both before and after drop-off, that the issue was on the passenger side. It's not a good look for anyone.

And I don't know what part of the story is worse. As a former avionics technician I have been on both ends of a miscommunication between the person experiencing the discrepancy, the guy processing the discrepancy report, and the troubleshooter. Sh*t happens. The drip rails on the other hand were a totally different shade of blue, it was instantly obvious from looking at the car that they were wrong yet they were installed anyway. That to me felt like they were hoping I wouldn't notice. At least they admitted it looked off and said they would repaint them, instead of trying to gaslight me.

 

[Nasscar]

Yeah I'm honestly just amazed. After I left, the service manager called to apologize and get my side of the story. Apparently after I left neither side of the shop could agree on whose fault it was. All I know is I've mentioned, both in person and over the phone, several times both before and after drop-off, that the issue was on the passenger side. It's not a good look for anyone.

And I don't know what part of the story is worse. As a former avionics technician I have been on both ends of a miscommunication between the person experiencing the discrepancy, the guy processing the discrepancy report, and the troubleshooter. Sh*t happens. The drip rails on the other hand were a totally different shade of blue, it was instantly obvious from looking at the car that they were wrong yet they were installed anyway. That to me felt like they were hoping I wouldn't notice. At least they admitted it looked off and said they would repaint them, instead of trying to gaslight me.

Surely all Kia dealers can’t be this bad. Good luck with getting everything fixed properly. From other reports on this forum, I would say the sunroof fix may take some time though.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Surely all Kia dealers can’t be this bad. Good luck with getting everything fixed properly. From other reports on this forum, I would say the sunroof fix may take some time though.

This is the same dealership that needed to keep my car 3 days to do an oil change, because they claimed the Wix cartridge filter they had in stock was incompatible and had to overnight an OEM filter to finish the job.

It sucks because they're the only Kia dealer around for 100 miles, if I need anything under warranty I don't really have a good alternative. For as nice as the people who work there are, I unfortunately haven't had too many good outcomes.

Anyways, didn't mean to go off topic, I'll post again when I get the car back and let you guys know if they fixed it.

 

[Nasscar]

Y

This is the same dealership that needed to keep my car 3 days to do an oil change, because they claimed the Wix cartridge filter they had in stock was incompatible and had to overnight an OEM filter to finish the job.

It sucks because they're the only Kia dealer around for 100 miles, if I need anything under warranty I don't really have a good alternative. For as nice as the people who work there are, I unfortunately haven't had too many good outcomes.

Anyways, didn't mean to go off topic, I'll post again when I get the car back and let you guys know if they fixed it.

You answered my question already about going to another dealer. Maybe look at an independent mechanic for the regular servicing in future. Unfortunately that doesn’t help your current problems.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Update!

The dealership called me on Friday afternoon, the technician checked torque on every bolt in the sunroof assembly and found one on the passenger side rail that was very loose. I just got done taking her for a spin and it's quiet as a church in there now. They're putting the last bit of it back together and I'm taking the car home today after a month in the shop. It's going to have to come back in a week or so for replacement door trim (they were already starting to fade, but sitting in the dealer parking lot with the sun beating down, the driver's side pieces are literally bleached white ). They also still have to change the drip rails, although as soon as that's done I'm thinking of just taking it to a wrap shop to black out the roof with vinyl...

I'm just crossing my fingers that this fixes my problem for good!

 

[SoCalSHO]

Can you get a photo of your door trim? That is unbelieveable! Hope your rattle is gone though.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Yeah, check it out, one piece is almost bleached white. It's hard to tell because the car is a bit dirty today but the rest have this to a lesser extent as well.

Rattle is still gone, door trim is on order and they're replacing it under warranty so no big deal.

After this I'm getting the exterior detailed, wrapping the roof black and ceramic coating the whole thing, hopefully that puts an end to all the crazy weathering on trim pieces for the foreseeable future...

 

[SoCalSHO]

Thanks for the photo. For some reason, I was picturing interior door trim.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Thanks for the photo. For some reason, I was picturing interior door trim.

Re-reading it I can see why! Easy mistake to make, seeing as I didn't provide much context.

 

[Dodger Blue]

The rattle is back, just as loud as ever. That was quick

 

[MerlintheMad]

The rattle is back, just as loud as ever. That was quick

All I can offer to help you feel better is a shot of December.

 

[Marc Collins]

The rattle is back, just as loud as ever. That was quick

As I have posted repeatedly, the problem is in the sunroof and it is likely the metal frame of the sunroof interacting with the metal body of the car. Doesn't matter whether you tighten bolts down, as that could even make the friction (wherever there is even the slightest movement or torsion in the car's body, which is effectively as soon as you start moving) worse. This is highly exacerbated by contraction-expansion cycles when the roof is exposed to the hot sun or whenever being in the sun creates a large temperature differential. There may also be issues with the glass itself, but it sure seems like the metal-to-metal contact from everything I have read on here and from performing my own partial solution.

 

[Dodger Blue]

As I have posted repeatedly, the problem is in the sunroof and it is likely the metal frame of the sunroof interacting with the metal body of the car. Doesn't matter whether you tighten bolts down, as that could even make the friction (wherever there is even the slightest movement or torsion in the car's body, which is effectively as soon as you start moving) worse. This is highly exacerbated by contraction-expansion cycles when the roof is exposed to the hot sun or whenever being in the sun creates a large temperature differential. There may also be issues with the glass itself, but it sure seems like the metal-to-metal contact from everything I have read on here and from performing my own partial solution.

At 3 years and 41 pages this thread is a daunting read, especially since most of it is speculation. Maybe we need a 1st post edited with a compilation of the latest and greatest information. I've seen that done very successfully on other forums. Some form of curation would undoubtedly help people here for a very long time, as I bet this will always be an issue on this car.

 

[smmrfld]

At 3 years and 41 pages this thread is a daunting read, especially since most of it is speculation. Maybe we need a 1st post edited with a compilation of the latest and greatest information. I've seen that done very successfully on other forums. Some form of curation would undoubtedly help people here for a very long time, as I bet this will always be an issue on this car.

Not worth the time, IMO. I've talked with a very knowledgeable and honest dealership service manager, and the answer is simple. They don’t know what’s causing it, don’t have a fix, and don’t know when/if they ever will.

 

[Nasscar]

Not worth the time, IMO. I've talked with a very knowledgeable and honest dealership service manager, and the answer is simple. They don’t know what’s causing it, don’t have a fix, and don’t know when/if they ever will.

With all the problems mentioned on this thread, this is very likely true.