This is a long one, boys and girls...
In my opinion, the resolution is not 100% conclusive.
@westcoastGT had his frame (or rails, or both) replaced and he is tickled pink with the result, less the dealer inflicted cosmetic damage to the car which is being repaired. I sent PMs to other members who were slated for that repair and the one that did respond said her rails were replaced and it did not fix the problem. Changing out the rails or frame, in my opinion, may or may not actually fix the issue. My current approach is incremental diagnostic on my own to see if I can pinpoint the issue and then show the dealer because I'm a little more gentle on my car than most techs are. I would *like* the remedy to be added padding, felt or something like that rather than a rail or frame swap since this could potentially cause other issues with such an invasive repair. I feel a little better knowing the dealer (although whom I do not fully trust) did leave this option on the table at my discretion.
Noises can be caused by any of the thousands of parts in our cars, but here is a list of my observations of the issue and all of you can look it over and determine if it sounds like your problem is "the same."
- Noise sounds like glass/metal popping over road imperfections. It's not always bumps that cause the noise to occur, sometimes just simple tiny cracks or dips in the roads that cause the chassis to twist but do not otherwise cause "impact" like a bump does.
- The noise occurs with the sunshade open and the glass closed, or the glass parked in the front position while vented/tilted only, not slid back.
- The noise is substantially reduced or seemingly gone with the sunshade closed
- The noise seems to be completely gone when the glass is slid backwards, even just an inch or two from the front-most "parked" position.
- You can replicate a popping sound with the sunroof parked and "tilted/vented" by pushing up on the glass/metal frame around the glass near the front of the sunroof. Mine does this primarily on the right hand side, almost never from the left.
That's about as far as noise related diagnostics have gone. I've also snugged up all bolts that I have access to without dropping the headliner and I've generously lubricated the seals numerous times.
As for operation and reverse engineering, so far I have observed how the sunroof operates to a certain degree.
- I can't see how the tilt function works due to obstructions in the design
- The sliding operation has the glass running in a track where each side has "nubs" for a lack of better term that run inside the rails. The glass slides in these rails, it is straight when sliding front to back and vice versa. When the glass is near the "park" position when closing, the tracks angle down and this is where you see the glass "raise up" when you are commanding it to move from the "park/tilted" position to slide back. There is something about this area that is causing the noise for me since it doesn't exist when it is in the straight section. It could be the "guides" you see on the upper part of the 45 degree downslope. It could also be the indentation that is above the guide where you can see a good amount of lithium grease, I see a protrusion on the glass part of the sunroof that looks like it "parks" in that area when you have the glass all the way forward, probably a "stop" to keep the sunroof from moving too far down when going down the 45 degree downslope. I tried moving those guides around since they look like a piece that could be causing noise, but I can't get them to make any noise by hand.
Any ideas? Here are pictures of the area where the sunroof parks near the front, and a video to show a replication of the noise (or sure sounds like it) when pressing up against the sunroof when it is in the tilt position.
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