When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Figured it was time for a bit of maintenance on my sunroof as I use it every time I drive the GX (a perk of living in the south). Whoever owned it before me drove on dirt roads a lot so there was a lot of dust and dirt in the rails.
Here is what I did:
Open sunroof all the way, past the initial stop. Take a microfiber towel and some quick detailer and get the insides of the body. This area is the left and right side as well as the front portion where the air deflector is. You can also get the back side, but it is a really thin section of the roof and shouldn't be too bad.
Clean the forward drains. If you look at either front corner by the spring for the deflector, you'll see a hole, these are the drains that run down to your running boards. I used about a 6' piece of HD weed-eater line and just fed it down. I didn't feel any obstructions or anything, which is good. Pull the weed-eater line out and test the drain now. I took a regular bottle of water and used a razor to cut a slash in the cap, then I used the bottle to spray some water near the hole in a controlled fashion. Both sides drained as they should. I believe we have rear drains also, but I only focused on the fronts.
The rails were pretty dirty. I used a brush that I sprayed with a light mist of Simple Green and agitated the rails. I then used a microfiber towel to wipe them down.
I wanted to re-grease the rails, so I used a can of white lithium grease as recommended by a Google search which turned up a 4Runner article. Didn't use an excessive amount. I also gave a light coat to both of the springs for the deflector panel.
For the seal, you can only access about 90% of it. From the open position, I got the front portion. I used a microfiber towel with 303 Aerospace Protectant and wiped it down several times. I then closed the sunroof and put it in the TILT position and got the rest of the seal that I was able to get. It was pretty gross and I will be treating the seal with 303 on a monthly basis from now on.
Finally, I ran the sunroof through both stages of operation several times. It's really not any smoother or anything, but I figured it was a good maintenance item to address.
I didn't take any pictures but all of this is self explanatory. If there are any questions, I can take pictures as needed. I need to look in the factory manual and see if there are rear drains. If so, I will address them and then update this DIY article. If you have 303 Aerospace Protectant, it's also great on all of your weatherstripping and seals. I treat all of mine on a monthly basis. Good stuff!
Last edited by Romanova; Dec 13, 2019 at 07:41 AM.
I think the rear drains might not be accessible without dropping the headliner
EDIT: Looks like back at end of tracks for rear drains but keeping things cleaner up front should help. I wonder if introducing some kind of cleaner....not sure what and how that would be done for rear drains could be performed?
I ran some straight windshield washer fluid through my drains today. I try to do this a couple times a year.
This time I used this syringe and it made process a lot cleaner/easier. Tubing easily fits in the sunroof drain holes. I just fill up by pulling the plunger out and filling from that end.
Are there are "baffles" in the exit nozzles which would prevent a length of trimmer line from being pushed all the way through from the top (front drains)? Same question for the rear drains, except the trimmer line would be pushed up from the exit to the top.
Are there are "baffles" in the exit nozzles which would prevent a length of trimmer line from being pushed all the way through from the top (front drains)? Same question for the rear drains, except the trimmer line would be pushed up from the exit to the top.
From what I have read, there are no baffles.
Have you been able to locate the rear drain exits?
Drain is that orange/red grommet.. not really practical to get at on passenger side unless you removed the bumper cover. On driver side perhaps you could disconnect at point in the jack area. Internally they are the blue hoses in pictures above.
Not sure if simply location in front and debris congregates there but rear drain blocks are not really heard of. Perhaps it is because the drain lines seem to be a lot bigger too.
Check your drains! We are getting torrential rain and I saw water coming in on the passenger side, down the A-trim panel, and on the floor. Pulled over into a covered parking spot, opened the sunroof, and there was some leafy material that was clogging the drain.
Dried up the inside as best I could, ran the heat with the AC on for awhile, and ordered some Damp Rid...
Highly Recommend. Had mine at the dealership for some work a couple years ago and it stalled in the car wash. They said the sun roof drainage was clogged and water got into the fuse box under the passenger seat. They asked if I park outside maybe under a tree - which I do. Apparently water entry of this sort is NOT covered under warranty AND it could be grounds to reject warranty repairs in the future. Since it happened under their watch they cleaned the sun roof and drains and dried and double checked everything before giving it back to me but kept it 'off the books'. Sort of lucky it happened when it did. So highly recommend checking in there every now and then.
DIY: #Sunroof #maintenance.
