Well, to get rid of sunroof rattle and the occasional clunking noise I opted to replace my sunroof weather stripping. The car has 60k miles so the stripping was already bad. I got the new stripping from Lexus of Valencia for $64 OTD.

Been reading a lot of threads on this and even watched Bullet’s garage’s vid on the install.

What I opted not to do was remove the sunroof glass since many members here have been successful in replacing the rubber seal without having to remove the glass and run into the danger of stripping the torx screws holding it in place.

What a pain in the a**.....lol. I was expecting the new seal to “click” into place with the glass but you almost have to wiggle it around with a lot of pressure and after an hour of cursing and two sore thumbs from pushing the seal into the glass I’m finally 90% there.

Why 90%? Well it looks like the seal is tight on the glass and is locked in place....but when I close the sunroof it snags on one side.🤦🏼‍♂️

There was a time where the sunroof wouldn’t completely close but after time I could get it to close all the way but it keeps snagging on one corner and it pushes the seal up.

Anyone here do this before or have any experience with this install? My thumbs haven’t been this sore since my Nintendo days in the late 80s...lol.

 

Okay, I’m finally done...LOL. What a pain in the a**.

Because the seal was new it didn’t have any give so I had to ensure it was on tight on the glass then press the moonroof button little by little and any snags that started to appear I just pressed down with a door trim remover. But still making sure the seal was still tight with the glass and didn’t come off. Hopefully after being closed for a whole it “molds” into the opening.

fingers crossed I don’t get a leak.

surprised not many in here have experienced this. This happened on my ISF when it hit 60k as well. Lexus must be cheaping out on the weather seals across their whole model lineup. My wife’s Acura has close to 70k and her sunroof looks as good as new.

 

I cheated and used water on mine. Made it stupid easier to get the seal on.

 

What the hell man??!!...I could have used that advice two days ago LOL

 

OK, any time you are working with a rubber part against glass or metal, first try plain water. If that doesn't work, try soapy water. Glass won't care about soapy water at all, metal might trap some and corrode, so always try plain water on a rubber/metal interface first. This works great on exhaust hangers too.

 

So just an update. Went on a drive and it’s definitely quieter. Small to medium undulations on the road that would induce clunking on rattles are gone. I do notice that if the roads are really bad I still hear a little rattle. Owners with sunroof, do you still have this issue with really bad roads that you still might hear a slight clunk? I checked my seal and it’s tight!

 

Okay....I’m finding some of the rattle is coming from the sliding headliner. I notice that over really bad bumps on the road and it starts making noise, that I can stop the noise when I hold it up or stick my finger between the rear sliding panel and the headliner.

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I’m thinking of putting some felt in between the two sliding panels but doubt that’s enough.

 

Quit driving on crap roads....

My car make all kind of buzzes and rattles with the bushings I have, but they fade to insignificance when I rail a turn.

 

Thats a fair point...I do admit it’s nice and quiet 90% of the time. So Cal roads aren’t what they used to be.