Just started happening today on my 1-year-old RX 350:

moonroof makes a slight "ratcheting" sound when I raise or lower it. (Roof slides open and closed perfectly.)

Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks.

 

Quick update: one day later and the moonroof is working fine.

I'm thinking the problem may have been the heavy rainstorm that came through Chicago yesterday. Doesn't make a huge amount of sense but it's the only thing I can think of.

 

Maybe something was caught in the track and was dislodged from opening and closing. At least the problem went away on its own. Thanks for the update.

 

Reading here about moon roof troubles, any one apply silicone spray on the rubber seals around your moon roof to soften the rubber seal for easy operation??

 

I condition gaskets on my doors, hatch, moonroof, (in the case of my convertible, it's hard top seals), and those under the hood with either Zymol Seal, 1Z Einzett Gummi Pfledge, or Griots Garage Vinyl & Rubber Conditioner. I've had no problems with whistles or other gasket/seal type of problems as a result since I started doing this probably in the late '90s -- except in my BMW that clearly had a defect and had a major top gasket replaced within the first 2 weeks I owned it.

I try not to use anything silicon-based on my rides, as it's just a big dust collector, not something that is attempting to restore or hydrate the rubber or sometimes synthetic material. I reserve silicon spray for my gararge door hinges and screw, as well as window runners around the house. The 3 products I have used on my cars/trucks all seem to do a good job -- the Seal product, while a lot more expensive and harder to find, has helped me at least twice on friends/family vehicles with "un-loved" gaskets that seemed to appreciate the love after a couple of treatments, by not being as hard, and more pliable than they were when I first saw them.