ok so i've had my tC since end of march and i just noticed that the roof rattles... but it only rattles when the sunroof is opened slightly not all the way. you know how it opens the back up first then slides open. it only rattles very noticeably when it is only open in the back. when it's fully opened i do not really heart any rattles.

is this the tsb or is this something else? it hought the roof rattle issue was that it rattled always not when it's in a certain position?

 

I think yours is having the same problem mine is... which I believe is the same problems as a lot of people are having.

If you open the sunroof ALL THE WAY and get out of the car, you'll notice that there are two little stilt things that push the little glass air dam above the windshield up. If you grab on to one of those stilts with your fingers and rattle it back and forth you'll hear a creeking sound.

If you notice, there was at one time some grease or something where the stilt meets the glass spoiler. All of mine looks like it's cracked and has come out. The stilt is attached to the spoiler with a plastic pin with a C clip on one end of it. The silt itself, the plastic pin, and the part where it attaches to the spoiler are all made of plastic. This makes for a nasty rattle that you can hear when the sunroof is closed or tilted up, but can't hear as much when it's it's in the full back position.

The sound can be really weird too... at first I thought it was coming from my passengers side door, but when I drove and had someone else move around inside the car I found out that wasn't the case at all, and that it was actually coming from those two silts on both sides of the sunroof.

If you move them back and forth whith the sunroof open you can hear the noise... the noise gets louder when those stilts are under the closed glass roof and the sound is echoing around under there.

I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to fix it yet. You could easily pop those C clips off and grease everything up again, but that might only work for a little while. There's not enough room to get a small rubber grommet in there either - as was suggested to me by a friend.

I think I'm going to go to the hardware store tonight and find some good thick grease that won't dry up and see if that doesn't help at all.

 

FYI I fixed this 100% tonight... for FREE

Get a flat-head screwdriver and a pair of needle noise pliers... that's all you need.

I don't guarantee this will fix everyone's roof rattle, but if you're having the same symptoms that me and this dude were having, it's probably the ticket. The Toyota TSB says something about moving some bar out of the way and then tightening some torx screws... I did that and it didn't help at all. This way fixed my rattle 100% though and until I find a better and more permanant solution this one works good because it's 100% free.

Start off by turning the car on and then putting the sunroof back all the way. This way you can get to those stilts that push the little air damn spoiler thing up in the front of the car.

Look where the stilt attaches to the spoiler. If you look where it attaches - toward the center of the car on the INSIDE of the attachment mechanism there's an E clip (that's the correct term - it's shaped kinda like a C). You can use a screwdriver to pop this thing off. DO NOT LOSE IT. I went to the hardware store to see if they had any little rubber rings to put in (for a more perminant solution) and they didn't - I checked to see if they had any of these E clips and they didn't have those either, so DONT lose yours or you'll have a helluva time finding one to replace it.

After you pop that little E clip off of there put it in a safe place... then push on the little pin that the E clip was attached to. This pulls out toward the outside of the car. It's made of metal. Note the way you took this out cuz you'll have to put it in the same way. It's super easy when you do it yourself... trust me, it's not hard.

After you get this little pin out you'll think you're done, but you're not. Where the little pin went in, there's a plastic tube thing that attaches the arm to the spoiler. Pull this out the same way as you pulled the pin out. Again, the needle nose will come in handy here.

When you originally puchased your tC, this little plastic sleeve was covered in grease. For some reason they didn't use the same kind of grease as they did for the tracks in the sunroof... the grease they used on this thing dries up and cracks off and the rattle sound you hear is plastic on plastic. ANNOYING.

Look down in the sunroof track and find some grease in there. There was a TON of it in mine, so getting a little won't hurt. This grease, unlike the grease they used on this plastic thing, doesn't dry up. Coat the plastic thing generously with this white grease.

Before you reinstall it you'll want to whipe the old dry grease chunks off of that piece, the little arm stilt thing, and the part of the spoiler that it connects to. Remove all the crap. You can use a toothbrush, or if you're ghetto like me, just use your finger.

Re-install everything the reverse of how you uninstalled it. Another thing - it's a good idea to only do one side at a time because if you don't the spoiler will fall and it's kinda hard holding it up. I didn't actually do this myself but I imagine someone probably will on accident.

Here's a little diagram I made in MS Paint of the assembly. This is the drivers side. Excuse my ____ty paint skills please... I don't feel like plugging in the graphics tablet.

 

thanks im having this same problem. Took it to the dealer and they said they put some screw kit in and fixed it but pulling out of the dealer it began rattling when the sunroof was proped open. I will do this tomorrow.

 

This is going on the list of things to do , cuz this is one part that does make noises all the time . A majority of my squeeks and rattles comes from teh actual roof panel itself . What I have figured out is when the sunroof is in the popped up setting (wind deflector hasnt popped up yet) the glass will move side to side alittle bit and makes moaning and groanin noises . I am scheduled to do the TSB today so I will know more if and when I get my car back LOL

 

Thanks for instructions and diagram. About two months ago, I purchased wet lithium grease (spray not tube) and sprayed most screws and hinges and that took care of it. I still get the occasional pop. So you might be able to spray this area and not have to take any clips, etc. off.

Kevin

 

I wasn't taking any chances... I wanted to get the whole thing greased up really good. This has been driving me nuts to the point where I want to sell the car. I didn't expect something this annoying from a Toyota... although I should have seen the all glass roof as a problem before I bought the car. Sunroofs always have issues eventually. Always.

I did the screw trick from the TSB (Paid like $25 for one day of access at that Toyota site to download the TSB documents) and it didn't fix jack. The screws that they wanted me to tighten were already super tight. This method worked really well though... I drove around all last night and this morning and it's still goin strong. Even pulling in the drive-way at work at a crazy angle so I don't drag my front lip (our parking lot sucks) there were NO creaks from the front and that's where it's usually the worst.

Good luck guys! Let me know if this works for you guys and maybe we can get them to transfer this over to the FAQ section.

Now if I can only figure out what's happening in the back...

 

Yeah just got back from Toyota doing their TSB HA no chance didnt do nothing . Although lookin at the roof today in the garage I found something kidna interesting that might add to the noises and rattles we hear in our TC's . The second sunroof in the back by the rear dome light . the head liner around that seems to have some kinda of sticky 3M tape on it or something (cant see up in there) cuz when i was lightly tapping it , it kept makign a a noise , Now I dont know if road vibration and so forth would cause this to make any additional noises but I am gonna to look into it further tonight . I am gonna do the stil thing and grease the whole damn sunroof up . One way or a damn or another I will have a quiet roof

 

"You can use a toothbrush, or if you're ghetto like me, just use your finger."
BEST QUOTE

 

Well that didnt work , cleared up the creekin noises and stuff from the deflector so thats a plus LOL . Now to figure out the rest of it LOL . UPDATE . I used lithium grease and hosed the damn thing down . At first it didnt make any difference but after I had opened the roof a few times and worked it back and forth the creekin noise coming from teh roof itself (not the deflector) has been greatly reduced if not solved . The part that I greased I think that had the biggest effect , this was the noises I got when the roof was tilted up (position before it slides back) . If you open the roof fully and standing behind the car lookin at the roof you will notice two rails on the actual glass part of the roof that moves . I greased the outside tracks but I also applied grease to the inside part . The inside part doesnt have a track but it has grease on it from the factory so I figured what the hell I will shoot that as well . And boom no more creaking when its opened , nice a quiet for now LOL

 

Haha thanks

Those tracks on mine are greased like MAD already. That's where I stole some of the grease for the process I mentioned above.

 

there's also a lot of that white grease on the tracks under the front two seats. i found that out by surprise one day when reaching for something that fell down there. yuck.

 

Four times to the dealer.
1. TSB nut fix- fixed the occassional pop sound, but replaced with a CONSTANT rattle
2. Underlayment for side rails. Nada.
3. I dunno what they did but it didn't work.
4. Entire roof assembly replacement. Worked for a week.

5. Monday to the body shop, because they scratched my passenger door during the last repair.

There will be no six unless they're giving me a new car. I'm looking for alternate solutions, not just greasing stuff up every two weeks.

 

get yourself a piece of sheet metal, take that glass out and just weld it in....just one more trip to the body shop then you are done