While its certainly worth a try the TSB may not solve your problem. It did not solve mine. I mentioned in a weight reduction thread that I'm threatening to pull the sunroof entirely and sheetmetal the hole closed. While it will certainly will reduce the weight I would not do it for weight reduction, but I might do it just to get rid of that darn sound.

 

felt doesn't do anything. In fact it may have compounded the problem IMHO. I now have the issue of the sunroof sliding cover creeping back 1/2 and making more noise referenced earlier. Now the problem moved from the rear corner over the passenger to directly over my head. I am going to tear out the plastic molding and pull the felt and try something else - like weatherstripping or something. Will post if it makes ANY difference. Driving me crazy

 

Here's the actual TSB:

Moonroof - Creak Noise Reduction
BODY
BO004-99

See the 2 following Adobe PDF files.

 

Second page of the moonroof TSB creak.

 

Anyone else have any more ideas to this moonroof rattle issue as of late? After fixing my really annoying glovebox rattle a few months back (thanks to an extensive DIY post from Blanco, and also by adding some extra felt to the inner glovebox plastic surround edges that touch the actual dash), I thought it might be time to figure out the elusive sunroof rattle before the spring comes.

Issue #1: My sunroof will occasionally rattle whenever the sunshade cover is not fully closed. This is sunshade related, and it appears others have "fixed" this issue by getting a new one from the dealer or having the dealer service something (maybe they did the above TSB on the plastic garnishes?)--anyone that had it repaired at the dealer, want to look on their invoices to verify what was done/replaced? My '99 is out of warranty, so I'd like ot see if there is a fix for this that someone may have devised by now (or something that I can do, other than the TSB).

Issue #2: When I open up the sunroof and then close it fully, it sometimes will rattle afterwards (even when the sunshade cover is fully closed). The rattle sounds kind of like a loose cable or wiring hitting parts of the sunroof support structure. But then, if I don't use my sunroof for say 2 days, the sound disappears. It almost seems like it's coming from the rear part of the sunroof and maybe even behind it in the headliner. Any ideas to deaden this sound?

Other than that, the car is about as quiet as it can get (with a very minor, almost imperceptible occasional buzzing sound from the front headliner (but that sound disappears when I rotate the sun visor slightly down; and I can only hear it if my radio is off). Of course, the sunroof rattling is the big probelm right now (well I could just not use it and I wouldn't have to worry about it--but it's the idea of having a workable, non-rattling sunroof that's the issue. . .)

Also, following will be a couple more PDF files: One is for the parts of the moonroof, and the other, how to take off the plastic sliding roof garnishes that the previous TSB (#BO0004-99) refers to.

 

See page 77 (step 7), and you'll see that the plastic garnishes are held via some plastic clips--looks like they just pop out (might need to be replaced if damaged upon removal). You do NOT need to remove anything else to get the 4 plastic garnishes off, so just use the PDF pages as a guide.

If I figure something out that reduces the noise, I'll post more info.

But if anyone has anything that can hep, please post your comments--thanks!

 

same thing here!!!

i have to drive with mine half way closed to get it to be quiet. all the way closed or all the way open it makes the dreaded noise.

 

After much hair pulling and frustration, I finally asked the dealer to replace all of the plastic liner pieces and clips with new ones and it resolved the problem. Apparently, anyone who has had the liner removed to try to fix the issue, then put back together using the original parts, results in the click/rattle coming from (in my case) the rear passenger side of the sunroof.

I found this out after I took it in the first time and got it back only to have it rattle worse than before. Now that they have replaced all of the plastic parts with new, and they have been clipped only once (versus clipped, unclipped, reclipped, etc.) they fit tightly. They did not even have to use the felt liner like the first time around.

Mine was all under warranty, so it was easy to ask for...hope this helps.

 

When driving on somewhat rough roads, I hear a rattling sound if the liner is fully closed. I reported this to my dealer but the service rep couldn't hear hear the noise. So I just leave the liner partly close which elimates the rattle.

 

OK guys, I believe there's actually 2 issues here that we're mixing up.

1) The issue in the TSB is about the sun roof framing/casing. I believe this was an issue with '98s and some '99s.

2) The issue that many others here have complained about is with the sun roof sliding 'cover'. After driving a little the cover pops back about 1/2" out of its fully closed position and is basically shaking up and down as the car goes over imperfections in the road. The shaking of the cover is what makes the VERY ANNOYING ticking sound right near your right ear!

My car being a 2000 didn't have #1, but I did have #2. For a while I tried a 'fix' since the dealer didn't address the problem - I put a tiny piece of velcro on the leading edge of the cover. This actually worked, although wasn't totally hidden no matter how discretely I placed it. Eventually I nagged the dealer to really fix it and they replaced some parts (I don't know what). Problem was solved.

 

All right, I talked to the Lexus techs that fixed her white '99 GS400's moonroof noise (sounds like ticking and some creaking), and he mentioned that they just ordered the 4 black plastic garnish covers that frames the outer edges of the moonroof. They heavily felted the insides of the NEW garnishes (like the above TSB that I posted mentions)and just replaced the old ones. I guess removing the old garnishes and trying to felt it doesn't work so great, hence why they just ordered new ones.

I guess this is my next recourse to fix my black GS400's sunroof creak noise (good thing it's only heard on semi-rough roads). . .

 

SeattleGS and others:

I had the TSB performed on my sunroof last week. Long and short, the popping noise has gone away, but now there is more of a creaking noise. To make matters worse, the wind noise (when closed) is absolutely unbearable. For some reason, the sunroof isn't sitting flush the way it used to. Had I known that wind noise was going to be a problem, I wouldn't have even had the procedure done. Is there something about the TSB that would cause the sunroof to not fit correctly? I didn't think the TSB required removal of the sunroof. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

ditto that i thought i was going cwazy

 

From what I've been told, they should not have even touched the sunroof. If they put it out of alignment (which sounds like your issue), I'd have them realign it. Wind noise is something you shouldn't have to put up with.

 

mine pops too...i thought i was crazy...till i heard others have the same issue