So I was trying to replace my sunroof’s weather stripping due to the infamous rattle. The rear two Torx came off pretty easily, but the front two are held on extremely tight. So far, the two front Torx have been stripped pretty badly. Tried using an allen wrench, a T26 as a bigger head, and a rubber band over the head - no use. Any ideas on getting this screw out without damaging the assembly? It’s a really tight space so I’m not sure anything bigger than a torque wrench would get a good angle.

 

Do you have an angle grinder? Take a flat head screwdriver you don't like and shape it so it barely fits, hammer it on. A screw extractor kit would also work well in this situation. A hex driver might work if you happen to have one you can hammer on for a tight fit.

 

A Flat head might just work or a pentagon 5 sided screw driver. You could have been using the wrong size torx to begin with.

Worst case drill the head of the torx screw off.

 

Just don't remove the screw. I changed mine easily without unscrewing anything

 

What's the OD of the fastener thread? You could drill the head off with whatever the OD is (are they M6?) then use a smaller left-handed drill bit to extract it without having to hammer, grind, or chisel.

Are these historically loc-tited into place or are they just pains in the rear? I need to do the weatherstrip on mine also, so I will plan ahead if this is a known issue.

Counter-torque is your friend too when dealing with torx heads like those.

 

I believe they are M5 screws as someone mentioned in a previous forum. Use a T25 when taking them out.

In my case, the rear ones were a little tough in the beginning but once off they aren’t as tight when taking them off again. The threads didn’t have loc-tite on them. The rear has more height to work with, so if you run into trouble with them, it is much easier to get them out. I would also buy new screws just in case something happens.

https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/...159-50336.html

I bought screw extractors and will try in the next few days, but I’m afraid the drill won’t fit in the front for a straight impact.

 

Did you do this leaving it in a tilt position? How were you able to fit the seal on the sides where the roof is really tight with the glass?

 

I second this, no need to remove all the torx screws(I only removed the back 2 also as the other two were too tight and on the verge of stripping) there is enough play that you can remove and replace the seal by gently tilting the glass upwards even with 2 screws still in place. Put an old sock in the gap while you have it tilted to keep the clearance.

 

@damantou there are a few threads on doing it without removing the sunroof...I wouldn't try to mess with the torx screws especially now that they are stripped. I used a plastic pry tool to help squeeze in the new rubber into the tighter front sections with the sunroof tilted. See these additional posts/threads:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ml#post9958081

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...l#post10515046

 

My only advice here is dump the extractors for anything else and go with a milwaukee M12 90* drill with a 5mm left hand drill bit. I've seen too many "what do I do now that my extractor bit broke?!" threads and personal situations to trust them for anything serious.

I threw away my extractors about 8yrs ago. Every bolt I've had to pull since has been left-hand drilled, slotted and had a big flat head used, external "socket type" extractor, or a freshly sharpened pair of Knipex channel locks put on it. Oh, and make sure a quality tool is being used on anything japanese or to a DIN standard. They don't like loose tolerance stuff.

But if you can get away with not pulling the fastener out, then work around it. Chucking metal shavings in a leather interior is never ideal.

 

Wow, didn’t know it was that easy. I will definitely try this later, thanks!

 

I wouldn't come anywhere close to that glass with hammer. If he stripped the torx with torx bit, imagine what outcome with hammer will be.

 

/\ This is the way. Extract nothing. For what?

Why would anything else be a choice at this point at all? I did it in like 10-15. No screws removed at all.

 

I was able to replace the stripping without removing the Torx screws by following AJLex19's links. As the others said, the trim removal tool is very crucial in this procedure since the side pieces are going to really hard to press into space without it. I highly recommend buying the plastic ones so that it doesn't damage the stripping when pushing between the stripping and the roof. Thanks all.

 

Just manipulate its position using the motors, I used a little spray to lubricate the rubber.