I believe I figured out what is causing many of the sunroof rattles on the 03 4Runners. Mine started rattling a few weeks ago and was driving me nuts. At first I thought it was coming from slightly behind the sunroof as many of you had indicated. I had even gotten to the point that I was considering pulling the headliner down to figure it out.

Anyway I was out yesterday messing around with it again testing different positions of the sunroof (open, closed, tilted, etc..) when I tried something different. I tilted the sunroof up and put my hand in along the outer track and the back of the sunroof. Inside there I felt what appeared to be some sort of tube, when I pressed on this tube the rattle would disappear. So I opened the sunroof and looked at this outer track (it is the track closet to the outside edge) and sure enough there appears to be some kind of tube or rail that sits inside this channel.

Now remembering back to something I had read on someone else's post on this subject, they had taked their rig in to the dealer and dealer had indicated they lubed the tracks to fix the problem. I began stuffing this channel with some grease on both sides. Once complete I ran a few tests and low and behold the rattle was gone.

So hopefully this will help someone else not have to go through the aggrevation I have.

BTW, does any know why this tube or rail inside this track is designed that way. Does part of the mechanism slide down this? Anyone with the service manuals able to provide some insight?

 

Thats good to know.......

 

:cry:
I had mine to the dealer for the moonroof rattle and they said that they insulated the rails.... it lasted about 2 days and now it's back to rattle-city. Really @!$&@ me off! Spent a lot as the rest of you have....

 

If I get another Toyota, I'll be damned sure to get one WITHOUT sunroof! Don't know why they can't figure out how to build them quiet. Gotta say though, if that rattle is all that's wrong with you rig, that's still pretty good.. I guess.

 

I am sure glad that my sunroof is aftermarket. The dealer had a local company put it in. 4k miles and no rattle yet. My buddy who bought a limited says his rattles. I will try your idea out and see if it works. I will post the results.

 

I just got mine back on Saturday for a couple of rattles.

The service manager told me he found a rattle in the dash. Turns out it was the sunroof rails, so the sound was "telegraphing" to the front (I heard it, too, and would have sworn it was coming from the center of the dash).

The headliner TSBs that I'm aware of are NV011-02, NV003-03, and NV009-02 (Revised 2003-11-14).

 

The part of the rail that I was speaking about in my post is in the outward most point of the silver rail. If you open your sunroof and look down from the top you will see inside the outer most channel a metal tube (atleast it looks like that). If you touch it you will notice that it moves. This is what is causing the rattling on these sunroofs. If you pack this area with grease the rattling will go away. Now certainly this is not the ideal fix, but until someone finds out what exactly this part's purpose is, this fix will hopefully make people feel alittle better about their rig.

 

John (or anyone else),

Would you happen to have a digital version of the 03 headliner TSB's or know where I could find them?

Thanks,

 

Here's the site that I found it all.....

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr.../tsbsearch.cfm



OTHER STUFF: Like to get more info on your "real" Japanese model.... you may have some cool features that I'd like to research for upgrade/install (i.e. power folding mirrors)....

 

That site is free. You can also pay an annual fee to access the data at http://www.alldata.com

I've noticed, for example, that the NHTSA site doesn't seem to have the TSBs for our 1997 Camry. It lists them, but no files behind the search engine. May be that only the newest files are digital.

 

My sunroof has been rattling in my 03 4runner so I took it to the dealer yesterday. You guys are right, the fix is for them to pack the area with grease. Sounds like a wierd fix but whatever works.

 

Guys.... READ the TSB and print it for the stealership....

Grease isn't the "only" answer. Need to add felt strips in the channels etc....

I had mine in for the "fix" and it lasted an entire day before going back to rattleville...

 

has anyone got this rattle fixed to the point where it's completely gone for at least a month?

 

Atomicsmurf,

How do you read or copy the actual bulletin on that site? I found the headliner summary but they want like $39 to get a copy:cry: . I could not find where to just read it or copy it.

Yes, I have the power folding color coded mirrors, rear fog lights and probably a few other things not on the export model. The mirrors also have a feature where when you put the truck in reverse, the sideview mirrors automatically tilt down, then when you go to park or drive they go back to the original position. Toyota Japan has some of the accessories on their web site.

However, like the stateside models, my headliner has recently started to make a racket

 

Follow the prompts for the search, and the 2003 4Runner comes up with (currently) 20 items.

Scroll the list to find the one you want and click the button named "Document Search". A little window will pop up. If the electronic document is available for that item, it will be listed in the pop-up window. The files are all Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

Be aware that some items do not have a pdf file available for some reason.

 

Thanks, I found them.

I guess mine is the "Rear Headliner Rattle" and I was going to go to the dealer today and make an appointment for fixing it. I drove around for an hour and a half with the radio off and I NEVER heard it. once!

I know I'm not hearing things when I hear it but it appears to be intermittent and may only make the noise when the roof is cool .

 

Actually, on mine there were two noises. One was from the plastic trim on the sides, the other from the sliding cover where the right support rattled in the track.

One thing to note on the trim noise -- it telegraphed and sounded like it was coming from the dashboard. Took the dealership 2 weeks to diagnose it. At least they did it while I was out of town so it was convenient for all.

 

Any chance that mid-summer (when it's 100 degrees outside) that the grease will melt and make a mess of the headliner?

 

Pretty sure you're safe with that one. Use a good grease.

The operating temps of most good grease are good to about 400-500* F.

No melting there.