Rusty Sunroof

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

Hi Guys

Took my 2003 Grande to Toyota today as I noticed my sunroof had a rust hole in it.. We all missed it before I bought it, only noticed it a week ago when I openned it during the day.

What a pain its turning out to be, one of the service guys looked at it, he had no idea about the 5yr perforation protection. He spoke to the Warrenty clarke, I then had to take it to their approved Panel beater. After they get his report they will need to take photos, and send them off to Toyota.

I suggested taking photos whilst I was there, save another trip. No they need the report first, as only covered if factory fault. Apparently photos are expensive today, unlike Diesel!!!!

Got to the Panel shop, he couldn't understand why I was there as it could be fixed at Toyota, as all it needs is a new seal and underskirt, not a panel shop. I filled him in on the story, he said there is no doubt its a factory issue.

So now I have to make the trek back to toyota for photos, I will ring toyota and see if I can email them the photos, but I don't like my chances.

Has any one else heard of this problem, the water has leaked through the seal and rusted through the black steel trim.

I will post some photos soon.

Matt

[jcas24 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close jcas24]

Get it fixed soon, I imagine your warranty is close to expiring, if not already. My 91' 4Runner never had this problem around the sunroof, but had some minor rust in the front quaters just behind the front wheels. Very odd on a 5yo car.

Goodluck.

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

Yeah the 5Yrs is up on the 20th of this month, I have shown them the problem before the expirery date, so now all I have to do is convince them to fix it!!!!

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Not a prado, but had problems with the RAV 4 were the sunroof leaked, was told by toyota that they had never seen this before, always first i said.
Anyhow replaced under warranty no issue, never leaked again. they raplced all of the seals and rubbers.

[Justo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo]

Yep I've heard of it, had the same on mine. Same deal I only noticed it a few days after buying it.! I had it fixed by a panel shop, they cut the rust out then used a rust treatment and bogged it up and applied a nice new coat of paint. They did have to remove the glass to do it though. I'm guessing the seal must've let a bit of moisture through and probably never got opened to give it the chance to dry out. I doubt it's a common problem and not a big deal to fix. $200 or maybe $300 from memory. I didn't even realise about the warranty, but sounds like I had less run around anyway.

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

Still haven't heard from Toyota, not that I expected it to be quick.

Here are the photos I sent them




Matt

[dazza09 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dazza09]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

hey waltec how did you go with getting toyota to fix this problem on sunroof, just found three rust spots on my 2005 grande?

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

Toyota, half came to the party!! They pay labour and half of the parts. The service guy quoted me $350 (I think from memory), then when I went to pick it up gave me a bill for over $600. They very quickly fixed that, there were a few customers there, so I think they were keen to get me out of there. That was after they told me they would need the car for 2 full days, I had a work trip to Townsville for 2days, but I had an early flight, so I dropped the keys off the day before, and told them I would leave the car on the road in front of the workshop. 2pm of the first day I get a call to ask when I was dropping the car off? Not happy Jan!!! Next day (Friday) at 10am I got a phone call to tell me the car was ready, when would I be picking it up??

The original work order had me leving the car on the road in the morning, and picking it up Sat morning.. Good old Toyota Can't read or count (2 Day job took less than a day to complete), I wonder it I was paying whether they would have charged me 2 days labour??

End of the day the sunroof was fixed and it only cost me $350, so not to bad.

Good luck, are you still within 5 yrs of the sale date?? If so make sure you push the corrision warrenty, if not try pushing the Statuatory warrenty. Never know your luck in the big city!!

[dazza09 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dazza09]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

toyota has come to the conclusion there is a problem taken photos and are investigating through warranty division, stay tuned to see how far they go in fixing sunroof

[Davey69 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Davey69]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

Just checked mine and it has same problem in same spot (03 Grande). Will argue with Toyota at next service.

[Davey69 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Davey69]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

Okay thought I'd take off the sunroof myself and fix the surface rust. As usual with many DIY jobs, things quickly turned to shike ops: If anyone is contemplating doing this repair themselves, be very careful - I stuffed mine so have to get a new item at $1,200.
The sunroof screws require a special 6 edged TX tool to undo, very straightforward, Autobarn sell them. Once off the car, the glass, rubber seal and metal frame are one bonded unit from the factory and according to a local sunroof repairman I telephoned, cannot be separated. I wire brushed the surface rust then applied kill rust, so far so good. While doing this I lifted the seal like in the above photos thinking I would use a narrow artist paintbrush to apply kill rust under the seal in the channel as well, preventative maintenance I thought. While forcing the seal up like in the photos above, the thin membrane that continues from the seal in one piece, and is bonded between the frame and glass, parted company. Its not repairable. You could maybe achieve a seal for a while by roughing it with some silicone if you want to risk interior water damage.
So if you apply a rust converter, stick to what you can see, don't force the seal up trying to get underneath it. Just apply it to the visible rust.
In my view, the rust will eventually happen on every Grande sunroof due to the design. When the sunroof is closed, the leading edge of the metal frame rests against 3 felt pads in the channel below the roofline. This channel is where the water that finds its way down the sides of the seal travels on its way to the drain pipes. The felt pads are porous and would take a long time to dry out, a perfect environment for rust to develop. It could be prevented by leaving the sunroof open a little in the garage whenever the car is exposed to moisture. Hope this saves someone some cash.

[dazza09 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dazza09]

Re: Rusty Sunroof

:evil: no luck with toyota they are saying not their prblem

toyota has come to the conclusion there is a problem taken photos and are investigating through warranty division, stay tuned to see how far they go in fixing sunroof

[ywork Member Find all posts View Profile Close ywork]

Prado 120 Grande Sun roof rusting

Hi,
I never use the sun roof on my prado and for some reason my son decided to open it this weekend. I was shocked when I saw the front glass housing was almost totally rusted away.
WTF...how can this be!! I never use this flipping thing and now it going to cost big $ to fix. Called Toyota, a replace is going to be around $3300 before labor.
So was wondering if anyone here has had the same issue, if so any suggestions? Think I may try some wreckers to see if I can find a used one. How much of an issue is it to replace the sun roof? Would think it’s a bugger of a job.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

Ywork..it's a very common problem but not so much in the 95 series as they were made out of alloy. Inc this one there a few threads on it. SteveM was the first to bring it to my attention donkeys back and often reiterates for wannabe Grande/VX Owners. Mine also is totally knackered and it's been garaged most of it's life. I got a quote years ago ( I think it was similar to yours) and got the usual spiel i.e never come across this before etc. Walked away laughing. I remember Kevdebbi got his replaced (look up his build) and it's not that hard to do yourself actually? The trick it to find another one from the breakers yard which is not in the same condition as ours.. maybe N.T Desert??? It catches loads of peeps as you can't see until you retract the moonroof. Amts has it on the buying a Prado 120 thread under Grande subtitle. It's in a similar vein the the Tojo Cracked Dash!

Wait for the next massive monster hailstorm and park the back end outside??

I may try and do mine one day myself, just can't get motivated enough ( as you cannot see it ..unless you look).

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Hi ywork, as macaroon1 said I recently went through this my self.

See my thread here http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...l=1#post466968

$3300 seems hugely overpriced, I was quoted around $700 from Toyota newcastle for the replacement glass and metal frame.