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I’m cleaning the sunroof mechanisms on an ’87 and an ’83. In both instances, the sealant that runs along the edge of the sunroof track needs replacing. (At least I think that stuff is/was sealant. . .)
On the ’83 it was black and gooey, almost like tar, and with several gaps in coverage.
On the ’87 it was white and brittle with some evidence that it was once fluid enough to slide down the side of the track such that much of the line was no longer straight.
What can/should this be replaced with?
The pic above is from the ’87. The track on the left shows evidence of the white sealant remains. (the one on the right is flipped over)
I cleaned off all evidence from the ’83 before thinking to take a picture.
Sorry about the picture quality. Thanks much for any help.
As I recall when I did my '88, there was a black tar-like sealant under the tracks that helped to seal the gap between them and the surface they were mounted to, likely for noise/wind control and/or water control.
The channel for the drive cable was lubricated with grease. If I read your pictures correctly, you have dried white grease in the drive channel. Your drive cables look to need some cleaning as well.
I cleaned and lubricated the cables and their channels, and ensured that they ran smoothly and easily when back together. I found enough of the sealant remaining on the mounting surface in a flexible form, that I remounted without replacing it. FWIW, if I had replaced it, I might have tried acoustic sealant (but that could get messy and run in heat) or silicone caulk.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. In this situation I didn't think the remaining sealant could be salvaged. The white material on the '87 had turned to brittle caulk-looking stuff and was coming off in dusty pieces as I removed the tracks.
I made a mistake with the '83 and soaked the tracks in the parts washer without thinking. By the time I took them out the black sealant was messy goo. You are correct about your observations on the earlier pic. It is from the '87 and those particular parts had not been cleaned up. Long hours at work this week and I was pretty gassed last night when I posted, so I was a little hurried in my documentation.
My main concern -- and my reason for posting -- was not knowing the function of the sealant. Is it a sealant? A squeak/rattle suppressor? Something else? I'm going to try 3M black weatherstrip adhesive tonight. Will post a caution for the archives if it proves to be an awful choice.
For those who are interested, several resources have been helpful in doing the R&R. There is more out there to be sure, but this is what I referenced most often.
The '87 had a bad warp in the drip tray that made it a little difficult to remove the sunroof.
Fixed now.
I also tried out a new ultrasonic cleaner on this project.
Put the two top pieces shown below in a baggie with simple green and dropped it into the ultrasonic (which was full of water). Let it heat for few minutes and then ran it for 10. Had to touch up 1 spot with an old toothbrush but otherwise it was all done, and easy. The bottom two I did shortly after the pic and got same results.
I'll use lithium grease on the cables and tubes. Still have some electrical bits to check on but I hope to be done with the mechanical stuff soon.
The '87 had a bad warp in the drip tray that made it a little difficult to remove the sunroof.
Fixed now.
...
I suspect the warped tray is the source of many reported sunroof leaks. Clearly it cannot function as intended to direct water entering the rear of the sunroof opening, when the roof is closed, to the sides. In my case, it was actually broken and a piece wedged behind the sunroof stopped it opening all the way.
04-01-2015, 09:11 PM
sunroof track sealant
