Targa Roof Noise
 

Ok, I'll bite...so what's the fix?

Here's my cure for 99% of the Targa roof rattles & squeaks. Looks complicated. Isn't. My roof has been absolutely silent for a year since this fix.
You'll need two products: McLube spray (aka SailKote) and McLube One Drop oil. They're available in the marine market, and from various online sources. I've used them both a lot on boats.
1) Cover your seats - cheap insurance. Retract the glass top. Open the Targa hatch as well. If there is dust or dirt inside the roof or the hatch sills, vacuum it out. Get the remainder with detailers spray and a rag.
2) Clean excess gunk from ALL bits inside the rails of the track with a Q-tip. I didn't use cleaner or solvent. Wouldn't recommend it. Look hard. Find every bit of the track you can, from the top, from inside. To get to the aft track bits, retract the roof a small amount. Be sure to get in (as best you can) to the diffusers/seals both fore and aft of the glass top. The rear is especially tough, barely possible.
3) Do the same for all moving parts of the hatch hinges and the lock flange. The hinge mechanism is pretty complex. Actually quite cool.
4) Use the McLube oil on a Q-tip, to coat the tracks (not the sills, the black track / rails). Coat the hatch hinges and the flange too. You don't need a lot of oil, just coat the surface. Excess just attracts dust. Again look hard at the track. Find & lube every bit you can - from inside & out, partially & fully retracted roof.
5) Cycle the roof and the hatch. Repeat the lube process.
6) For the moving bits of the diffusers/seals you can't reach, use the McLube spray with the red tube extension. Both diffuser pieces have hinges. I think that the rear diffuser/seal (between the roof and the hatch) is the source of 90% of the problems. So look closely - anywhere that hard plastic sits against a solid piece of the roof.
Do not use the McLube spray on soft seals, just on hard surfaces. Use 303 Aerospace Protectant on the 'weatherstripping'.
The McLube spray dries clean. It will not attract dust and grime. It's possible that the McLube spray would do the whole job. No need for the oil. I'd consider trying that if your car is in a dusty environment. But since Porsche used a more viscous product, I use the McLube bearing oil.

Total time? Maybe 20 minutes
Result? - Silence. No issues.
Oh and don't wear jeans. You'll be leaning over the car a lot, easy to scratch your paint.

Honestly most dealers don't know how to deal with this problem. They know how to align the roof, but...

Tom

Nice write up, thank you.

The write up is long. The process isn't.
WTH, a good cleaning / detail of the interior takes more time.
It really should be considered just a routine maintenance item.

Can you point things out on a wire diagram of the roof of the car?
The terminology may be obvious to you, but not that meaningful to others (hard surfaces, soft seals, weather stripping, flange, tracks, sills, rails, etc).
(of someone has the maintenance manual image that would be a good thing to mark up with where to clean, where to apply and not apply which of the products.

I also used the above write up to cure my squeaks and rattles (thank you Tom). I used mostly the spray and probably went a little overboard. No problems since.

Alternative procedure
 

Sorry but I don't have a wiring diagram of the mechanism.
Try this if the original write up isn't clear.
(1) Open the rear hatch, retract the glass roof.
(2) Look closely at both mechanisms (the roof and the back hatch). Any hinge, sliding mechanism, anything that moves is a potential source of noise. Any place where parts butt up against each other to 'seat' when they're shut, is a possible location of a rattle. Make sure it's all clean - free of dirt and jelly-like, thick lubricant.
(3) Wipe any soft, squishy, rubber-like black seals (any material like your door seals) with 303 Aerospace Protectant. Do not spray these with the McLube Spray.
(4) Lube all of the parts (all of the hinges etc), where metal moves / slides against metal, with McLube spray. Move the part and do it again. This is no different from how you'd fix a squeal in your car door hinge.
(5) Next, lubricate the hard black plastic track that the Targa top rides on. Spray it with McLube. Cycle it. Spray it again.
(6) Now look carefully at the hard black plastic diffuser at the front of the roof opening. Spray the hinges and spray it where the Targa roof seats against it.
(7) Do the same for the the hard plastic thing (flange) that seats against the rear portion of the Targa roof. This is easiest to do when the roof is retracted a small amount.

This is all much easier and more intuitive than it seems.
Clean it all. Look very closely. If it moves, spray it. If it's hard black plastic, spray it. If it's squishy soft rubber, 303 it. Simple.

I found this thread very helpful, as well as another by MFrank (https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...tle-fixed.html ) and a later one which refers to this one (https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...s-noise-2.html ). For me, the McLube treatment alone didn't do much, but when I added the 303 Aerospace Protectant it did. Not yet as good as it could be though.

And I also had trouble understanding some of the terminology. I don't have a wiring diagram or maintenance manual. But I do have a Targa and a smart phone. So here are some pictures: Maybe someone could point out where to McLube, where to use 303, where to do nothing, and where to put the Velco (as mentioned in one of the other threads), or replace the springs.

(As you'll notice, my Targa is a 996. I'm assuming there is little difference in the roof mechanisms.)

Hmm, I can't upload the pictures for some reason. Strange, it's worked before. I'll finish this post and try again ...

OK, getting more than a little annoying now - I open the insert image window, browse, select the image, and it then counts up to 100% - but then it's time to hit the "inset" button, and nothing happens :-(

(Using a different browser helped :-) )
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...08529a592f.jpg


The big picture


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ca6b906e98.png


Regarding part K, I wasn't sure where to put velcro. I thought maybe here. And I thought that instead of something as thick as velcro, I'd start with masking tape. Not sure it made any difference. And it fell off on the other side (as in the next photo).


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5fc76834d4.png


This is with the front spoiler/wind deflector held half way down


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4ab2747d80.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...052d3368f5.jpg


This is looking backwards with the roof half open.

And now the rear hatch:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3038341b9f.jpg


The big picture


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ee76766c22.png


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ac0998e283.png

Thanks for the pics!!

AWESOME! Now that is what I call excellent documentation.

Now to compile what substance gets applied to which letter spot...

I see a roof job in my summer future.

One interesting discovery: In my 5th picture ("... looking backwards ..."), below the rubber(y) strip that surrounds the targa roof, you can see what looks like a black metal frame that surrounds the targa roof. In fact, it continues around all four sides. But it turns out, it isn't metal. Well, not entirely. On top of the metal, there is paint (obviously). But less obviously, on top of the paint there is a thin plastic film. (It's what I imagine a protective car wrap is like, though I have no first hand experience with such films.)

It's definitely hard, and I assumed it's metal, and the Targa roof fits tight against it, so I McLubed it. But given that it has a plastic coating, might there be an even better product to use?

Is aligning the roof at all helpful / part of the solution?

(The McLube/303 treatment made a big difference, but it's not a total cure, and I'll visit the local dealer soon for a different reason, so I'm wondering if it's worth asking them to align the roof.)

Thanks!