Have a rattle in my sun roof and trying to diagnose.

- Occurs when roof is closed
- I can 'knock' it with my hand and it will stop for a short time.
- rattle does not occur when I open the sun roof (in either direction)

I'm assuming there is something lose, and hoping someone has had a similar scenario and can point me in a direction or two.

 

I wish you good luck. Mine has rattled for several years. Dealer had at it three different times, indie once. Dealer's guy stuck some felt tape here and there, replaced some clips on the drain pipes. Indie replaced clips also. It clatters over bumps like I have a sheet of plywood lashed to the roof, and other times just makes a light rattle which I can stop by pressing up on the rib (bow) directly behind the sunroof. Makes no dif if it's open or shut. I have applied the anti-rattle technique I learned years ago with American cars: turn up the stereo. Again, best of luck, maybe your issue has a more discoverable source and a straightforward fix. Would be glad for any info if and when you get it resolved.

 

I just tore apart my headliner to repair my sunroof track. I had a rattle similar to what you describe as well. As Ben says, there are many causes. Here's the source of my rattle, broken on both sides. This piece is under the headliner left and right of the control switch, part numbers 997.555.690.02 and 997.555.689.02. You can get access without removing the whole headliner. Remove both a-pillar trims, visors and dome switch. Then pull back the front piece of the headliner.

 

I too have a rattle that I've wanted to fix for awhile. Is the headliner not glued? I figured to fix the rattle that I'd need unglue and reglue the headliner.

 

Headliner is not glued in. Here's the removal procedure. For my broken pieces shown above I could have skipped the c-pillar trim removal and stopped at the first step on page 3096 (5th page in).

 

Have the same rattle, been driving me crazy. I'll try this!

On a side note... when I drive over un-even surfaces slowly the whole roof creaks, is that normal?

 

I have 2 questions - how difficult it was to put this headliner back on after you removed it? And, did any of clips of fasteners brake during this procedure?

I wanted to pull down mine for a while now but I am afraid I will not be able to put all that fabric back alone and make it look as even and nice as it is now. I think this rattle around sunroof is a common problem with 997 cars. mine sometimes appears but seems to go away after a moderate smack into that general area.

 

I'll let you know after I reinstall the sunroof frame. Parts aren't due until late next week. Nothing broke during the removal process though. The only catch was with the removal of my sunroof frame itself. It really required two people to remove it so that the seats did not get scratched. Had nothing to do with the headliner though. The headliner complete removal was pretty straight forward. Just lots of interior trim pieces removed along the way (a/b/c-pillars, rear sides, back, etc.)

 

My rattle is definitely in the sun roof assembly. I can knock the sun roof panel or apply pressure to it and it will stop, as well as open the roof.

Anyone dis-assemble the sun roof panel or assembly?

 

On a side note... when I drive over un-even surfaces slowly the whole roof creaks, is that normal?[/QUOTE]

I have had a number of creaky cars. I often lube up the rubber roof, door seals. I use tire dressing. Makes them black and shinny. It often takes care of funny noises.
In reading the above pdf instructions for liner removal. Remove key from ignition. Important, I agree. To me, anything near an air bag, I disconnect the battery as an added, just me, precaution. And lots of light.
And Beers after the job.

 

I am in the middle of disassembly of the headliner etc to track down the noise. How did you get the plastic headliner frame out of the sunroof cutout without breaking it? Thanks

 

I had a horrible rattle on the driver side which started suddenly after buying the car and driving it for two weeks. After dissasembling most of the headliner and looking closer the forward screw that holds the sunroof over the driver was loose! Tightened it and "voila" rattle is gone!
Man, I'm happy it was nothing else!

 

Not sure which part you mean. Can you post a photo? And this is the 997.1 2005-06 Porsche Workshop Manual I use frequently, search for sunroof and headliner: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...t=folder%2cpdf

 

Semi-
Late 2005 Carrera. Yes I'm using that manual, it says to pull the middle of the sunroof frame back and downwards and this provides enough room at the forward corners to pop them free then slide the whole frame forward and down. This is after the headliner is disconnected everywhere and the frame is the last thing to remove. The frame I am talking about has the headliner bonded to it.
I haven't tried it yet but it looks fairly sturdy. How did you do it? Pic attached. Thanks

 

The cutout trim is plastic and glued to the headliner. It's flexible.
1. First make sure the headliner fabric is not stuck to the metal roof
2. Then gently flex the long side of the plastic cutout trim near the windshield, flexing it towards you, bending it slightly.
3. You can then pop the two corners free shown in the arrows above and lower the entire fabric headliner with the plastic trim attached.

See these photos