Aftermarket sunroof = no no

Well this past year with my cars sunroof has just gotten worse. I have tried so many different sealants and absolutly nothing has worked. Yesterday I pulled the clear silicone off the gasket and glass itself because i sealed it shut but want to be able to open it. Only to try regular black silicone and maybe i didn't put enough on or in the right spots, but low and behold it pours today and i ride home and got a nice shower after work weeee. And of course it had to be an aftermarket that was put in (this wasn't done by me it was already in the car) and it's total crap. Not sure what model it is but it's a special one made for grand am's and olds achieva's. So it's rather small actually, a 14x28 i believe. Anyways. Is there anything I can do because no one can seem to find a better gasket for it. Should i get a new one put in and have it probably leak again, or is there anything like real good to seal it and still open it (and any specific procedures to sealing it like using a certain thing to clean or prep it), or could I even take it to a body shop and have them just take it out and put like sheet metal or something and have a new peice welded on so i won't have to worry about the leaks. Someone pleeeeeeeeeease help me.

If it were my car i'd take it somewhere and get another aftermarket sun roof put in, find a place that stands behind their work & product, then if you have problems you just take it back to them. Should be alot cheaper then filling in the hole, paint, and a headliner.

oh and by the way, where is it leaking? Is the seal bad, or is it leaking between the roof and sunroof? If its the seal and its not torn you can usually put some vaseline on the seal to make it seal again (it softens the rubber seal).

If it were my car i'd take it somewhere and get another aftermarket sun roof put in, find a place that stands behind their work & product, then if you have problems you just take it back to them. Should be alot cheaper then filling in the hole, paint, and a headliner.

oh and by the way, where is it leaking? Is the seal bad, or is it leaking between the roof and sunroof? If its the seal and its not torn you can usually put some vaseline on the seal to make it seal again (it softens the rubber seal).


My uncle's Grand Prix GTP had a leaky rainroof as well. Heaven only knows why he wanted one in Seattle... But the place that put his rainroof in actually used the wrong size glass! It wasn't the seal...but once they figured it out they fixed it and now it's working just fine...maybe the installer just wanted a little more wiggle room to set the glass in and forgot to put more sealant on to make up for it...but all is well in rainy Seattle now

It was actually leaking right between the glass and rubber gasket. I had enough of it so i put more black silicone all alone it and put the glass back in, i doubt it will ever open again but maybe now that will work. Since I am getting financial aid because i am a student I think i'll take the car down to springfield which is about 45 minutes away i think and have a place down there do it. There is no one reliable close enough and the place that would do it won't give me a warranty. Besides i have to see if the place in springfield will take car of the bit of rust forming under the sunroof. Yes the headliner came down a little and i saw that. Not happy about that. I'm thinking maybe unprofessional installation would cause that? But it's not so bad that that would cause the sunroof to car roof seal to go bad just yet.

one thing that i did to seal the sunroof on my mustang was to remove the glass (if possible) and get weatherstripping... usually it is sticky on one side. then put it on the foam or rubber and then put the window back in... this will seal it up and be able to open it up still... i hope this helps its is rather cheap.

At my brothers shop we used to install sunroofs. he does all sorts of van conversions and the such. I would say 1 out of 2 sunroofs would leak especially if they were an inferior brand. 1 of the most common causes other then bad gaskets (actually just not good enough to seal) was cutting of to big a hole by just a little for the install. The gaskets through the months of cold and hot would shrink and get hard. Today there are much better materials and sunroofs but they HAVE to be installed just right (correctly) otherwise your gonna leak. They would usually be good for about a year or so and then slowly start dripping. So if you were gonna try to remedy it I would take it to a GOOD conversion place and ask them the questions and not skimp on what they recommend as a good product if it can be done at all. Remember as a buissnessman you don't want the same guy coming back every week bitching about his leaking sunroofs. We don't even do them anymore because most of them do suck and leak eventually ! I had a 85 Mustang GT with factory T-Tops what a friggin nightmare and new gaskets don't help at all. When it rains it pours---Chris

I too used to install sunroofs, and yes leaks are common, however if done right the potential for leaks are reduced. I can only suggest that you take it to a reputal pro or if you can't do that then start with a gasket replacement, but before you replace it take down the trim ring that is inside the car, while down you may be able to strech the headliner back in place, while you have the trim down I would remove the roof assembly by unscrewing the retainer ring and then I would remove all of the old sealer and replace it with a good quality sealer. then when you put the roof assembly back together make sure you tightenthe screws to obtain equal pull down pressure. This may be the cause of your problems now... you may want to take a look at the screws in the retainer ring if they are not pulled down equally then the main ring is torqued and the glass may not be sitting flush. Back to where I was, pull it down equally one screw then move to the other side of the ring and pull that side down. DO NOT try to tighten the screws all of the way on the first tighten. When I installed thees things I would end up going over the screws at least 5 to 10 times. becareful not to strip them out, if you do your only options are to get a thicker screw but watch your head size for the trim. After you get the retainer ring tight put up your trim and with any luck you will stpo the leaks.
Good Luck

I was going to just get a new sunroof put in, it's too cold out for me to try and work on it myself. with a new one put in could i do what someone previously replied as to putting some vasoline over the gasket maybe every now and then to keep the seal from drying out?