Sunroof Whistle

[slobberingant 0]

Today I closed my sunroof while driving at 100kmph (60 mph) and it developed a very loud whistle after it finished sealing.

You could only hear the whistle once the sunroof has been sealed. If I pull down the sealing lever and drive there was no sound.

It went away eventually but I would like to investigate.

 

Does anybody have any experience with this? Where should I start looking for the cause of the whistling?

[jason7579 5]

Do you have the proper sunroof windscreen rubber surround with the lip at the top?

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

Remove the sunroof rubber and clean it all up.

Failing that use some silicone sealer to stop the noise.

[MrP 1]

Also have this problem and it bugs!!! Has anyone had this and actually fixed the problem? I dont want to just silicone the whole roof up I want to still be able to use it.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Firstly, to Slobberinggant, if you've not had the problem since I wouldn't worry. It's hardly surprising that it whistled after being shut at 60mph! Think about it. At 60mph you have a lot of air pressure, so it's very difficult for the roof to seal 100% air tight under those conditions. Subsequently you allow a small amount of wind to get in through the seal and cause the whistle. It'll get louder the faster you go. Slowing to a more sensible speed, or stopping, and then resealing the roof should usually cure this straight away.

 

MrP, mine is very bad and I did a search on this a while back but couldn't find any solid conclusion. But McDude had the problem so might be worth PMing him to see if he fixed his, as he keeps his 205 in pretty mint condition. I will be tackling mine soon but won't know if it's fixed as I don't anticipate the car being on the road this year. Mine first started after I took it up to very high speed. After that first time it started to whistle frequently at 'above motorway speed', and then got worse to the point that it whistles at 70mph. I think my problem is that part of the sunroof may be loose causing a little bit of free play, as I used to get the occassional rattle from it over bumps. I think that's the problem McDude had as well. Being loose will allow the glass to lift slightly at speed, breaking the seal and allowing wind to rush in causing the whistle.

[feb 47]

Do these plastic sunroof wind breakers do anything? Just an idea. I know they look horrible but if they work...

[GLPoomobile 958]

I'm sure they must work, as they are diverting the airflow above the front of the sunroof. But they just look so s*it!

 

I'd rather solve the problem at hand than mask it with something so horrible looking.