Tilt Roof maintenance?

If you search around this site, you'll see that many members have had the problem of cracking rubber around their sunroof.

So, it's a very good idea to use a rubber/plastic protectant. I've used Shin-Etsu silicone grease and 303 Aerospace Protectant on my sliding roof, and the rubber still looks new.

 

I looked in the Repair Manual, couldn't find much maintenance related, mostly electronics troubleshooting. All I can think is to open it, look at the mechanisms, if there's any evidence of grease see where it is and how it's applied, and that it's not drying up. Also see that any tracks are clean/clear. With other cars I've seen instruction to pour a little water in at the drain holes, make sure it's flowing through ok.

 

Where are you applying the Shin-Etsu and where the 303? Or are you applying 303 over the grease? Or vice versa?

 

I've used 303 for many years, spraying and spreading, wiping off the excess, on rubber door seals, plastic trim, dashboards, tires, etc.

More recently, I've been applying a very light coat of the Shin-Etsu on seals that move or compress. Things like the rubber gaskets in my car doors, and around the sunroof in my Priuses. The product seems to help the rubber stay soft like 303 does (plasticizer?), and it also eliminated the little sticking of the sunroof gaskets, when I open the roof, after it has been closed a while.

I'm sure other products will work, too. The bottom line is that rubber and plastic should be protected, to prevent degradation.

 

Gummi-Pflege is another wonderful product in this category. Don't let the weird german name throw you.

 

Use a shop vac to clean out any debris in the low spots. A leaf, pine needles, etc. can clog the drain tubes and an cause backing up. Don't know about the Prius, but it's quite common with other Toyota vehicles.

 

I use the sun roof when it's not raining so that means a lot, and do the same maintenance mentioned above. What haven't been mentioned are lubricants for the metal moving parts. I use the dry lube ptfe spray specialist made by wd40, meant for metal type objects that slides & tracks. Best part is that it's water and rust proof, safe on plastics and rubber + doesn't attract dirt and dust.