Sunroof lubrication questions????
 

What kind of lubricant do you use on the sunroof of an 08 C300?

Also, where do you lubricate it?

We're having 97 degree days already and this year my sunroof make a funny noise when opening in a vertical direction. I don't recall it doing this in either 2008 or 2007.

i get that same noise...

like it's struggling to open.

i was thinkin i might use wd40... but ya i don't know where... ill have to take a better look at how it functions.

squeaking noise you mean?
i got that when it's really hot, but only when it lifts up.
once it goes backwards, it's ok

TB5,

Hold off till we hear from somebody who knows.

Some lubricants can degrade the weatherstripping. Problem is I don't know which.

you're right... i'll probably just deal with the noise for now.

The MB dealers have some sort of MB approved lubricant.

Months ago, I took my C350 to Phil Smart (Seattle) for the rear seatbelt recall and I mentioned the groan that the sunfoof makes when I tilt the back up. It doesn't always do it, but I have never paid close enough attention to figure out just when it does do it. Anyway, they lubed it and it still groaned, so they orderd and installed a new sunroof motor. It still groans. Maybe when I take it in for a service I will mention it to them again, but for now, I just live with it since it doesn't always groan.

GROANING
 

Coincidence. My sunroof makes the same noise when it's hot and since Smart has my car right now, I'll inquire tomorrow about the latest fix.

NO WD-40!!!

Same problem here... I thought that I read in the Service B statement that they lube the cables for the sunroof. Could be mistaken but it's ringing a bell.

it's just the seals that expand and are tight, that make the sound, and only on hot days, the past few days it's been cold and damp and no noise, bet ya next week when it gets hot here in TO it will do it again.....something we live with, well at least I do, my pano roof in my X5 did the same thing, it did on my 535 as well, not a big deal, and no lube will help, as the lube will just dry out, and it will start doing it again.....

do the guys in the south have this issue, is it all the time, or not, how about when it rains and things cool down, does it go away ?

.

I get that annoying sound all the time, like it does indeed struggle to open:X It's quite annoying:word:

Do you need to use the lubrication paste first and then the lubricant?

The paste is to clean the guides, runners and assembly before oiling - if necessary to remove dirt build-up. The oil is purely for lubrication. The expensive part..the paste is around $220.00 and the oil slightly less for a bottle that fits in the palm of your hand! The bad news, you can use silicone spray, WD 40, vaseline on your sunroof, but according to Mercedes friends who work on them, they do a fair bit of repair work on sunroofs when people do use 'other than recommended" lubricants. They only use recommended as it works. You only need a few drops so it will last and so will your sunroof operation. I bought the oil, it's cheaper than the repair option down the track. Hope that helps.

$400 for supplies.

Well, is it covered by warranty?

Probably nothing special, we just don't know what substitues work.

wtf @ paying that amount for this issue... ridiculous.

take it to the dealer and complaint, they lube it free - should be. unless the car is out of mfg warranty.:)

+1 - what Webasto needs to do is replace the plastic gear drive that opens it and always fails in the end with someting harder wearing. Proper lubrication will assist in prolonging this inevitable agony.

I replied in response to "Some lubricants can degrade the weatherstripping. Problem is I don't know which. ". This stuff from Merc does not, apparently most other lubricants do. It's advice, I didn't set the price - cheaper in your US $ compared to Aussie $'s anyway. Oils ain't oils and I don't have warranty mate!

I have had that noise since the first summer I got my car. $400 :eek: I can live with the noise. Will just try not to open the sunroof during hot days. I usually use my AC anyway. I think once you have you AC on and you are crusing along on a highway, the noise goes away after it cools down a bit.

I'm more interested in opening the sunroof and windows before entering the car on a hot day to help the heat escape from the car.

Any petroleum based lubricant would degrade the weather stripping.

I just googled treating weatherstripping and found in a Hundai forum that someone was recommending a silicone lubricant to treat weatherstripping. They also commented against WD-40 due to its petroleum base.

Anyone have any thoughts on using a silicone lubricant?

Years ago I had a tube of silicone greese. Is that the same thing?

Yes - same thing. Castrol also sell a product simply termed rubber grease that would be safe on any product containing a proportion of natural rubber like weather strips.

Silicone is not the greatest lubricant but better than nothing. Be careful with silicone sprays because they frequently have petroleum carriers or propellants. Certain waxes & products containing teflon can be good in this application as can products developed for plastics lubrication in the electronics industry. You really want oils, greases & sticks for sunroofs. Aerosol sprays need careful consideration as to constituents.

Sunroof Noise and other problems
 

We have the same problem on our 09 C300 Sport 4matic. It has been in to the dealer 4 times already. Spoke to Service Manager yesterday, after giving them a bad review. He told me they were going to call MB and speak to phone tech about problem. I told him that should have been done the second time the car was taken in for the problem. This is our second MB we are very displeased with the car and service dept at local dealer. We have clear coat peeling off front bumper now. I called MB USA yesterday and spoke to them about Indiana Lemon law. The law states if the car has been in for service 4 times (in the frist 12 months or 12k) for the same problem and the problem is not fixed, then the car is a Lemon. I recieved a call back and it is being considered for a buy back.

Mine does it to....but it's obviously hot here so I expected it.

Before you spend $400 on a silicone based lubricant, you might stop to consider a dry graphite lubricant. Graphite is a chemically stable, non-corrosive, and non-toxic lubricant.

It provides great lubrication that works through a wide range of temperatures from sub-freezing to "Holy **** I just fired 2,000 rounds through my M240B Machine gun" hot.

A pure graphite lubricant will provide 0 issues with your weatherstripping, and the "messy" application will probably only help in this usage. If you find an aerosol based graphite lubricant, be careful because they typically suspend them it mineral spirits, which quickly evaporates and shouldn't do damage to your weatherstripping.. however many aerosols and sprays blend in petroleum based lubricants to improve the performance of the graphite which would damage your weatherstripping.

EDIT:
With everyone complaining about the noise during extreme heat, and only during a certain mechanical movement, I think it's pretty safe to assume there's some expansion in the mechanics of the sunroof that is creating the noise. Greases require more volume between parts to lubricate than graphite so that might be key.

I don't know if graphite will lubricate plastic moving parts, I do know that silicone lubricants will lubricate plastic moving parts. Maybe that's why Mercedes uses it?

Why is everyone saying it's $400 ?


001-989-46-51 PASTE $77.00
000-989-36-60 MOLD LUBR $47.00

I've got a better question. Why would you want to lubricate your weatherstripping? I'd suggest spraying some graphite lub into a small container and then use q-tips toapply where there is mechanical contact. Then again....I've never looked at the mechanical aspects of the sunroof.....yet.

I think the original idea was to lubricate the mechanical contact points.

The discussion swerved to lubricating the rubber which is where I think the noise we're hearing originates over very hot days. On cooler days, we don't get the noise.

I have no first hand experience with this product, but for what its worth, this vendor (whom I have bought other stuff from in the past) say that this brake component lube is also approriate for sunroofs:

http://www.germanautoparts.com/Chemi...ly%20lubes/ATE

"Also works great for window regulators, sunroof mechanisms, plastic gears and other parts."

It's cheap, and they sell a small tube of it.

Any ideas on a good third party lubricant for a panorama roof?

I messed up and used Castrol Bearing grease and globbed it on the tracks, it did a good a job lubricating, but the problem was lots of debris stuck to the grease. I have pretty much wiped it all off and want to re apply a grease. I'd rather not buy it from the dealer and pay the MB tax.

Is white lithium grease good or is that petroleum based? I have found that if you just put the grease on the tracks it doesn't touch/harm the weatherstripping, at least on the panorama setup.

Use the real thing.

There's a really good site, mercedessource.com for the older models. The guy who runs it buys the big tins and repackages it into smaller tins to sell with his sunroof repair kit.

The stuff is here, and it's pretty cheap comparitively.

http://mercedessource.com/node/6836

Thanks for the info! Just what I needed. My only concern is that he seems to emphasize its for 1961-95 cars, you think its the same stuff for my 08 panorama roof?

Comment from an oil man - You can Google to check me out with Dow/Molykote & the likes.

Most greases used for plastics & plastic metal interfaces are:

Polyurea synthetic food grade greases that get repacked for the likes of everybody from Benz/Webasto to VCR manufacturers of yore. They are coloured from white to clear. White ones contain titanium dioxide as found in toothpaste. They are extremely benign for obvious reasons.

So my car is at the dealership for this problem is there anything I should tell my service advisor before I get my car back so this problem can be solved?

I'd be reasonably sure. I can't see why they would have changed the grease myself... maybe someone who is more knowledgeable can chime in.

Sounds good, just what I wanted to hear. So I'll look for a more generic form of Polyurea synthetic, something auto part stores would carry?

I doubt that a auto parts store would carry but in the US you never know. Check, Chevron, Dow/Molykote or places that supply the food packaging industry.

grinding noise in sunroof
 

2008 E350--I heard the noise when closing the sunroof, got it closed did not tell my wife not to open roof. she could not close it. went to dealer, they advised me it would be a huge job, $3,000+. Panoramic roof added to the problem. Out of extended warranty since Feb. Was never advised of lube requirement nor was it done over 5 years of scheduled maintenance.

I checked with Klueber. Short answer is it's not them.

Here is their response:

I went on ebay and bought a small portion of the Mercedes grease. This seller was $12.50.