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5th Time to Fix the Grinding Noise of the Sunroof

16K views 80 replies 22 participants last post by  GregK 
#1 · (Edited)
I have been to dealer for 5 times regarding the sunroof curtain grinding noise that I found out not long after the car been delivered. I have had the car for 1 year now and the interior liner has been tear down 3 times now, the problem still occurs and the noise is way louder than before, each time I have to left the car for two days to get it repaired, so far the frame has been replaced so as the roller curtain, however the problem still there, what is more frustrated is that, the safety belt at the rear is no longer retractable and also there are several dents on the interior liner, not mentioning the scratched A pillar and airbag logos, it is so frustrating, I am wondering is there any lemon laws in Australia like U.S customer had any advise on how to handle a case like this would be appreciated.:saber:

below is a video I record regarding the issue.


updated on what was damaged and the dealer deny most of the damage caused by them.

 
#2 ·
We have had similar problems on both of our XC90s and here in the U.S. we had the dealer replace the headliner and in fact in one of ours the dealer caught an issue with the sunroof itself and they replaced that as well. If the dealer will not fix the issues they caused, then you should contact Volvo customer service directly. After the replacement of the sun curtains, we no longer have the grinding noise.
 
#3 ·
I think it’s an issue of parts.

If they’re replacing the same part with no revisions, it will ultimately lead to no change. I think that’s what’s been happening


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#4 ·
Rattling sound from panoramic roof curtain and clicking sound from driver window
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...peed.com/showthread.php?t=531705&share_type=t

Welcome to the club of sunroof curtain issue.

Let's keep in touch for this until they fix it.

Been down the lane for 2 curtains so far 1 frame 3 times of motors replacement (2) motors involved. It goes away for few days and comes back.

2 things I noticed.

1) it comes back when the car stays in hot weather / under the sun and it gets warm.

2) a temporary fix they do is tighten the bolts and screws of the curtain and frame extra hard. There's an alignment frame that has to be tightened really hard. According to the technician it's a tricky process. But it fixed the issue temporarily until the car is exposed to heat. When it cools down the sound goes away.

I'm giving them one last time for Volvo North America to come check it out in a weeks time.

If not fixed it's gonna be limoned.

I've tried several cars/ loaners. They don't have that sound.
They got me 3 factory cars which has the sound. And tired to sell me that it's " the vehicle characteristics"
BS I said since it only shows on some and not the majority.

Now we are waiting for Mr. Volvo rep to come and check it out and give us his Professional opinion.
??

Again let's keep in touch till one of the dealers sort it out with Volvo

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#10 ·
Luckily so far there was no damage to the headliner or the interior of the car.

Yet the fix ISN'T holding, it's temporary.

Sound came back about a month later now.

And it only shows up on hot weather *sigh*

being in SoCal good luck For it to disappear without a proper fix.

My service manager is on it, and he said he'll bring it up in the Florida convention they're having next week. Hope they have a fix for it.

Otherwise goodbye car from my side

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#7 · (Edited)
looks like what they have installed are revised parts, as they send report to Volvo for the instruction of repair and, what they do is, I have to drop off the car for one day for them to diagnose problem and second time visit it takes 2 days for the car to be repaired, because every single time the parts has to come from Sweden.
 
#12 ·
Not sure how prevelant Volvo dealers are in Australia, but are you able to try a different dealer?
 
#14 ·
We have had this on both of our XC90s and they actually replaced the entire sun curtain unit and not just tighten bolts. Thus far no grinding noise....keeping fingers crossed.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I worked for Volvo in Townsville, QLD Australia for a few years and other Volvo techs i met are far under educated compared to us in North America. I almost went to the Volvo shop in Paramatta/Sydney (cant remember the name of the dealer) but chose Townsville instead.

Let me help you.....

The cables in the sunroof tray are metal and have foam inside them to keep them quiet. Unfortunately the foam is deteriorating and it causes this noise of metal on plastic. The noise ONLY happens with sunshade movement and NOT glass movement.

The fix is to replace the entire sunroof tray. I have done a few personally here in Texas.

I hope this helps you, mate!
 
#20 ·
I worked for Volvo in Townsville, QLD Australia for a few years and other Volvo techs i met are far under educated compared to us in North America. I almost went to the Volvo shop in Paramatta/Sydney (cant remember the name of the dealer) but chose Townsville instead.

Let me help you.....

The cables in the sunroof tray are metal and have foam inside them to keep them quiet. Unfortunately the foam is deteriorating and it causes this noise of metal on plastic. The noise ONLY happens with sunshade movement and NOT glass movement.

The fix is to replace the entire sunroof tray. I have done a few personally here in Texas.

I hope this helps you, mate!
I'm in the same boat but not as far as 5 times yet
Let me ask you two things

1) is the sunroof tray you're referring to the same as what some dealers call "sun roof frame " ?

2) how long does this fix last ?

I had the frame, the curtain and both motors replaced and a month later sound is back.
A lot lighter than what's in the video but the same.

TIA for your help and support

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#26 ·
It's my 6th frame+shade and motors. (All gets changed every time )

I'm starting to doubt their integrity in that aspect.
Or there's actually something wrong with the car body the keeps this issue from being resolved
Like the housing is defective or something.

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#33 ·
Sunroof bounces back and then was able to get it closed. This is maddening. Should I just accept to not have a functioning sunroof? I'm at the point where I just want to keep my car and not be at the freaking dealer again

They've already fully replaced the glass and frame once. I don't get why this is so supremely difficult for Volvo techs to figure out. This is my second dealership that cannot get it right

Car was CPO last November and we haven't had a working sunroof yet for longer than a few weeks (in the middle of winter when we didn't attempt use)

If anybody can help me out with a recommendation of where to go from here that would be appreciated
 
#46 ·
So I just took my 2017 XC90 in for this issue. The noise is getting really bad. Mainly happens when retracting the sun shade. Not so much on moving it forward.

Dealer's service department called and told me the fix was to replace the shade assembly, and that was $1,400+. I'm at 64,000 miles and over warranty at this point. I also had my passenger's side mirror stop adjusting and need that motor replaced to the tune of $526. Needless to say I'm not really happy.

I told him to not bother fixing the sun shade. I use it so seldomly (it's open 95% of the time) that I'll just deal with the noise.

Question for anyone else who has had this issue - does the sun shade eventually break/stop working or is it purely a sound issue with no real impact on functionality?
 
#47 ·
So I just took my 2017 XC90 in for this issue. The noise is getting really bad. Mainly happens when retracting the sun shade. Not so much on moving it forward.

Dealer's service department called and told me the fix was to replace the shade assembly, and that was $1,400+. I'm at 64,000 miles and over warranty at this point. I also had my passenger's side mirror stop adjusting and need that motor replaced to the tune of $526. Needless to say I'm not really happy.

I told him to not bother fixing the sun shade. I use it so seldomly (it's open 95% of the time) that I'll just deal with the noise.

Question for anyone else who has had this issue - does the sun shade eventually break/stop working or is it purely a sound issue with no real impact on functionality?
Have tried shade / motor three time to fix the issue and unfortunately the issue is sill present. I don't believe it will stop to function since it is the metal string that touches the frame.
 
#49 ·
Once the lubrications materials they use there fades away.

The retracting cables for the shade start dragging on the body of the car.
Specially if it expanded with hot weather or direct sunlight.

That being said. It’s completely silent on cold weather.

So basically in my opinion it’s either a design error.

Or a poor choice of materials and suppliers.

To answer your question.

It will not breakdown from that specific issue unless someone tampers with it by trying to tighten the retracting cables.

PS. Replaced it over 8 times in one and another 3 in another. It never goes away in hot weather and it never broke-down yet.




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#50 ·
Once the lubrications materials they use there fades away.

The retracting cables for the shade start dragging on the body of the car.
Specially if it expanded with hot weather or direct sunlight.

That being said. It's completely silent on cold weather.

So basically in my opinion it's either a design error.

Or a poor choice of materials and suppliers.

To answer your question.

It will not breakdown from that specific issue unless someone tampers with it by trying to tighten the retracting cables.

PS. Replaced it over 8 times in one and another 3 in another. It never goes away in hot weather and it never broke-down yet.

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Thanks - this is very helpful. I noticed over the weekend the noise was a lot less in the cooler temperatures. I'll be curious if it goes away completely by winter. I'm surprised you can't just put Dynamat or something where the cable drags on the frame to remedy it...
 
#52 ·
I just got back from having the "sun shade / inner panel sun roof" replaced on my '18 and now it's worse than when I took it in. It's only 30 degrees F here and it does it only about the first foot or so of opening the shade from fully closed. Like others, mine started to do it only when the sun was beating on it, but now it does it every time, regardless of temperature. They're going to order a whole new frame; we'll see how it goes. The work order does reference TJ 83612-2. The tech wasn't happy that the "fix" didn't work as he has another one in the shop for the same issue that he was going to work on later in the week.
 
#53 ·
I've reported it to NHTSA and stopped bothering with trying to fix it.
It's simply useless. It's a design flaw.

On a side note, I'm interested to know if owners in other countries have this issue or is it US specifications specific.

Which leads to the main question, how different are these cars when it comes to regions. US Vs the rest of the world.

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#54 ·
Mine does it every time regardless of temp. But I only open it once every dozen times I drive. So it makes a noise. Could be a lot worse and from all the people having more issues after trying to fix it I guess you’re probably better off just dealing with it. Turn up the radio for a minute.


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#55 ·
My blind just stopped working completely. Car still few months under warranty, so took it to the dealer for them to fix it. They couldn't and said the blind motor was the fault. The managed to brake the entire sunroof electrics though, so now it cannot be opened. They booked a new time for the car in a month...thanks for s*** stupid dealer. I use the vent feature in the sunroof daily, but apparently I won't the next month. To replace the blind engine, they need to remove the entire headliner, which I am very concerned about, as that will most likely create even more squeaky noises. For the last 21 months I have been to the dealer roughly 20 times, and most of those times they had the car an entire day, without fixing anything. I really like the car, but the overall experience has just been very bad.
 
#56 ·
2016 XC90: Having similar issues described in this thread when trying to close the shade. Had the dealer take a look today and was told due to severe rust the whole unit needs to be replaced to the tune of $4000. I've never seen any indication of a leak in the sunroof and I park my car in the garage each night. I have extended warranty and this is not covered. This spectacular moon roof was a big part of why I chose this car. I don't want to pay $4K. Is there a way to bypass the electronics and move the shade manually? Do I have any recourse?
 
#66 ·
I got it in Dec of 2016 with 12,000 miles on it. Sunroof worked fine at purchase but became increasingly rough and noisy over this past year. The response by Volvo was water intrusion from sunroof seals is not covered by extended (even the Platinum) warranty. I wish I had brought this to their attention before I hit 50K. My sense is this sunroof issue is a chronic problem with Volvo that they are absolved of fixing once into extended warranty.
 
#67 ·
I got it in Dec of 2016 with 12,000 miles on it. Sunroof worked fine at purchase but became increasingly rough and noisy over this past year. The response by Volvo was water intrusion from sunroof seals is not covered by extended (even the Platinum) warranty. I wish I had brought this to their attention before I hit 50K. My sense is this sunroof issue is a chronic problem with Volvo that they are absolved of fixing once into extended warranty.
Ok isn't the car warrantied for rust for 144 months I.e 12 years ???
Wouldn't this cover it?
It's seems that you're correct assuming they are trying to skip this issue with you.
I'm 10000% sure that there's a TJ for this.

Furthermore check the recalls for this.
One way or another this should be covered by Volvo.

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#70 ·
Leaking sunroof is a common issue in the 2016, TJ # 31272 is on that (I have a copy but I couldn’t attach it here, sorry). The sunroof of MY2016 was leaking and I asked the dealer to check it a month ago. The sunroof and the curtain was making a griping noise to open and close as well. They ended up doing this TJ and lubricating the system and now it’s working fine, no noise at all. I’m still not sure if it’s still not leaking as the car is mostly staying parked due to COVID, but I made myself some tests and seems to be ok.


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#71 ·
Leaking sunroof is a common issue in the 2016, TJ # 31272 is on that (I have a copy but I couldn't attach it here, sorry). The sunroof of MY2016 was leaking and I asked the dealer to check it a month ago. The sunroof and the curtain was making a griping noise to open and close as well. They ended up doing this TJ and lubricating the system and now it's working fine, no noise at all. I'm still not sure if it's still not leaking as the car is mostly staying parked due to COVID, but I made myself some tests and seems to be ok.

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Thanks.....I will use this information at my next visit to the dealership.
 
#74 ·
Tech, you are right. The TJ I mentioned is for leaking sunroof and not rusted cables. What I meant is that, if the problem of rust is due to leak, the TJ may solve the leak, but the rusted parts will not be under the TJ. In the case of my car, lubricating the sunroof system solved the noise.

And yes, you are right again: I paid for the job (including the parts under the TJ) as my car is out of warranty....


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