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Moonroof cracking noise under ice and snow?

5K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  Pilgrim 
#1 ·
Anyone experienced driving after night snowfall when cars sunroof/moonroof is all covered in icy layer? As heat starts to heat up cabin and ice on top of sunroof - crackling sounds can be heard all over the roof while driving. not really bothering, but sometimes it sounds like glass is going to break. I know it's just an acoustic illusion, but can be unnerving at times.
Besides it renders opening sunroof dangerous if its covered in ice - risking braking or damaging mechanism since front half of sunroof is sliding under rear half. Not that I want to open sunroof in winter, but if someone presses button by mistake - ops...
 
#3 ·
I get that crackling noise too whenever the sunroof is covered with icy. I wouldn't worry about anyone accidentally opening the sunroof. Don't know if the mechanism is the same on 3G Murano but my 2G, you pull the button half way and then the sunshade retracts and if you pull it all the way back then the sunroof opens. Pulling the button all the way back take a bit extra effort and I don't see anyone opening the sunroof by mistake :)
 
#4 ·
I know its not related to this post, but Im one of those people who opens sunroof by mistake.

I think it should be two buttons: One for sunshade and one for sunroof.
In my second car I have to pull button all the way to open it and when Im in Mo I do this all the time Opening sunroof instead of sunshade only.



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#5 ·
I took 10" of snow off of mine the other week and left the shade open so the glass would heat up, the roof cleared right up no issues. No different than any other sunroof I've owned over the past 15 years.
 
#6 ·
Hey all. Im a new Nisan owner who is absolutely obsessed with her car. Like more obsessed and in love with this cat than any other car I’ve ever owned. I think I may have messed up today tho. So today was the first official snow fall in my state. I had cleaned off all the snow from windshield to windows but I didn’t touch the top of my car, why u may ask, because I’m a dumb-dumb who always owned a 4x4 or truck which didn’t really matter if I left the snow on top or not. I never ever had any issues. So it snowed, fast forward about 9 hours and I now have an ice rink on my roof and all around both my moonroofs. Help! What do I do? My brother in law told me to get an ice scraper and start scraping, but is that the most safest way to do it? And please before u judge me just know I completely judged myself for this and I feel like the worlds dumbest car owner 😂 pls help
 
#8 ·
Definitely try to remove it to avoid what @Cryogenix1 mentioned about it sliding off and possibly causing damage to the car behind you.

Two suggestions for loosening up the ice so that it can be removed.

1) Park in the sun. Wait until midday to late afternoon and see if it has melted enough to remove

2) A quicker way may be to run the engine with the heat turned all the way up. This should eventually loosen the ice on the roof within 15-30 minutes I would think.
 
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#7 ·
I don't think it's cause for concern that it will damage the moonroof or somehow leak under a seal if it just stays there. The two biggest issues would be if the sheet of ice suddenly lifts off at high speeds and hits the car behind you (causing damage or an accident), or if you brake hard and that sheet of ice slides forward and crashes down on your hood and damages it.

As for removing the ice, if concerned about hurting the glass or the seals, take it to a carwash and blast it off with a hot water rinse. Or, just let the thing sit in the sun for a day and it will probably slide off the sides fairly easily. If you take your time and don't hammer down on the moonroof or slice into a seal, you should be able to remove the ice without incurring any problems. Just remember not to open the moonroof until everything is melted and gone, or you might stress something and cause a misalignment, or ice might get into the track or under a seal-seating area and prevent the glass from sealing fully.
 
#10 ·
To @giasmommy00 ...a dissenting opinion here. Scraping the top is likely to lead to paint damage and/or dents if you get over enthusiastic. And it's the roof, nothing to get excited about.

Especially, DO NOT try opening or using the glass roof as that is likely to lead to expensive damage to the moving parts or seals.

My vote: do nothing until it warms up a bit. Sunlight is likely to loosen it if you can park in full sun and it's not -10 degrees. The car wash idea is good once it warms up enough that the washes open, but by then the sun will probably start melting it. But until it's ready to melt and slide off, don't scrape, don't mess with it.
 
#11 ·
I agree with everything that's been said. I think you're worrying a little too much about it. I consider the rooftop to be especially delicate and I would never attempt to scrape or brush off ice from it. Snow, yes. Rather than risk slipping with a scraper and damaging the clearcoat, paint or seals as @Pilgrim mentioned, I'd just let sun and time take care of things.

But, if you've really got a thick layer of ice and are going to be forced to drive somewhere at higher speeds, I'd first head to a car wash where maybe the self-wash has those turbo blower guns (if it's too cold for the water wand to work) that you can use to blast air under the sheet of ice which should break it apart fairly quickly.
 
#12 ·
Clearing snow and ice off the top of your vehicle is very important. In our state, fines range from $200-$1500 if caught driving with snow and ice on your vehicle. There are also specific timeframes in the law for when the snow and ice must be removed (must be removed within 24 hours after a heavy snowfall.) People have actually been killed as a result of ice flying off of cars and going through the windshield of the car behind them.
 
#13 ·
That is a legitimate concern, but there's a limit to how much you can do unless you fire up a couple of space heaters in the car, wait an hour then come back and try to slide off any ice.

Best thing is to clean it as needed.
 
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