Long story short, I'm restoring the OEM sunroof in my FC to be fully functional like new and have zero rust. Anyway, I've acquired 2 entire used sunroof assemblies over the years, and between those 2 and the sunroof assembly currently in my FC (it sort-of works, but the mechanism is so jacked up that I just keep it closed now), I should have everything I need to build 1 fully functional & rust free sunroof assembly.

In the process of dissembling the spare sunroofs, I noted that there was some kind of sealant applied under the aluminum tracks that screw into the frame. After scraping some of it off, it looks like it was a gray RTV sealant of some sort, but it was a lot harder & more brittle than I would have expected RTV to be - though after 30 years, that might be a normal result. The Mazda FSM sunroof section makes no mention of such a sealant, so I was trying to decide what to use here upon reassembly.

For those of you that did total sunroof restorations, what kind of sealer did you use here? I'm thinking any gray RTV will do the trick. As far as I can tell, it may be there to serve 2 possible purposes that I can think of. One is to provide electrical insulation between the dissimilar metals (aluminum tracks & sheet steel frame) to prevent corrosion, and the second is to ensure no water can leak where the track's mounting screws penetrate the frame.

 

i have no idea, but you should use the Shin Etsu grease on the mechanism, it works. available everywhere. Honda basically slobbers it all over anything that squeaks or rattles. it fixed my sunroof too

 

^Yeah, that Shin Etsu grease is amazing. I use that on all kinds of things like that where grease is used, also works wonders when rebuilding the power window regulators & mechanism. Between cleaning & re-greasing the regulators, and the relay mod, my FC power windows go up & down in record time. Faster than the windows in my '14 Mazda 3 did when it was new!

 

I thought gray RTV myself and that's what I went with. Whether I was correct or not, I may never know.

 

I figured you would reply since you've done this drill before

Unless someone finds more definitive info from Mazda, I'll just use a gray RTV too (Permatex "Right Stuff" or equivalent)

So far I haven't removed the sunroof assembly from my car yet, and I REALLY hope its frame isn't as rusty as the 2 spare units I took apart - both of those have rust perforations, one being much worse than the other. The better of the two has one small perforation in an easily repairable spot, the other has front corners that look like Swiss cheese.