Goop on windshield header/roof seal, failing rubber stop

[xlrlist01]

This had me puzzled at first.

I found a small amount of strange goop in the middle of the roof seal, at the top of the windshield. Not grease, more like paint to remove. Very, very sticky. On the underside of the front of the roof there was more of it. There is no place in the roof it can have come from, it isn't hydraulic fluid or rubber dissolved by hydraulic fluid.

I had opened the roof halfway to check the underside of the front of the roof, and after a little more thought, had a look in the trunk, at the stop that supports the roof when retracted. With the roof in the halfway position, it is easy to see the center rubber stop that supports the front of the roof when retracted into the trunk. However, instead of there being a rubber stop, I have a sticky mass as the rubber is returning to being crude oil or something like it. This isn't the first part of my X which is returning to the raw materials it was made from. Did GM use some cheap and nasty products when they manufactured our XLRs? Seems so. For now I have stuck one of those felt washers on the top of the remains of the bumper, which is working fine. I'll have to consider how to make a proper fix.

 

[rexster314]

Pretty much dry rot/aging. I had black crud coming out of the A/C vents for the longest time. Goo Gone cleaned up the mess.

 

[BeardBros]

Same thing was happening on the 2004 I had. There are actually 3 of these bumpers, the one you found up in the front area of the trunk that supports and adjusts the height of the closed roof and 2 on either side of the bottom of the trunk lid. They rest at where the taillights are in the trunk jamb. GM has new ones in stock and they are not expensive. GM part #10346849 $4.32

 

[xlrlist01]

Same thing was happening on the 2004 I had. There are actually 3 of these bumpers, the one you found up in the front area of the trunk that supports and adjusts the height of the closed roof and 2 on either side of the bottom of the trunk lid. They rest at where the taillights are in the trunk jamb. GM has new ones in stock and they are not expensive. GM part #10346849 $4.32

Thanks