Leaking Sunroof

nightbird7

Hi,
I've heard from sunroof shops that there are four drain plugs in these sunroofs that, if clogged, cause it to leak. The problem may be more than that, but thought I'd try to fix it myself if it's something simple. Does anyone know where the drains are and how to clean them? I live in the Northwest and the rains will be here anytime now. It's gradually been leaking more since my son got this car 2 years ago - now if it's been raining you get drenched when you turn. Thanks for any suggestions.
Christine

swschrad

alas, they are not big obvious hoses that run straight down from the roof... they are hidden in body pillars, fairly small rubber or plastic tubing, and if you get serious with them like you would a steel line they can come apart inside the car body. that means no 120-psi compressed air.

Mr_Shiftright

He's right you need to be careful how you clean them. If you knock them loose you could have a really nasty access problem there.

So find out where they are and don't be heavy handed with it. This could work if you're lucky!

jgmilberg

My brother in law bought a car with a sunroof and he needed the drains cleaned out. He took it in to the roof installer that the dealer uses and the shop cleaned them out for $40. No more leaks.

The drains can be seen when the roof is open and you stand up through it, look in the corners around the track , you will see 4 holes one on each corner. If you do it yourself don't use air, I have used a electrical tool called a gold fish, it is a spring that electricians use to run wires through walls. I this NOT a fish TAPE. I stuck the gold fish on the end of a coat hanger electrical taped it to the end of the hangar so it wouldn't hang up in the tube. I ran it through the end of the tube where it comes out of the body then pulled it through the bottom. After that I used a transmission funnel to run 1 gallon of water to finish flushing out the gunk and to make sure the thing is clear. the spring leads the hanger around the tight turns that might be there without popping any tubes or poking holes in rubber tubes.

If you are not sure just take it in to have it done.

nightbird7

Thanks for all your messages. You're brave, Installer! The sunroof place I talked to wanted $89 minimum for "cleaning and servicing". May try a few more places - $40 sounds more reasonable. Will also look for the gold fish. In the meantime, I pulled the inside sunroof door closed tho doubt that has much to do with the water. So far dry weather is holding out here in Washington. I read somewhere you could use a bentback coathanger tip, but you all make it sound very delicate inside the length of the tube so would at least wrap that in cloth. So does the tube open out underneath the car then? I didn't know there was a body manual - have two mechanics manuals - will keep that in mind. Sounds tricky...

Mr_Shiftright

Some drains aren't all metal is the problem and if you dislodge a piece of hard rubber hose in the body somewhere, god only knows how you can refit it without some disassembly of upholstery, maybe headliner, etc.

nightbird7

That's why I'm a little concerned about taking it to a shop - because one thing can lead to another and they'll want me to pay if something gets dislodged and requires further work to fix it. This is a car I'd like to sell were my son not so attached to it. I may just try to sell it and tell potential buyers they need to deal with this. My son and his friends just love the 405 engine in this car with its Edelbrock carb etc, but everything else in it seems to need constant work which neither of us knows how to do so it falls to me. Sigh.

jgmilberg

Well, I would make sure to discuss the actual procedure with the place before letting them do the job. Make sure to ask about if they knock off a hose that they don't charge more to fix it. You are taking it to a professional that should know what they are doing, so if they pop off a hose they should know how to fix it and not charge to do it. Also ask them to just clean the tubes and not service the roof, if it works good w/o sticking or binding it doesn't need to be serviced.

nightbird7

Will have to call around. The place I talked to has a set fee of $89 to "service" it, intended as an annual thing for people who have their sunroofs put in there. Will try to look inside there and test it tomorrow (Sat) as I think it was catching a bit recently. Sunday rain's predicted so will have to cover it again til I can get something done. Thanks - am sure you're right about telling them beforehand about not charging if they knock off a tube, etc., but you know how things tend to go once you let them take the car - if it's not in writing, which they tend to do their best to avoid, you're out of luck, especially in Washington state which seems to have very few consumer protection laws.

nightbird7

Okay, checked it out yesterday and only saw drain holes in the front. If there are any at the back, they're buried under where the window retracts. There was nothing obvious blocking the holes so they must be blocked further down. The window mechanism itself works fine so just need to get the gutters cleaned. Wonder if the tubing is as large as the drain opening all the way through. Does anyone know? Do the tubes go pretty much straight along the curve of the side of the car? If so, it does look like something I could do on my own as the hole is bigger than I expected. In the meantime, the rain arrived last night so it's under plastic for now..