treerootCO
Where are my keys?!
Checked my sunroof drains today...I think I did it wrong 
Cleaning your sunroof drains FAQ (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter tomatopants
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
wow, empty interior...
Fantastic writeup. I have a 99 LC and have been noticing some water getting in through the sun roof. As soon as it stops raining I plan on cleaning them out. I do have a few questions/statements though.
What is recommended for moisturizing the seals on the sun roof?
The water I am seeing happens to be dripping from the overhead console that houses the sunroof controls and the lights. Is there anything special I need to do, or can do to keep this from becoming an issue.
Thanks
~Harb
What is recommended for moisturizing the seals on the sun roof?
The water I am seeing happens to be dripping from the overhead console that houses the sunroof controls and the lights. Is there anything special I need to do, or can do to keep this from becoming an issue.
Thanks
~Harb
Jacksonville, Florida.Hey Harb -
Where abouts are you from? 99 LC? Do you have an 80 series?
BTW Welcome
1999 Land Cruiser. I am not sure what series that would put me in.
Yes this is a great FAQ
Nothing I say set in stone, because stranger things have happened, but I think you have a 100 series. Same ih8mud forum, but may want to check out the 100 series part
May have more prevalent info for your truck.
100-Series Cruisers - IH8MUD Forums
Although the 80's guys know what up.
And the "" is warm welcome to the cruisers
Nothing I say set in stone, because stranger things have happened, but I think you have a 100 series. Same ih8mud forum, but may want to check out the 100 series part
May have more prevalent info for your truck.
100-Series Cruisers - IH8MUD Forums
Although the 80's guys know what up.
And the "
" is warm welcome to the cruisers 
I finally got tired of wet carpets and decided to remove the interior and headliner in search of the culprit. I did put the two front seats back in, but that was it. There's more than one leak and I haven't chased them all down yet, but I definitely found one.
I couldn't get any weedeater line to feed all the way through from the rear drains to the sunroof pan. The drivers side had a fairly good kink in the drain tubing. I tried to work the tubing back into a less restricted position before reinstalling the headliner. The passengers side was completely disconnected and appeared to be so for some time. Note the lack of clamp impressions on the tubing. On a final note, removing the headliner wasn't that big of deal. There was a lot of screws and whatnot to remove, but it was more tedious than anything else. This tool made removing body clips a breeze. Maybe it's just me, but I always seem to break a few. It's definitely a luxury item, but I didn't worry at all about damaging the headliner or clips.
I still seem to have a leak coming from the front passenger area. I have a few suspects thanks to this forum. Please pardon my links rather than images. I have a few things yet to figure out.
I couldn't get any weedeater line to feed all the way through from the rear drains to the sunroof pan. The drivers side had a fairly good kink in the drain tubing. I tried to work the tubing back into a less restricted position before reinstalling the headliner. The passengers side was completely disconnected and appeared to be so for some time. Note the lack of clamp impressions on the tubing. On a final note, removing the headliner wasn't that big of deal. There was a lot of screws and whatnot to remove, but it was more tedious than anything else. This tool made removing body clips a breeze. Maybe it's just me, but I always seem to break a few. It's definitely a luxury item, but I didn't worry at all about damaging the headliner or clips.
I still seem to have a leak coming from the front passenger area. I have a few suspects thanks to this forum. Please pardon my links rather than images. I have a few things yet to figure out.
Last edited:
I replaced my sunroof (about $300) never had a leak again.
It take about 15 minutes to do the job.
LandCrusher80
An old thread, but a vital one, especially in the fall when all kinds off **** falls of the trees. New owners need this info, as well as old owners tracking down leaks. I found it very handy in solving the leak that came with my truck, plus I have a couple of contributions I think others may find useful.
For the fish wire to clean your drains, I used a spare overhead door cable. It's stainless steel, about 1/8", maybe a little bigger, and is stiff enough to have an advantage over copper wire. I was able to feel it pushing the plug out near what turned out to be the bottom of my front PS drain.
This cable will also probably work from underneath to push clogging stuff back up in the rear drains that are hard to get to. This might allow a clog to be broken up, then sucked back out with the vacuum, if the vacuum can't suck it out on its own to begin with.
Cleaning the drain helped, but didn't solve my problem. Why? Because as a newbie, I didn't know how to properly operate my my moonroof!
And I don't think the car lot where I bought it did either. The floorboard on that side was soaked and I found a clear plastic cracker wrapper they were using to divert the drips to take them down to the floor so they would be less noticeable. By then I had found MUD, so I knew I could solve this problem, no big deal.
When I first operated the moonroof, the panel appeared to be flat and parallel with the inside of the vehicle roof. So I thought that was how it was supposed to look when closed. Being a careful sort, I visually operated it, releasing the switch when I thought I had closed it and it reached that point.
The problem with this is:
1. The moonroof panel is NOT fully closed like this.
2. It will leak in this position.:whoops:
You need to continue to hold the switch until it raises the back end of the panel!
Although it looks a little odd from the inside, because it is no longer parallel with the inside of the roof, this seals the moonroof to the outside of the roof.
Presto! No more leaky moonroof.
Newbies beware! Your moonroof is supposed to "stinkbug" when properly sealed, even if you set the suspension up differently.
For the fish wire to clean your drains, I used a spare overhead door cable. It's stainless steel, about 1/8", maybe a little bigger, and is stiff enough to have an advantage over copper wire. I was able to feel it pushing the plug out near what turned out to be the bottom of my front PS drain.
This cable will also probably work from underneath to push clogging stuff back up in the rear drains that are hard to get to. This might allow a clog to be broken up, then sucked back out with the vacuum, if the vacuum can't suck it out on its own to begin with.
Cleaning the drain helped, but didn't solve my problem. Why? Because as a newbie, I didn't know how to properly operate my my moonroof!
And I don't think the car lot where I bought it did either. The floorboard on that side was soaked and I found a clear plastic cracker wrapper they were using to divert the drips to take them down to the floor so they would be less noticeable. By then I had found MUD, so I knew I could solve this problem, no big deal.
When I first operated the moonroof, the panel appeared to be flat and parallel with the inside of the vehicle roof. So I thought that was how it was supposed to look when closed. Being a careful sort, I visually operated it, releasing the switch when I thought I had closed it and it reached that point.
The problem with this is:
1. The moonroof panel is NOT fully closed like this.
2. It will leak in this position.:whoops:
You need to continue to hold the switch until it raises the back end of the panel!
Although it looks a little odd from the inside, because it is no longer parallel with the inside of the roof, this seals the moonroof to the outside of the roof.
Presto! No more leaky moonroof.
Newbies beware! Your moonroof is supposed to "stinkbug" when properly sealed, even if you set the suspension up differently.
So it's been one Pacific storm after another dumping huge amounts of rain and howling wind here in southwestern BC...and my floor has been wet for more than two weeks. Initially I thought my sunroof drains were clogged because I have water dripping down high up on my passenger's A pillar like the spot Tomatopants hilighted in his second picture.
So I opened my sunroof just now...in the rain...and poured down a couple of bottles of water near the drain openings. There were no debris noted on the sunroof channel or in the rockers where the drain plugs are. The water I poured down drain out immediately at the bottom of the truck...so I don't think my drains are plugged.
I think my windshield and weatherseal are aftermarket and were replaced by the previous owner. Could my leak, even the one high up, be caused by this? I heard we need to use OEM rubber weatherstrips or else it might leak.
Thanks.
So I opened my sunroof just now...in the rain...and poured down a couple of bottles of water near the drain openings. There were no debris noted on the sunroof channel or in the rockers where the drain plugs are. The water I poured down drain out immediately at the bottom of the truck...so I don't think my drains are plugged.
I think my windshield and weatherseal are aftermarket and were replaced by the previous owner. Could my leak, even the one high up, be caused by this? I heard we need to use OEM rubber weatherstrips or else it might leak.
Thanks.
Hey stone,
If you're sure you're drains are clear and that you've got the moonroof properly closed -- and it sounds like you do -- then concentrate on the area that tomatopants has highlighted in his fourth picture at the beginning of this thread.
There's another thread that covers this in more detail, but I couldn't find it right now. That plastic piece gets mashed down and results in leaks. Maybe someone knows the link for it?
If you're sure you're drains are clear and that you've got the moonroof properly closed -- and it sounds like you do -- then concentrate on the area that tomatopants has highlighted in his fourth picture at the beginning of this thread.
There's another thread that covers this in more detail, but I couldn't find it right now. That plastic piece gets mashed down and results in leaks. Maybe someone knows the link for it?
Hey stone, i had the same problem last year. Water on passenger side floor after every rain. i figured it was the windshield, so i had it removed by a buddy at a glass shop. Upon removal he noted that there was no way that it is or ever was leaking, so we did the bottle test in the sunroof drain as well. Water did come out the drain at the bottom of the truck but some also dripped very slowly from behind the glove box. We peered up and took the box out and could not see where the water was coming from. We pulled that corner of the head liner down (windshield being out is very nice for this since the headliner fabric wraps behind the windshield gasket and is glued to the a pillar) in search of the leak and found it. At the connection where the tube meets the roof drain it was leaking out around the hose, so i put a little silicone on the ID if the hose, put it back on with a gear clamp instead of the spring clamp. That fixed the prob. Its hard to believe that it leaked all the way up there and ran down the back side of the headliner to in behind the glove box. I heavily suggest checking with a flashlight behind your glove box when it is raining to see if you can find moisture or drips as mine was dripping on the 4wd and locker computer modules.
Thanks, guys...I suspect that's exactly my problem. I'll check it out in the next little while. For now I'll just leave one of the drain plugs off to drain the water. Cheers!
You guys in BC are definitely the crash test dummies for leaky sunroofs. Good luck!
So an interesting observation last night. I went to Greg's shop to change my diff and t-case fluids, and in the process of telling Greg about the lake that forms on my front floorpan when it rains heavily, I must have rolled back the sunroof sunshade and forgot to pull it back closed when I drove home.
This morning, I noticed the sunshade was open and there was a sizable drip mark from the front passenger corner of the sunroof opening, down the headliner, on to the grab handle, and dripping to the front passenger seat.
I'm thinking that maybe there's someting wrong with the gasket and it's allowing water to leak onto the sunshade, and since the sunshade goes part way into the headliner, this water is being directed towards and down the A pillar and to my floor? Any guesses? Thanks.
This morning, I noticed the sunshade was open and there was a sizable drip mark from the front passenger corner of the sunroof opening, down the headliner, on to the grab handle, and dripping to the front passenger seat.
I'm thinking that maybe there's someting wrong with the gasket and it's allowing water to leak onto the sunshade, and since the sunshade goes part way into the headliner, this water is being directed towards and down the A pillar and to my floor? Any guesses? Thanks.
sailor
Jackass of all trades
I tried the weed eater line but was unable to penetrate (lol) the drains more than about 3 feet. I get the moisture on the headliner seam as well but no pooling yet. But I do park under cover so likely less exposure...
Just buy a new sunroof they are about $300.
Will take about 30 min to install.
Changed on my 92 and 94. NO more leaks now!
LandCrusher80
What about pouring bleach into the drains? I know AC guys use bleach to clear clogged drains lines in home AC units.
