Disclaimer: I searched before posting this about my 1996 FZJ80. I was vacuuming the floor liners and carpet this weekend and found my front passenger floorboard carpet was wet. I checked the threads on here and followed the advice of what others had done. The sunroof drains are clear, the A/C tube is "peeing" out the bottom of the vehicle like it's supposed to, and the heater core is not the culprit either. I removed the paneling in front of the passenger door to the right of the glove box and found water was dripping inside where the wiring connection is located inside that square hole with the rounded edges(see pic). It was coming from inside that panel from about the hole. I had Mrs. Tripper run the hose and didn't see any water coming in from the weatherstripping seal around the windshield. The water is dripping onto the wiring/plugs which is why I had to pull them out the hole. I've no clue how long this has been going on since it was masked under the weathertech floor liners this whole time. Any clue on where else to check for leaks? I also made a point to leave the roof racks out of the hose shower and it still leaked so I've ruled those out. Maybe something in the cowl?
Another water leak thread(i'm out of troubleshooting ideas)
- Thread starter JackTHEtripper
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another close up picture of the hole the water was coming down from, from the inside
I don't know if this is the cause of your problem, but since the drain tube for your sun roof runs down the inside of that A pillar here's my idea. Have your wife flood the sun roof with your garden hose while you check to see if your water leak shows up. If it does, your drain hose may be lose, or have a hole worn in it allowing some of the water to leak out before it gets to the rockers.
Hornd
SILVER Star
If you have cleaned your drains both top and bottom and still have water and your sure it's not the windshield (my problem) then the headliner must come down and the drain connections inspected.
You can rule out the sunroof by duck taping the seam.
You can rule out the sunroof by duck taping the seam.
- Thread starter
- #5
the windshield guy I brought it too has been doing windshields for 35 years and commented that he's seen some of these models develop cracks in the drain tubing, and like you said, some of the water will drain like it's supposed to but a small amount will leak out the drain system before it makes it through the entire length of the tube.
- Thread starter
- #6
your suggestion is exactly what I was going to do next...seal off the sunroof to see if that eliminates the leak. How much of a hassle is it to remove the headliner? I feel like if I go through all the trouble of removing the headliner, I might as well replace the drain tubing...I mean they are 20+ years old after all and even if they aren't the problem I could proactively restore them so they don't come around to screw me with another leak down the road.
Hornd
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #8
just scrolled through that thread and it's exactly what I was looking for. I wish it'd had come up in the thread search so I wouldn't have had to make ANOTHER water leak thread but hey, I was desperate. thanks to everyone for your input
I've heard the earlier headliners are a bit of a handful compared to the later ones. I'm not sure about interchange. I suspect they'd swap fine with maybe a tweak or two, if the thing doesn't give you fits handling it. Be sure and get some extra hands on deck when you take the 93 loose after you've done some research on how it works.
well the 93 is just an old school headliner setup. i have 2 LX part rigs and i could swap over. i know i would need to redo the trim around the seat belts but i was just before removing my seats and carpet to give them a good cleaning while i install my bodylift over the weekend is why i am asking.
You can swap it over as long as you have the complete parts rig. You'd need headliner, A-pillar trim B-pillar, C-pillar and D-pillar trim prices as well as seat belts I believe. I read about this somewhere on here and someone has done it before. As long as you have a complete interior it should be a breeze.
- Thread starter
- #14
would it be possible to put sealant around the roof rack holes while the headliner is off or would that be something you'd need to do from the topside of the vehicle after unscrewing them?
Are the rocker drains clear? My rocker was filled with water and would not let the sunroof drain fast enough. The hose would back up and it would leak from the sunroof. When I unclogged one of the front rocker drain holes, water came out for 15 minutes! No more water on my floor board.
- Thread starter
- #16
yeah the water drains completely through in about 10 seconds. I'm pretty sure the culprit is a connection/split/hole in the line that the headliner is hiding.
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I was super disappointed when my new to me LX450 had a sunroof leak on day one.
Seals, drains, carpet, I feared the worst. I lost sleep, I dreamt of complete headliner removal and dropping $250 on a new sunroof.
I verified all (4) drains, and I even had to put the zip tie to the rockers, but it was certainly the seal. So here is my super cheap fix, and I hope that it saves someone some ca$h.
Step 1: remove the left and right garnish on the sunroof while sitting in the car. It will break, there is no way around it, just accept the fact the garnish covering the (6) 10mm nuts will break.
Step 2: remove the glass from the truck and take it in the house and set it on a table, with something soft under it. I used a rubber kid seat protector.
** note how easy the glass lifts out and goes back in. If it drops in and pops out with little to no effort that is a clear indication that the gasket has shrunk.
Step 3: clean the glass and assembly, I used pinesol and water, then I lubed, messaged, the gasket with this stuff. I had in in the garage.
Step 4: Jam this screen door rope (0.160) that you can get for $5 at the hardware store into the gasket seam and let it sit overnight, with plenty of the lube on the gasket.
** the sunroof will not fit back in the sunroof hole with this rubber rope in the gasket. The rope is too fat.
Step 5: make sure you clean the outside seam with lube and a smooth device, i used the smooth end of a 1/8" drill bit.
Step 6: remove the rubber rope and add paracord to the gasket seam and see if the sunroof will drop down into the sunroof hole. My sunroof was still too wide with the paracord in the gasket seam.
Step 7: if the stuffed gasket is still too fat to fit back in the truck, remove the center cord from the paracord and try again.
Step 8: you will see that with each fit attempt you can see where you need to trim out the paracord filler, I had to cut out most of the back side of the paracord for the glass to just bearly drop into the sunroof hole.
Step 9: once the panel will go back in and out of the sunroof "with help" you can see where adding meat to the gasket will really minimize the gap between the sheet metal and the glass gasket. So snug everything back up and then actuate the assembly after the bolts are tight.
Check for clearances, and don't force anything.
Step 10: go get some 3M silicone past at NAPA and lube all of the moving parts especially the two worm gears.
Notes: I Rain-X'd the glass while it was out.
The 3M silicone paste is the jam.
I like the VRF stuff works great on all kinds of car plastics, with no odor.
I accepted the fact that the LH and RH garnish would never be seen again.
I did add a shim at one location to get the gasket near flush to the roof.
Here is the link for the shimms Sun roof shim part number
Seals, drains, carpet, I feared the worst. I lost sleep, I dreamt of complete headliner removal and dropping $250 on a new sunroof.
I verified all (4) drains, and I even had to put the zip tie to the rockers, but it was certainly the seal. So here is my super cheap fix, and I hope that it saves someone some ca$h.
Step 1: remove the left and right garnish on the sunroof while sitting in the car. It will break, there is no way around it, just accept the fact the garnish covering the (6) 10mm nuts will break.
Step 2: remove the glass from the truck and take it in the house and set it on a table, with something soft under it. I used a rubber kid seat protector.
** note how easy the glass lifts out and goes back in. If it drops in and pops out with little to no effort that is a clear indication that the gasket has shrunk.
Step 3: clean the glass and assembly, I used pinesol and water, then I lubed, messaged, the gasket with this stuff. I had in in the garage.
Step 4: Jam this screen door rope (0.160) that you can get for $5 at the hardware store into the gasket seam and let it sit overnight, with plenty of the lube on the gasket.
** the sunroof will not fit back in the sunroof hole with this rubber rope in the gasket. The rope is too fat.
Step 5: make sure you clean the outside seam with lube and a smooth device, i used the smooth end of a 1/8" drill bit.
Step 6: remove the rubber rope and add paracord to the gasket seam and see if the sunroof will drop down into the sunroof hole. My sunroof was still too wide with the paracord in the gasket seam.
Step 7: if the stuffed gasket is still too fat to fit back in the truck, remove the center cord from the paracord and try again.
Step 8: you will see that with each fit attempt you can see where you need to trim out the paracord filler, I had to cut out most of the back side of the paracord for the glass to just bearly drop into the sunroof hole.
Step 9: once the panel will go back in and out of the sunroof "with help" you can see where adding meat to the gasket will really minimize the gap between the sheet metal and the glass gasket. So snug everything back up and then actuate the assembly after the bolts are tight.
Check for clearances, and don't force anything.
Step 10: go get some 3M silicone past at NAPA and lube all of the moving parts especially the two worm gears.
Notes: I Rain-X'd the glass while it was out.
The 3M silicone paste is the jam.
I like the VRF stuff works great on all kinds of car plastics, with no odor.
I accepted the fact that the LH and RH garnish would never be seen again.
I did add a shim at one location to get the gasket near flush to the roof.
Here is the link for the shimms Sun roof shim part number
