Clearing sunroof drain clog from the bottom up due to inoperable sunroof?

[ariotofmyown]

After leaving my 98 LX470 outside in a heavy rain last week, I had a significant water leak from the hood latch into the driver's footwell. I know from other threads that this is likely caused by clogged sunroof drains.

The problem in my case is, my sunroof is inoperable (frozen cables). Since Ive never had any leaks from the sunroof itself, I've avoided doing the costly repair to make it operable. Therefore, I can't clear the clogged sunroof drain from the top down as is usually recommended.

Does anyone know if its possible to clear them from the bottom up? I suppose compressed air wont work since there's no clear exit at the top in my case, so I'd have to use wire/line to do it. Also, where precisely are the sunroof drain exit points under the car? Im having trouble locating them.

Any and all help appreciated - thanks!

 

[FrankieJoe14]

You can pop off the black plastic trim of the sunroof from the inside of the truck to expose the 4 bolts that hold the glass to the track. Unbolt them and then the glass is free.

Be careful though, the bolts have really soft steel and can be overtorqued and broken easily.

 

[dbfw]

At this risk of seeming like this is all I post now, I just had to deal with the same issue on my 99 a few weeks back. My sunroof is also stuck closed and as mentioned above, it is easy to remove the glass to clear the drains from the top. Here is a quick write up I did when I had mine apart: Wet carpet driver side

 

[ariotofmyown]

Thanks for the help...this is exactly the info I was looking for!
I'll give it a shot and come back for sympathy if I end up dropping the glass!

 

[perk]

FWIW, I ran a bead of Big Stretch clear caulking around my broken and leaking sunroof a few years ago; still dry.

 

[ariotofmyown]

At this risk of seeming like this is all I post now, I just had to deal with the same issue on my 99 a few weeks back. My sunroof is also stuck closed and as mentioned above, it is easy to remove the glass to clear the drains from the top. Here is a quick write up I did when I had mine apart: Wet carpet driver side

Got the drains cleared yesterday. That was way easier than I anticipated. Thanks again for the help!

 

[prwillard2]

FWIW, I ran a bead of Big Stretch clear caulking around my broken and leaking sunroof a few years ago; still dry.

I used white on mine. Plan on running a full length roof rack eventually, so I didn't care about an inop sunroof.

 

[87warrior]

My sun roof was stuck in the "all most" closed position. The back of the glass hung down about 1/8" from the roof line and in a heavy rain, water would pour into the sunroof channel and overwhelm the drains. I had to stick a few washers on the glass mounting studs to lift the rear. I then sealed it with flow-able silicon (windshield leak silicon) and topped it with Eterna-Bond RV roof sealer. Hasn't leaked a drop. Now the inoperable sunroof is covered with a flexible solar panel.