Headliner apart... sunroof leak, help!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

W

whodkne

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Threads
20
Messages
72
I will gather some pics as well, but just took a break from getting all bits and pieces off to look at the drains, etc. Made sure drains were clear a few weekends back and they were. Sunroof leaks in any rain and is evident by water eventually dripping down at front dome light, sides of headliner, etc.

From what I can see all drain lines look attached firmly and nothing for that looks out of place. What I do see is that I don't think the sunroof is closing all the way or "locking" in to place. We determined the leak is from the rear previously, waiting to dump some water on top to confirm. There seems to be a metal "fin" that extends width-wise along the rear edge of the sunroof mechanism and when the roof is fully closed it looks like this piece (which has a rubber gasket along the leading edge) is supposed to mate up with the rear edge of the sunroof window. Can anyone confirm this?

I expected this black plastic piece to be some sort of wind dampening piece but it doesn't ever seem to extend up... again, this is on the back side of the sunroof towards the rear of the car. The rubber stripping on it leads me to believe it is some sort of "seal" for the closed window (the sunroof glass doesn't seem to push all the way back up in the rear) and if this is the case then the water is leaking in the rear of the sunroof window and there doesn't appear to be any sort of "trough" there to catch water that leaks in this area.

Any help is appreciated, especially of a fully closed sunroof from the interior towards the rear. I am going to take pics of mine now... thanks!!!
 
Here are the pics I just took... the g/f was standing on the running board drenching the sunroof with a hose and doing that WHILE pushing down on the back part of the window was able to get water to splash in the interior. I am still not sure if the black blade with the gasket is supposed to hold tight against anything while in the closed position (I see that when you slide the sunroof back it does meet up with the trailing edge of the window, so that might be the only time it actually touches anything).

So either that gasket/blade piece isn't sitting right in the closed position to keep water that comes in from getting to the headliner (versus going in the trough to the drains) OR the sunroof isn't meant to leak that bad and the seal on the window isn't good in the back anymore and it needs a new seal/window.

Thoughts?

sunroofleak1.jpg


sunroofleak2.jpg
 
Here are a few things to check:

How's the operation of your sunroof (does it open in about 6 seconds, is it smooth, are there any "abnormal" sounds or binding)?

Inspect the difference in level between the sliding roof glass at the weather strip and the (outside) roof panel when it's fully closed. You could have an approximate 0 - 1.5mm deviation.

Does it open at the same rate?
When you open the sunroof, does it open straight? You will want to measure the left side and the right side to ensure that they are the same when open and closed.

Sometimes the problem isn't with the sunroof. It can be a condensation problem.

If you are in the Sacramento area, send me a PM with your telephone number. I might be able to help you this week.
 
Thanks for the thoughts... as far as operation, it is perfectly fine. Opens and closes evenly and smoothly. It is definitely NOT a condensation problem... we're talking a LOT of water.

Sadly, I'm not in Sac... I'm near LA right by the grapevine off the 5.
 
:frown: Bummer. I had mine totally apart 2 weeks ago for a DVD install, but it's back together again now. I'll check and see if any of the pictures are helpful, but it's a long shot...
 
For now I left all the interior panels out and put the seat belts back in operation. I put a pretty thin, about 4" wide piece of what is sold as rug tape (basically a really thin piece of insulation tape that is sold to put on wood floors to keep rugs from sliding around). Put this on the sunroof window tilted up and then closed it... it didn't want to close, but finally got it to stay and had to push it back down in to place. I'm hoping that is enough pressure between the roof and window to makeup for the bad gasket? I think I have. We have rain coming this week so this may give some further insight with the headliner out to see what might be the problem if not just the window gasket.

Still, my mind is not at ease... I mean, obviously they know that the sunroof will leak hence the trays and drains... and while nothing seems "wrong" about my sunroof, it is leaking way more than it should. The only thing I can see is the window gasket and it does not look replaceable.
 
Interesting, thanks for the image and part info... I figure I'll drive it over to the local dealer tomorrow, with it all apart and see if they have any insight. Then at least we can look at ordering parts.... I wonder if that weatherstrip is self adhesive...
 
I had a leak in my sunroof last week and after searching the forum i found about athe drainage system, but can't find how to adjust the sunroof as when it's totally closed the right side is lower then the left so it leaks more.

Any ideas how to adjust the sunroof level?

Cheers
Issa
 
if you have a compressor, spray some foaming glass cleaner around the edge of the of the sunroof on the top side, then take an air nozzle and spray around the seal from the inside, you should be able to see it bubble on the outside if there is a leak in that area.
 
Khorrassany said:
I had a leak in my sunroof last week and after searching the forum i found about athe drainage system, but can't find how to adjust the sunroof as when it's totally closed the right side is lower then the left so it leaks more.

Any ideas how to adjust the sunroof level?

Cheers
Issa
Click to expand...

Sounds like something is binding up..I would check to make sure everything is lubed..if thats all good, you may have a bad cable
 
RedEuro said:
Sounds like something is binding up..I would check to make sure everything is lubed..if thats all good, you may have a bad cable
Click to expand...
Actually it works fine so I guess it's not a cable problem...I cleaned it today and made sure the drainage pipes work fine and they do, but still there is a little level difference in the back of the sunroof when closed. I'm trying to find the exploded picture for the sunroof parts but can't find any.
 
Khorrassany said:
Actually it works fine so I guess it's not a cable problem...I cleaned it today and made sure the drainage pipes work fine and they do, but still there is a little level difference in the back of the sunroof when closed. I'm trying to find the exploded picture for the sunroof parts but can't find any.
Click to expand...

Look at the link I put on post #7 that shows an exploded view of the sunroof.

Since you've determined that the cable is not the problem, here is how to adjust the glass.

As far as adjusting the glass, you will need to remove the plastic trim on the glass and loosen the nuts that holds the glass in place and move the glass in the direction you want to adjust it in (left/right or forward/rearward).

To adjust the glass height, loosen the screws that are securing the sunroof glass mount to the track/cable and move it up or down then tighten the screws back. Inspect the glass in the fully opened position to see if it sits straight in the track. If not, then inspect your sunroof cables for alignment.

If these adjustments don't work, then you may need to remove the sunroof motor and force the sunroof to close manually (by hand) so that both cables are closing at the sunroof glass same time. There are alignment marks on the tracks.
If you still can't adjust it properly and the cables are aligned but the rear of the glass is still lower, then try to adjust the glass again or remove the cable to inspect it. The cable may have a hairline crack that's not visible in it's installed position.

I use a white teflon grease to lubricate my sunroof cables, tracks, and moving parts. I have also had good luck with white lithium grease.

Good luck...
 
Thanks Yotato that's useful...I took the plastic trim apart yesterday before reading this and adjusted the nuts a little but didn't figure out how to adjust the level though, so after reading this will have to take it apart again and check the screws.
Thanks for the tip!

Cheers
 
Anyone have any pictures of these alleged drainage holes? My cruise just started leaking in the same way. :frown:

Edit: Disregard. I found the drainage holes and they're not clogged. I wasn't able to replicate the leaking again either. I have absolutely no idea where this water came from, but it exited through my dome light.
 
Last edited:
You may have already addressed this, but it looks like you have removed your roof rack?

I spent a lot of time tracking down a leak that I thought was sunroof related, but it turned out that my failure to plug the old roof rack holes with some new hardware was causing the leak.

I even ordered the plastic OEM covers to plug up the openings, but water continued to leak through until I sealed the holes up with some new hardware.

If you check out the design of the sunroof you'll see that it's actually designed to allow for the weather stripping to leak without issue, so I would focus on something else (drain tubes intact, aftermarket windshield, roof rack, etc)
 
Last edited:
mechanixhorseman said:
Anyone have any pictures of these alleged drainage holes? My cruise just started leaking in the same way. :frown:

Edit: Disregard. I found the drainage holes and they're not clogged. I wasn't able to replicate the leaking again either. I have absolutely no idea where this water came from, but it exited through my dome light.
Click to expand...

I had a little water last rain, but I found that was because I didn't rtv or loc-tite the bolts for the new roof rack / bolts that were removed from the factory rack. I knew I was at risk for this, but it rained the day after I put my new rack on and I didn't bring sealant to Pismo. Rained all last night, just checked and it's dry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom