Leaking Moonroof Drain and Moonroof won't open

[jmeich]

Hello everyone, I have been reading this forum like crazy for the past month as I shopped for a Cruiser. It has been a huge help! We just had our 2nd child (on 3/17) and my access cab Tacoma was no longer sufficient.

I stumbled upon a LC in the town where I live. It is a 1998 with 120k and it has been well maintained at the dealership. I thought I got a really good deal, but I have had a few headaches since the purchase (all compounded by a newborn in the house!). I am on the verge of just tying to sell the thing, but we will see how much work is required to fix this leak.

I knew the moon roof did not operate when I purchased it - I did not really care. (The dealer ship said it is a bad motor $700 to replace).

Another issue I was aware of was a bit of moisture in the driver's side foot well. My (incorrect) assumption was that this was being caused by a small rust hole in the front quarter panel next to the rear of wheel well. I patched that -sorry I used fiber glass resin, I promise I will get a patch panel and have a buddy help me weld this summer. So the leak persisted, we had a down pour yesterday and it was soaked. A quick search (wish I had done that in the first place) led me to this thread. , and many similar ones on the 80 forum.

So it seems I have either clogged or pinched drain tubes. My question is, how do I access the tubes with a moon roof that is stuck shut?

I assume I have to do a moon roof removal and headliner removal? Thought I would ask before I tore into a big job. I know there is a manual method to opening the moon roof on the 80's but from a forum search it seems that it isn't possible on the 100's.

I have been reading over the moon roof removal section of the 2004 manual. If anyone has any words of advice I would appreciate it.

Another thought - has anyone tried just sealing the moon roof with caulk? I really don't care if it ever opens, and if it would save me a little time now, maybe I could get to doing it right in a few months when my son is a little older.

Thanks for your help, and please accept my apologies in advance if I missed any obvious threads that would be relevant to my situation. Can I blame it on sleep deprivation?

 

[nautilus]

Before you tear into the sunroof check your roof rack, that was the cause of my foot well leak.

Windshield replacement is another common cause.

 

[jmeich]

Thanks for the tip. How did you diagnose the roof rack issue? Was something loose?

 

[Ammobro]

Thanks for the tip. How did you diagnose the roof rack issue? Was something loose?

Working on this now, what was it??

 

[staggrlee]

You can still clear the drains without opening the glass.

Get yourself an inspection mirror and some flexible but somewhat stiff cable. Cat6 ethernet cable with connector cutoff and electrical tape wrapped around the end works well.

Open the moonroof visor and look for the holes in the corners and feed the cable into them. Don't jam them in if you meet strong resistance, you can push the hoses off. If they're clogged you'll see water and goo come out under the truck. If not it's likely your problem is elsewhere.

Probably ought to remove a plug or two from the foot well until you sort it out. Just tug them out from underneath the truck.

 

[Placemotorsports]

You can also unbolt the moon roof and take the glass panel out to access the holes easier

 

[JMan5000]

How did this ever turn out for you? I've got the exact same problem with my 02'.

 

[JMan5000]

You can also unbolt the moon roof and take the glass panel out to access the holes easier

Could there be an issue with the glass sealing properly after reinstalling it? I'm dealing with the same thing and I'd like to not cut, clean and splice the drain hoses from inside the pillars if possible. Taking the glass out makes me nervous thinking I could be creating new leaks after unplugging the moonroof drains.

 

[Ayune]

Could there be an issue with the glass sealing properly after reinstalling it? I'm dealing with the same thing and I'd like to not cut, clean and splice the drain hoses from inside the pillars if possible. Taking the glass out makes me nervous thinking I could be creating new leaks after unplugging the moonroof drains.

It's pretty easy to re-install the glass panel in the same position as factory. There will be marks from the nuts, just position the panel back where it was originally and reinstall the nuts over the marks. Here's one of mine:

Nut on:

Nut off:

 

[JMan5000]

It's pretty easy to re-install the glass panel in the same position as factory. There will be marks from the nuts, just position the panel back where it was originally and reinstall the nuts over the marks. Here's one of mine:

Nut on:
View attachment 2098994

Nut off:
View attachment 2098995

Very nice! Thank you!

 

[e9999]

on the 80 I was surprised at how easy it is to remove the glass. May be the same with the 100. When gone, it's easy to access the drains. Between that and going up from underneath you should be clog free hopefully. Btw, there is no need to worry about leaks after replacing the glass IMO because from what I have seen, the moonroofs are not intended to be waterproof when closed anyway (at least on the 80 but I suspect many other vehicles). That's why there are drains, of course. The sealing is good enough to not have a lot of water going in at once and what there is then just drains away.