Sunroof or Windshield Leak ? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 12, 2017
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Location
Bozeman, MT
Hello Team MUD!

Recently purchased my 99' LC about two months ago. I knew when I bought it that the sunroof was not working. But was advised that as long as I didn't care about having it open that it shouldn't be an issue.

However, it had not been raining at the time I bought the LC, so I didn't think too much about it (and maybe I wanted to be able to sleep soundly at night not worrying about rain water pouring into my brand new LC).

I was looking to repair the front passenger door handle, when I noticed the floor was all soggy from recent rains. See my expertly crafted video below.



After some research, I've come to the conclusion that either the sunroof is to blame ( perhaps its clogged) OR there might be a windshield gasket issue.

Broken Sunroof (leaks?)

From what I can hear, it sounds like the motor might still be good on the sun roof, I can hear it engage ( see video). However, the tracks might be seized... I've read about replacing these by taking out the sunroof cartridge and replacing the guides. This involved taking out the headliner.

Questions:

1. Based on the supplied video I took, does it sound like the motor might be attempting to work (Tilt/Slide)? Curious since, I want to put together a list of parts to buy to get the sunroof working properly.

2. Is there a way to take out the sun roof manually (without taking out the headliner) so that I can clean out the drip rails/drain holes? I feel like this is MOST important, since I want to get the rain to stop coming into the LC. I didn't see in the FSM if there was a procedure for only taking out the glass. I only have access to a 2004 FSM ( haven't found a 99' specific one and I know that they should be about 99% the same).

3. If you see all the water dripping in through the dashboard, does that make it look like a drip coming from a clogged drain tube OR a windshield gasket that needs to be replaced? You can see there is already rust there from when the previous owner decided not to deal with the water issue I am now tackling.

Its been raining for the last week plus here in Northern California and winter has just started. If I have to go through the trouble of tearing apart the headliner to get access to the sunroof to fix the leak, I feel like I might as well try and fix the sunroof while I have the headliner out. The wire harness that runs down the passenger seat is sitting in standing water. I'd prefer to keep my electronics out of water's harm by fixing this ASAP.

Thank you for your suggestions and wisdom.
 
You do not need the sunroof to be open in order to remove the glass. On the left and right sides of the glass you will see a black plastic trim piece. Pull straight down on this to remove it. There will be nuts under there that can be removed and the glass then lifts out. You should then be able to pour water down the front and rear drain tubes to see if they are clogged. The easiest way to clear the tubes is to use heavy gauge string from a lawn string trimmer. I actually used a copper wire covered in plastic...pulled a wire out of a piece or romex. You should be able to run the wire all of the way down the front. Once the line is clear, you can see water dripping out the drains under the car. It is more difficult to snake out the rear as it is harder to see the hole, but once you get it in there you should be able to run it several feet back. There are many posts on here that include photos, which you might find helpful.

The other potential issue could be a poor windshield installation. If the installer did not use the correct size rivets or didn't use rivets at all then water could be getting into the old rivet holes and running down the A-Pillars. Some people have had success in stopping the leak by removing the thin black strip along the sides to expose the rivet holes, and then caulking this area before reinstalling the black strip.

Good luck. I hope you are able to find the issue and get it fixed.
 
Also be careful when pulling that black plastic trim.. A friend of a friend of my aunt told me, the clips on it might break :D
 
Speculating here, but with the volume of water you have coming into the car at 00:47, it seems more likely to be coming from the sunroof. If it were from the windshield, I'd expect some wind noise to go along with leak that significant.

I'd pull the headliner and put eyes on everything, but I'm also a fan of working sunroofs. Good luck sorting it out.
 
Thank you for the suggestions and feedback @michael99b @l3n0x and @aging fleet . It was pretty easy to get the black trim off ( there were four pieces in total). And the 4 x 10mm nuts that hold the sunroof in place.

I immediately saw a pool of water on the passenger side and some sediment build-up. I used some weed wacker twine and fished it down a few times and then attempted to blow it out with my mobile compressor.

It started to drizzle and I had to hop back in the house to watch one of my daughter, so I didn't get to test it out with a pitcher of water. I figure it will be pretty obvious if its leaking still.

Also got a look at the cables in the channel. Yeah, I guess these could definitely be stuck. I probably won't try and tackle this until its nicer weather. I just hope that for the time being I've resolved the leaking issue in the passenger side rug!

Glad I got some help from the forum and from my son.
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