[tremor12]

I had my car outside during a huge rain a few weeks back. While the trunk stayed dry, I had water an inch and a half deep in the rear footwell behind the driver, plus the headliner and "C" pillar cover were soaked.

I just got the car recently and knew by the junkyard number on the sunroof track that it had been replaced (although it works perfectly and silently...), so I figured that with the amount of water, the drains had to be disconnected...

After looking at the service manual, I saw that the sunroof drains through the trunk, so I wanted to check those first. I saw posts here about compressed air, but that is absolutely NOT necessary.

I pulled out the first drain (all you have to do is pull back the trunk lining on the forward-most part of the trunk sides and look, there is a tube on each side that goes through the floor just in front of hte wheelwell). I looked at the ennd of the tube and it was totally plugged with dirt and grime. I took a small pick and got all of the plug out and all of a sudden, water started coming out. Probably 1/4 cup in total -- basically the entire tube was filled. I found the same thing on the other side.

Once I had the plugs out, I blew through the tubes and could tell they were clear. If you need more than lung pressure, you've got something very wrong with your drain system! With them clear, I added about a pint of water into each side of the sunroof channel and saw the water drain right in front of the rear wheels and behind the front wheels -- exactly as they are supposed to.

I'm confident that I'll have no more leaks now. With the rear drains filled, the sunroof tray filled up and the water had nowhere to go, except inside the cabin... now I'm back to normal.

It's a simple and easy procedure... shouldn't take more than five minutes... so get out there and check!

 

[MacKiNBacK]

Is the front drain channels pretty easy to locate? Think im going to check mine out just to be sure.

MacK

 

[WarrenJ]

Any lasting damage?

Regards,
Warren

 

[tremor12]

No lasting damage at all, can't even tell that the headliner was ever wet... no staining, etc.

The front drains on mine were clear, so I didn't look into them too deeply. The service manual says to take a pint of water and pour it into the sunroof drain channel. If you do it near the front drains (at each outside front corner), you should see the water drain out right behind the front wheels. If they are plugged, you can probalby feed a wire through the drain to clear any debris.

 

[91TexasSeville]

No lasting damage at all, can't even tell that the headliner was ever wet... no staining, etc.

The front drains on mine were clear, so I didn't look into them too deeply. The service manual says to take a pint of water and pour it into the sunroof drain channel. If you do it near the front drains (at each outside front corner), you should see the water drain out right behind the front wheels. If they are plugged, you can probalby feed a wire through the drain to clear any debris.

The plastic drains are very susceptible to damage. Use trimmer string to clear clogged sunroof drains. NEVER use compressed air; the drains are not anchored to the channels by anything more than friction. You really do not want to remove the headliner to put them back on!

 

[tremor12]

The plastic drains are very susceptible to damage. Use trimmer string to clear clogged sunroof drains. NEVER use compressed air; the drains are not anchored to the channels by anything more than friction. You really do not want to remove the headliner to put them back on!

I think I said that in my first post!

 

[sjwoodruff]

Is the front drain channels pretty easy to locate? Think im going to check mine out just to be sure.

MacK

Relative pain in the butt to access the actual tubes. You can see the drain hole in the front corners of your sunroof channel if you retract it and look from above.

To get to the actual front tubes, you need to drop the headliner. You remove the "A' pillar mohair trim piece (clipped in) - this will expose the actual plastic tube. Unscrew the visor mount, unclip the vanity light, remove the grab handle above the door. This should allow you to gently pull down the headliner enough to see the drain tube attached to the sunroof drain. You'll need some torx drivers, as the screws aren't typical flathead or phillips style. I think you need torx sizes 10 and 15 - don't quote me on that though.

I'd simply test like mentioned above to see if water flows freely or not before going throught the hassle of disassembly. The 'A' pillar trim pieces do not enjoy being removed, as the clips are delicate and press-fit or glued in. Have some liquid nails on hand to re-glue in case you pull the uppermost clip away from the trim piece, as it is glued at the factory.

My front tubes were actually disconnected because the previous owner damaged the sunroof and forgot to reconnect them at reinstall. Rather than break everything down and fix it the right way, he simply caulked (no misprint) the sunroof shut. I cleaned off the caulk, dropped the headliner and reconnected the drain tubes with adhesive and duct tape for good measure - now it's tight as a button. The previous dripping water did ruin both front door speakers and shorted the in-car trunk button, but I repaired those too. Luckily, the car wasn't musty from the leaking water.