Just fixed (hopefully) a leaking sunroof...

[ar_ken]

It was pouring rain last night here in Toronto. I parked my truck outside and when I got back inside my truck, I noticed the area around the airbag badge on the A-pillar was wet.. I knew it was my turn to get the legendary leaking sunroof.

Anyways from the research I had done on here and disco3.co.uk, I found out the "solution" to the problem, which is to nip off the end of the drain hose located behind the front fenders.

I had my friend put an air gun through the drain opening on the sunroof. At the beginning, the air coming out from the end was very weak. After a few more tries and some unknown debris hitting my face, my drain tube was finally clear.

The only negative in this process is that the passenger side air vent grille, which had its lower tabs broken off while I was trying to remove it. Can anyone post the proper steps to pull it off? I don't really plan to do this process any time soon, however I might want to buy a new side grille and put it on... it's now being held with the upper tabs as well as some silicone on the bottom.

I spent almost 3 hours with my hairdryer to dry the floor boards... I believe there might still be some moisture down there, but I will continue to dry it using the hairdryer... or if anyone can suggest any other quicker/more efficient way it would be really appreicate it!

 

[Trynian]

For the vent, you have to lift up then pull the bottum out.

 

[ar_ken]

I wish I asked before doing it =( but it was pretty urgent as the weather in Toronto is going to be bad for the next week or so... let's hope the fix holds up well...

 

[kwlr3]

To dry the carpet, pull the up on the door threshold trim and remove the foot well kick panels. If this is the drivers side, pull up on the pad on the foot rest to access the two 10mm (??) nuts to remove that. Lift the carpet and stick the nozel of your shop vac in there. You will be amazed at how much water the carpet can hold. The foam padding is really thick and water will wick all the way over to the center. After you shop vac it, stuff a dry towel in there and and press down on the carpet to squeeze some more out. It it's really wet you might want to leave it apart like this for a couple of days. Heat from the exhaust and some air circulation will dry it out far faster than the hair dryer.

 

[ar_ken]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll certainly try to lift the carpets that way and see if there's anymore moisture inside... the surface feels dry for now but I'm sure with my luck, there might still be some water down there...

Just another quick question for you guys who had tried this repair before, have you ever had the same leakage ever since you snipped the end of the tubes? I'm hoping that it's going to be the end of me taking apart the side grille and fender wells.. I'm actually going to include "clearing out sunroof drain tubes" as part of my "maintenance"...

 

[Mr.BigsLR3]

Busy day with the LR today...

Ignore...sorry..

 

[ar_ken]

So I followed the instruction provided by kwlr3 to dry the carpet... good that I actually took the time to do it..

The foam below the carpet was SOAKED with water. I had to vacuum it, dry it with a towel, then blow the area dry with the hairdryer (again).. took almost 3-4 hours for it to be dried out...

Now I'm crossing fingers not to have electrical problems in the near future... opps.. I just jinxed myself

P.S. I was unable to take the foot rest on the driver side off, but I was able to lift up most of the carpet anyways..

 

[hell pie]

To remove the footrest on the driver's side, you will need to first pry off the top piece of the footrest with a small flathead screwdriver. Once that is off, you will see a torx screw that needs to be removed.

On my LR3, I had wet carpet in the front footwells, along the sills, and underneath the 2nd row seats. I removed both the the front and 2nd row seats, and pulled up the carpet in order to dry it. Next I "circumcised" all four drain tubes (two front and two back). I then poured water down each of the four drain tubes to make sure they were not clogged and that they were indeed draining properly. Since all the seats were out, I took the time to give them and the carpet a thorough cleaning. It took me close to two weeks of working on the LR in the evenings to finish the job.

I really enjoy my LR3, but the sunroof drainage system seems like an afterthought. I think the clogged drain tubes are only part of the problem of water ingress. When I removed the wheelwell plastic over the front tires, a HUGE clump of dirt and leaves fell to the ground. This dirt was in the area where the drain tubes were emptying. There was so much dirt that I think it prevented the water from draining and instead caused the water to leak into the vehicle.

 

[USAFbuckeye]

I had this same problem. Mine were so clogged that during my test to see where the water was coming from, it began pouring from the seatbelt attachment points. My problem was that the rear drains were not only clogged, but pinched off at the exits.

After cleaning and re-seating, I've not (knock on wood) had any further troubles.

I made sure to spray some anti-fungal/mold to the carpet foam to prevent any...so far so good.

 

[Reed_HSE]

i saw somewhere on here detailed instructions on how to unclog this drain tube. My cars been leaking out of the front overhead light and my dvd player, (not sure if dealer install or not, im the 2nd owner.) i know there out there somewhere if anyone can point me in the right direction.