Water leak from dome light?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

djkaosone

'11 LR4 HSE LUX 5.0L V8
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Posts
1,012
Reaction score
682
Location
SoCal
The drain tubes go down to your side vents. Look for tubes on the top rear corner of each or your side vents and try clearing it from there.
 

Justin Allen

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2020
Posts
128
Reaction score
14
Location
North Carolina
Yeah I found it now. However I broke one side vent trying to remove it. So there's another $100 immediately tacked on to this job...

Getting the headliner removed was easy. Getting back in looks like it's going to be a *****
 

ryanjl

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Posts
3,018
Reaction score
1,792
Location
KCMO
You can buy aftermarket side vents from PowerfulUK, or I'm sure you can find used ones on eBay or something.
 

CKJordan

Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2006
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
I have had the same issue with trimmer string looping back through some invisible opening in the sunroof and have never been able to use string to push through the full length of drain tube to clear the line. Because of this I generally pull the end of the drain line from the lower footwell of driver / passenger side and use compressed air to blow out any blockage. It seems that I have to use compressed air at least once a quarter otherwise the drivers side stops draining and I have leaks.. When trying to run trimmer string from the bottom up to sunroof I run into some sort of bind / blockage that I cannot push through. Anyone else successful in pushing trimmer string through the full length of tube? Love the LR4 except for sunroof leaks....
 

Rover Range

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2022
Posts
534
Reaction score
290
Location
Texas
Sometimes the rear drain tubes will have slight bow- upwards- that can cause the sunroof not to drain.
You can cut an inch off the hose and reinsert it on the barbed fitting.
 

TCPeedo

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2018
Posts
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Traverse City, MI USA
I recently picked up a 2012 LR4 and have this same kind of leak. I have had a few LR3s so I’m familiar with the clogged drains. It started when I went through the car wash. Water came out of the passenger (I have left hand drive) A pillar airbag plastic piece and then dripped out of the dome light LED. I figured clogged drain… I ran the trimmer string through as usual and poured water in the sunroof to test. Water drained and came out on the ground behind each front wheel. Figured it was fine… nope. It rained last night and the passenger headliner nearest the windshield and dome light were soaked and there was water drips on the center console. I have also replaced the outer A pillar cowling clips. Water is coming in from I don’t know where. It’s not the drains or cowling, WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?!
 

Rover Range

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2022
Posts
534
Reaction score
290
Location
Texas
I recently picked up a 2012 LR4 and have this same kind of leak. I have had a few LR3s so I’m familiar with the clogged drains. It started when I went through the car wash. Water came out of the passenger (I have left hand drive) A pillar airbag plastic piece and then dripped out of the dome light LED. I figured clogged drain… I ran the trimmer string through as usual and poured water in the sunroof to test. Water drained and came out on the ground behind each front wheel. Figured it was fine… nope. It rained last night and the passenger headliner nearest the windshield and dome light were soaked and there was water drips on the center console. I have also replaced the outer A pillar cowling clips. Water is coming in from I don’t know where. It’s not the drains or cowling, WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?!
Check the rear drains.
 

BigBriDogGuy

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2023
Posts
355
Reaction score
210
Location
Bellingham, WA (USA)
I just had the exact same problem. Bought the car a little over a month ago and haven't really had any problems. So, tonight, I drive it to drop it off at the local Land Rover mechanic to get an oil change tomorrow and it is raining like mad as I'm driving down the freeway. In the corner of my eye I can swear that I see a drip. Sure enough, when I arrive there are a couple of water splatters on the plastic near the shifter. I examine where it is coming from and it is that hole that is mentioned here with the LED light. It rains here in Washington State a lot and I never noticed anything like that since I bought it. Also, it's a local vehicle so if it was an ongoing problem you would think to see some signs of it (water-stained headliner, mold or mildew smell, etc.). I haven't seen or smelled any evidence of that. Since it is at the mechanics, maybe I can ask them to clear the drain tube(s) and make sure they are attached. It will probably cost me a mint to have them do it, but it's better than having the headliner destroyed. By the way, it stopped raining.

Thanks for this post. It makes me feel a lot better. I thought I was crazy or something. Once again, it's a common and known issue that seems to be fixable. I just wish the fit and finish on these rigs was a little bit better. Seems like they fall apart in all sorts of oddball ways. I can see that getting old fast.
 

BigBriDogGuy

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2023
Posts
355
Reaction score
210
Location
Bellingham, WA (USA)
Picked up the LR4 from the shop after the oil change. They poured water into the driver and passenger side drains and said the driver's was flowing freely while the passenger's was flowing slowly (and leaving some water in the passenger's side footwell). I told them to go ahead and fix it by putting **** eater string through it, or whatever. They declined because it was Friday afternoon and they didn't know how long it would take once they got into it. They did mention they had blown some compressed air through it, but didn't want to be responsible for pushing a **** eater string through it because that could cause some additional damage to the drain tube. I asked what I was supposed to do until they could carve out some time to get it fixed correctly. They said to throw a tarp over it or something that would keep additional water from getting in. I told them I would be down to pick it up. Not happy.

I'd been watching YouTube videos on how to clear a sunroof drain and gotten several different takes. They ranged from scraping around the opening with a pipe cleaner, pulling off the vent screen and fabricating a new end to the drain tube, to pulling off the A pillar and headliner, and dismantling most of the lower dash and electrical components surrounding the glove box to isolate the source of the leak. Once home, I decided to start with removing the vent screen. It looked effortless in the LR3 video. After pulling on it a few times to the point that I felt it was about to break, I decided to look for additional videos on the topic, and hopefully something that was LR4 specific. I found one where the guy was looking to upgrade from the old screen style to a more updated modern version. He admitted up front that it wasn't going to be pretty pulling out the old vent screen, that it would require a lot of force and would probably destroy the old screen. He reefed on it and finally popped it out, admitting he was lucky to get it out in one piece. I decided to take a pass of the vent screen, for now.

Instead, I decided to attempt to unblock the tube with a wire. I'd seen one video where a guy did it with a cheap indoor extension cord. He had cut off the male and female connectors and split the two rubber coated wires down the middle, pulling them apart to make two single rubber coated wires of equal length. I tried feeding one of those through the drain tube, as it seemed less aggressive than resorting to the **** eater wire. That worked, kind of, until it got about 6 inches down the tube. Then it just bound up and could not be fed any further. I decided to take out the big guns and went to the **** eater line. I was able to feed that all the way down the drain tube and plunge it in and out a few times in the hopes of breaking up whatever was creating the blockage. After that, I poured a little water in the driver's side tube and it drained right away. I saw the same water dump out behind the front tire a few moments later. Looked like the same amount of fluid. I did the same with the passenger's side and it went in okay and came out a bit slower. I still guessed the volume was about the same, but it was hard to tell. I scrubbed the passenger's side tube another time and then decided to try some more water. Hot this time. That seemed to do the trick. the hot water flowed right down the tube like it was being sucked through a vacuum and rapidly spilled out behind the passenger side front tire. Success.

I still may want to go up under the headliner or behind the glove box or remove the vent screen to see what is going on behind the scenes. But, for now, prudence seems like the better part of valor. I just wanted it to be good enough to not flood the interior while it rained over the weekend. It seems like I may have accomplished that goal.
 
Last edited:

ftillier

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Posts
571
Reaction score
281
Location
Portland, OR, USA
I found it quite hard to get the air intake grille released. I used a long screw driver to depress the retaining tabs through the gap at the top of the fender by the hinge. Did not like it much, but let me feel comfortable that my nylon string had gotten all the way through. The hot water idea is good, I may do that.
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
36,222
Posts
217,567
Members
30,473
Latest member
OnoA
Top