Getting To And Repairing Leaking Sunroof Tutorial

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Getting To And Repairing Leaking Sunroof Tutorial
Topic Started: Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:22 pm (1,038 Views)
kentronix	Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:22 pm Post #1
Admin Posts: 16,348 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	Finally got round to sorting my leaky sunroof, thought I would share. The problem was the roof was leaking water into the interior even though I couldnt actually see it coming in. It seems its a common issue, there are 2 drain plugs at the front of the roof area, these take water from the recessed sunroof area down through rubber drain pipes which run down inside the A pillars either side of the windscreen. Where these pipes connect to the drain holes is prone to rust and once they leak the water will just collect behind your front roof vinyl panel (above sunvisors). To get to the area you simply need to remove the vinyl panel. Heres how :- Remove the outermost sunvisor hinges using the 2 screws per hinge. Then remove the inner ones by flipping the plastic cover and undoing the hidden screw (its probably not that hidden but as you can tell I did this in the dark out on the road with just the interior light for light ) :- Then remove the rear view mirror. Basically yank it downwards. It has a sprung ball fixing which will give if you yank it. It can be quite stiff but your not breaking it, its designed to snap out under force. Then you need to remove the thin metal strip that runs along the front edge of the roof opening. Open the roof and undo the 5 or 6 small screws holding the chrome trim. Once done you should pull the top corner of the door rubber trim enough to pull the A panels out, then you can take the vinyl roof panel out. You will need to disconnect any electrics (interior light,visor, roof electrics etc) as you pull the vinyl part out. Next carefully remove the plastic pegs that hold the vinyl roof lining up at the front corners. If your roof has been leaking this roof lining will be very weak so prise the pegs out with screwdriver rather than pulling them and ripping the vinyl. You can see here the short length of metal pipe that joined the roof drain to the rubber hose has totally disintegrated. Mine was like this on both sides, no wonder the interior was soaking !!! From here on in its up to you but what I did was to pull the tube up until it would fit over the drain part (after cleaning everything up of course). Then I glued it using superglue and smeared the area with fishtank silicone. Geocell I think its called. I used some mole grips to hold the tube in place while it dried in order to fully cover the remaining drain tube as it was slightly stretched and would have pulled back about a cm. Overall it was pretty easy, just a phillips screwdriver and a mole wrench. When I pulled back the roof lining lots of rust and crap fell out so be aware if you have cloth seats. I will keep you posted on how well it holds up but its been pouring down all night here so tomorrow morning I should know.



JensonGB	Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:31 pm Post #2
I Will Find One That I Keep! Posts: 3,302 Group: Members Member #619 Joined: October 25, 2006	Excellent guidance mate.............touch wood mine are ok at the mo!



shrekky	Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:53 pm Post #3
Member Posts: 3,912 Group: Members Member #223 Joined: March 23, 2006	the pipe on mine wouldnt pull up to the roof unit........................so i used the plastic covers from a cheap set of jump leads............put it inside the rubber tube then did what you did to attatch it to the roof unit



rod	Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:21 pm Post #4
Member Posts: 257 Group: Members Member #459 Joined: August 16, 2006	cheers for the incite bud, right, off to rip out some interior>>



pentoman	Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:01 pm Post #5
Resident OVP Expert Posts: 2,697 Group: Members Member #11 Joined: November 6, 2005	Interestingly if you've ever taken this front headlining area out of a W124 it is much, much better put together. Similar design but you can see the extra expense gone into putting it together.



rdm5555	Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:03 pm Post #6
190 Lover Posts: 243 Group: Members Member #3,159 Joined: August 30, 2008	Great guide kentronix, I need to do mine and after seeing your guide I think I will have a go this week.



rdm5555	Fri Mar 6, 2009 10:37 am Post #7
190 Lover Posts: 243 Group: Members Member #3,159 Joined: August 30, 2008	I've done the front ones any one know how to to the rears?



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