sunroof problem

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:52 am

The Sunroof on my bx has slowly but stedily developed a leek over the past 6 months or so. It used to depend on wich way the wind and rain direction but now it looks like its almost every time it rains. The leek is above the driverside corner,(typical). I have checked all the drain pipes. I did this by first locating them then blowing gently back up the tubes. They were all clear, so I poured about a cup full of water down each corner. The water ran out of the tubes fine. I then partialy removed the roof lining over the drivers seat. The pipe apeares to be attatched fine and I cant see were the water is leaking form.
Has anyone got any ideas?

thanks
gary

tom · Post by **tom** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:48 am

remove the headlining, which is not a big job then have somebody play a hosepipe over the roof. You'll find out soon enough so binbags over the seats first!

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:40 pm

Was thinking something similar Tom, but when i find the leak what do you repair it with? Some mastik or the like?

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:58 pm

If the drain tubes are not blocked, and I mean all four of them then you need to seal between the metal sunroof frame and the roof. Cit did this with a blue mastic bit this hardens and shrinks and the headlining and sunroof move with time as well.

Just get a silicone gun and fill in the gap that you can see when the sunroof is open between the frame and the roof along the left and right sides.

There are other clever things you can do by blocking off the drains and then sprinkling water directly into the frame with the roof open to see where the h2o is coming from as well as Toms good suggestions about the headlining. It is usually the rear drain tubes that block in my experience as this is the way that most of the debris goes.

Baldbazza · Post by **Baldbazza** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:42 am

I had this on the GT. We tried to find the lower end of the front o/s drain tube and ferreted around inside the door pillar as much as we could, via the plastic plug at the bottom, and the door wiring gaiter, as that's where the tube appears to end up, and there are drain holes at the bottom of the pillar. However, all we found was a large pile of flakey rust. By that time we had removed the lower end of the drain tube - big mistake

as we couldn't find out how to get it back.

However, we re-routed the pipe through a hole in the black plastic inspection plate (?) in the bulkhead and allowed it to drain naturally there. Works a treat, although wouldn't win any brownie points in a concours event...

There seem to be openings from the door pillar into the car higher up, so I can only guess that the water couldn't escape naturally through the door pillar because of the pile of rust, and backed up into the car. This might explain why yours has got worse over time.

This diagnosis is probably a load of old tosh and I'm sure someone will correct me, but the workaround works a treat!

As an alternative to Tom's hosepipe method, try opening the sunroof, then trickling water from a small household watering car into each corner. You should get a small puddle under the car at each corner, except where there is some sort of blockage. And you don't get wet seats (unless you've got the shakes...)

This picture shows the bodge (although was taken for something else so isn't too clear - will take another photo if you like)

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:59 am

Thanks chaps. Like I said i am sure there is no blockage as water runs from the four corners when poured. I suspect it could be the seal. my problem is locating the leak. i will have to recheck around the drain tube again.

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:40 am

Just an update for you.
I poured about 10 pints water down all the chanel's last night and no problems. I removed the lining and saw the seling mastic this looked to be a bit perished and split so I used some that I had in the garage to "re-seal" it . Then I stood there with the hose pipe spraying the outside for a good 5 min or so, and no leak. Once again i poured about 7 or 8 pints down the chanel and squirted down it as well with the hose. No leak.
like i said earlier sometimes it seams to depend on wich way the wind blows so i think only time will realy tell.

tom · Post by **tom** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:40 am

Which makes me wonder if you might be barking up the wrong tree. Give the driver's door window rubbers a Hard Stare.

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:19 am

hhhhmmmmm
The thing that makes me suspect the sunroof is I have been dripped on and when I look to see, water is coming from its wet were the roof lining meats the inside door pillar plastic cover. This runs down the side of the windscreen and door. The lining is usually wet in the corner of the join and no were else around the door.

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:30 am

Further update.
With all the wet stuff that has fallen in the past few days in the north west, i am happy to report that at the moment (touch wood) no drips and the lining is dry.

I can only put it down to the cracked / perished sealant that was evident around the frame ,that i resealed.

gary