Massive water leak in roof

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:05 pm

We've just had a terrential downpour. Masses of water came into the BX for teh first time so far. It seemed to come in while reversing up a steep hill in the rain. The exact entry point was the nearside roof edge/A pillar. Would that be blocked sunroof drain pipes? Anyone know the proceedure for unblocking? Or perhaps it was a one off due to sheer water volume? Cheers, Adam

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:12 pm

Sounds very much like your sunroof mate, a common fault at that, a good way is getting a airline and blasting it down the drainhole inside the sunroof appetaure if you can find it!

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:15 pm

Air gun doesn't tend to shift it that well I've found.

I've been informed the best method is a length of welding wire with a blob of weld on the end. Push it down the pipes, like a chimney sweep!

bill o · Post by **bill o** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:47 pm

i cleared mine using a long length of curtain wire ,the white flexible stuff you hang nets on.as it is flexible it finds its way dowm the drain pipes.

saint gaz · Post by **saint gaz** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:56 am

I just found each end of the pipes and blew back up. You will be able to tell if they are blocked then. The rear pipes are located behind the rear lights, the front are located in footwell at the end of the door frame pilars.

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:22 am

Cheers guys ill give that a go with one of those methods. Not sure which yet thought.. It does need to be done as im planning a camping trip to the Scottish Highlands in September

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:37 am

Thats ok adam, you will just have your own mobile swimming pool to play in!

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:07 pm

Sound great Tim!! Umm, on second thoughts, no !!!

Seriously, I feel that its quite impotant that at least my car is dry even if the Scottish wilderness IS one massive swimming pool

Im going into the Wilderness for 8 day. I do need some emergency heat and dryness from time time, or I might not make it back alive.

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:39 pm

Having pulled out the interior A-Pillar covers and seen these pipes, they are clear, and rather narrow. They seem to be dirty on the bottom side due to deposits, but not blocked. They may be blocked where they join the sunroof, but I didnt spend long enough looking to find the entrance point. Id imagine as I reversed uphill, a massive amount of water went to them and their width couldnt cope so the water just went round the edge of them instead.

Baldbazza · Post by **Baldbazza** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:02 pm

adamskibx wrote:Having pulled out the interior A-Pillar covers and seen these pipes, they are clear, and rather narrow,

Don't pull them out from the door pillar!!!! If you do, and you find out how to actually get them back, will you let me know?

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:14 am

Haha- I take it you mean the pillar behind the front doors? I know the ones either side of the windscreen are a paim- there are plastic, easy in tough out sort of lugs for this, which are free to move about a bit, which makes them very difficult to locate. Once you have located them you sort of have to use precision tapping on the interior panel to get them back in. I cant say I have ever removed the bit behind the door- It sounds like you could be the voice of experience though, so I might leave those alone!!

Baldbazza · Post by **Baldbazza** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:36 am

No, I was referring to the plastic drain tubes, specifically the driver's side. The lower end disappears down the side of the dashboard, and looks as though it goes into the door pillar, and drains from the bottom of there. We pulled the drain tube out .... and, er, couldn't work out where (or how!) to put it back. Couldn't even work it out from the other side, no matter how much we contorted ourselves.

We eventually cheated and drilled a hole through the plastic panel into the bulkhead, and routed the drain tube out that way. Actually works well, but I don't like being beaten by a bit of plastic!

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:20 pm

The best way to clear these out once and for all, Adam, is to drop the headlining, which isn't as bad as it sounds.

I've did it about 4 years ago, and it only took a long time due to my slow work rate. What you do need is a waterproof place to do it in, or a guaranteed dry day if doing it outside. I've still got some fairly low-res pics which I took during the process, which I'll try to dig out and put onto photobucket.

In the short term, it's also worth checking the drain holes in the bodywork situated under the drainage pipe runs. The ones at the back behind the bumper can block up very easily, allowing the water to back up and, in a bad case, rust out the rear bodywork in alarming fashion. The front ones are just forward of the doors. Pull-out access to the bottom end of the front drain pipes is possible by removing glovebox and fog/mirror/choke/ switch panel. There's an access hole on the inside below the a-pillar that you can pull the bottom ends of the pipes out through.