Sunroof drain

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mnde
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Sunroof drain

Post by mnde »

While vacuuming my car, I felt underneath the carpet in the passenger footwell - just to check - and found it to be very wet! So I suspect the n/s/f sunroof drain tube is blocked.

Do the front drain tubes exit in the front wheelarch? Is there a good way of cleaning them out without damaging them and without having to drop down the roof lining... in this weather...? Thanks!

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ken newbold
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Post by ken newbold »

I think it's more likely to be the door seal that letting in the wet if it's the front footwell.

In my experiance when the drains are blocked water usualy gathers in the rear. Have you checked the roof lining for wet patches?

The only way you will know for sure it's the door seal is to remove the carpet and watch when its raining. Water runs down the outside of the rubber and tends to cross over on to the inside somewhere along the verticle bit and then drips off at the bend in the front corner of the door aperture.
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Post by Gareth Wales »

I think your suspicions are correct, Mark - especially as its the n/s/f drainage which seems to get regularly choked because, I suspect, of the prevailing camber when the car is parked roadside.
I have considerable experience of this problem - because I reguarly park beneath pine-needle-shedding trees.
The only real solution, I'm sorry to say, is to drop the headlining and clear out the channels in the A-frame with very careful jets of water.
I have also adapated a vacuum blower to suck and blow debris clear, but this is of course only a temporary solution.
Mor successful, though was to extend the REAR drainage tube and fit a lorry-sized inner tube valve on the end which I'd connect to a grage air-line - a blast for two would clear debris for months.
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Post by AlanS »

From memory, to access the front drains at the lower end you need to take the glovebox out and you'll see it poking through the frame near about the passengers left leg height.
A few years back we discovered that possibly as part of the anti rattle bits and bobs, they seem to fit a piece of black velcro that tends to come unstuck and rolls into a thing like a cigarette and the air flow can blow it into the rear drain or if you park on a forward slope, into the front one.
I have had leaks drip into the front caused by rear blocked drains. This usually happens when the brakes are applied.

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mnde
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Post by mnde »

Thanks for the advice guys. Ken I will check the door-seal as this is exactly what was happening with my GSA! I will check the head-lining for any damp patches.

My other Meteor was much worse. Water would build up in the sunroof tray, and drip down through the sunroof aperture: onto my head on LH bends, onto the passenger door card on RH bends. Also pools of water would collect under the rear seats, which would wash out into the rear footwell under heavy braking, like the tide had come in! But always while reversing off the drive, I could hear water draining down the front drains... something that I never hear with the new Meteor.

With the eBay Meteor, the rear seats are dry underneath. When I get a moment I will take up the front carpets and check the extent of the problem.. I'll try pouring water into the sunroof tray...

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Post by DLM »

Check the point too where the rubber trunking for the door wiring leaves the main bodywork - this often suffers from drip-down. Also check the drain holes in the sill immediately in front of the door are still functioning as drain holes...
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mnde
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Post by mnde »

Thanks DLM, I'll check there too! :)

Super club this! :D

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stuart_hedges
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Post by stuart_hedges »

I find I get some water in the footwell if I park the car on a sideways tilt - this happens if I park on Martyrs Field Road, which has a ridiculous camber on it! So much so that the door bottom scrapes the pavement when you open it!

I don't worry too much because the old 309 did the same thing.
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

I used to have to park one of them facing uphill or any rain that fell in the area would land on the drivers seat, soon fixed that one :)
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Post by rob-bx16v »

if its your sunroof drain blocked. Remove the glove box and locate the plastic tubing pull it out and mke sure you have a bucket or bowl ready!! blow or suck and the water should release itself. Done it many time on my bxs and it works well! would never use a cable to rod it though as it can puncture the drain tube.
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Post by AdrianO »

I have the dread water-under-the-rear-seats problem with my '91 Meteor (and only 2 days after its MoT, for which I only topped up the screen-wash and it passed -- that's life). Door seals look OK, headlining dry, so it must be the rear sunroof drain tubes. Can someone tell me where I can find where these exit?

I also wondered if there was any way the sills could store water and dump it inside the vehicle in some way. I couldn't see any drain holes for the sills. Are there any?

As blockage of the sunroof drains seems to be a perennial problem, I wonder if there is any mileage in replacing them with something of wider bore and/or strong enough to survive dyno-rodding?

Thanks.
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Post by Gareth Wales »

Hi Adrian, and welcome to the club.
The rear drains exit just above the wheels, and if you look at my earlier thread in this post, you'll see how I solved the problem reasonably well.
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

It does not take long to remove the C pillar trims etc and drop the whole headlining, be careful not to damage the ends of the pipes where they are glued into the plastic, a good clean and hoover out should last a few years.
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Post by ken newbold »

Taking the whole roof out sounds a bit like major surgery unless you're an experianced BXer.

If you remove the rear light clusters and have a poke around in there, you should be able to find the drain pipes. With a pair of pliers you can get them out of the bodywork and I usually insert one of those long curtain wires up the pipe (the type used to hang lace curtains with) that should go right up into the roof.

Then with the roof fully open, pour some water in so as to flush out the muck. It's worth also checking the drain holes in the bodywork as I once found these to be blocked and the water backed up right into the roof.
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Post by AdrianO »

That was a bit naughty, Stewart, scaring me with dropping the sunroof :). New things are rarely as expected - they're usually either much better, or much worse - I have found. In this case, much better (thanks, Gareth and Ken).

Found the water coming in thru the n/s rear seatbelt anchorage bolt hole. 10 seconds with the tyre inflator up the pipe exit cleared it. Must be the quickest fix I've ever done on a Citroen (ignoring the 10mins spent mopping up with a loo roll). Cheers!
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