BX A Pillar Sunroof Drains

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krekov
Confirmed BX'er
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:13 pm
Location: Cracow
My Cars: 1989 Citroen BX GTI 16v
x 3

BX A Pillar Sunroof Drains

Post by krekov »

Hi,
I've decided to tackle the issue of water in my footwells.
It turned out the black rubber tubing that goes outside of the cabin was detached from the drain lines found under the A pillar plastic trim.
My problem is that I have no idea how to route the drains properly. I know the black tubing is intended to be between the door seal and dash to hide a small gap showing bare metal, but I don't know how to route the drain line that's supposed to plug into it.

If someone could explain it to me I'd greatly appreciate it!
prm-comp
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My Cars: Citroen BX 16v
x 1

Re: BX A Pillar Sunroof Drains

Post by prm-comp »

For the N/S drain, remove the glove box. On the upper left side at the rear, you should see the tubing run from the A’ pillar into the cabin. Slightly further down, you may find a circular, black?, trim coloured disc. Remove this, just pulls away. The tube then exits the cabin and goes between the inside and outside panels.
O/S. I've never traced this one. Should imagine you need to remove the inside trim. Probably it follows the same route as the N/S.
Have you cleared the rear drains? Outlets are, N/S, possibly near the fuel tank strap. O/S, at the very rear, inside the wing.
Avoid using compressed air to clear any blockages, this blows pipes and connection points. Use any semi-rigid loose fitting plastic tubing to clear.
Let me know if you have problems locating the tubing. Can send you a length that may help.

Regards
Apologies krekov, my reply applied to right hand drive. :oops:
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David
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Re: BX A Pillar Sunroof Drains

Post by David »

On mine, there is no 'black tubing' on the sunroof drains. From what you're describing, the 'black tubing' is simply a piece of rubber that goes between the A pillars and dash to fill the gap.

The sunroof drains go into a hole on each side of the A pillars, behind the dash. It's not really a great design, as it allows water to sit inside the A pillars themselves, but it's how the cars were made. If you remove the glovebox, as already suggested, then hopefully you'll be able to see where the passenger tube goes. It's a small round hole that's about level with the glovebox. Once you've found that one, the drivers side one goes in the same place on the other side. Granted it isn't as easy to see, but once you've found & seen one, you should be able to work out where the other goes from touch. You also don't have all the wires in the way obstructing your access on the drivers side (assuming that it's RHD, that is).

If the pipes are already out, it would be a good idea to put a vacuum cleaner on them, just to make sure that they're clear before reassembling them. It isn't a good idea to use rods or compressed air to clear them, otherwise you can detach the tubes from the roof lining, which will require more work to find the ends & glue them in again.

Hope that helps.
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

2004 Citroën Xsara Desire. (Now gone).

2016 Ford Focus Zetec - Daily Driver. (Absolute bone shaker).
krekov
Confirmed BX'er
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:13 pm
Location: Cracow
My Cars: 1989 Citroen BX GTI 16v
x 3

Re: BX A Pillar Sunroof Drains

Post by krekov »

Ooh, that's interesting! I thought those pieces of rubber were things you plugged the drains into, since they go into holes under the dash which lead outside of the cabin, but those are definitely not the holes you are talking about. They are right under the big bolts holding the dashboard and are rectangular.

Well, now that I know how they should be plugged in, I'll definitely take a go at routing them properly. I bought my 16V with a half-disassembled interior and those drain pipes were just freely hanging down, I had no clue where to lead them into.
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