Dripping Sunroof...

[Lazy-Ferret]

As I mentioned in another thread, I am having some leakage issues at the front of the car.... So I decided to start at the top and work my way down...

Anyway, I have had a weird one with the sunroof for some time, but it only shows up on odd occasions, and I had not found how to reproduce it to order.

Basically, It showed up in one of 3 ways, water dripping out of where the sunroof motor and switches are, or a damp patch above the drivers and passengers "A" pillars, or lastly, usually, my wife getting a cold shower when we go round a bend, or brake, although once in a blue moon, it was me that got the shower.

Anyway, firstly, I cleared out the front wheel arches in front of the doors, and then checked the drain points from the sun roof were clear, by running a curtain rail down them to push anything through, and then followed up with several large syringe full of water to flush it all through. I then poured a jug of water into the channel, and it ran away as fast as I could pour it, so I was happy they were nice and clear.

For a while, this seemed to cure it... One very cold day we were out on the motorway, and the rain was just teaming down. I had all the blowers going flat out to keep the windows clear, and as we turned off the motorway, Suz got a nice cold shower... When we looked at the inside of the sun roof, it was covered in condensation, and I assumed it was then tracking off the roof at the front corner, puddling at the corner, and running down when there was enough to over flow.

It did it at odd times over the winter, but never predictably, it could rain really hard, and not do it, then a fine shower, on a cold day, and it would start again.

The other day I discovered the front drivers foot well was wet, so I started looking again for leaks. First job, check the sunroof drains, which (unfortunately) were fine. I did not have a lot of time, as we had to go out, and as we set off, Suz got a shower... AND... the roof above the "A" pillars were damp....

Today I spent more time looking at the roof. I went behind the roof panel, and actually watched the drain pipes as I poured water into the channel, just in case it was leaking from somewhere less obvious.

After all the water ran away, I started to get little drips on the bottom corner of the sunroof track. When you look at the corners, they look like separate parts that are sealed on, and the water was tracking under there, but where was it coming from, as the channel had drained away? When I looked, I had poured some water into the small channel where the sunroof cable runs, and this water was slowly feeding through the joins of the corner part, into the roof liner, and then some of it was running down to the corner above the "A" pillar, apart from the bit that was running to the centre of the roof, and then running down into the motor, and where the switches are.....

Result.... I had found the leak.... well... sort of... A quick drive down the road, and round a bend, and the passenger seat got a shower...

I then spent an age looking for drain holes for this channel, and there are not any I can find... Back to the drawing board, to try and work out why the water is getting in there (when I am not accidentally pouring it in there of course).

I took the bull by the horns, removed the glass roof panel, and took the seal off of it, to see if the water was getting in through there, and sure enough, as I took it off, it was pretty rough with wet mud and yuck all under the seal. Lucky for me, as I tipped the panel onto one side, some brown water decided to run down the glass. After I removed the whole seal, I discovered that the lip it sits on, on the passenger side was rusty, and the glass no longer sealed to it.

After spending an age cleaning the lip up, and treating the rust, plus cleaning the seal, I put silicon sealant all round the lip, and the seal. I then set to work putting it all back together. As I was re-fitting the seal, which takes a lot of thumping with a rubber mallet, I saw the sealant was actually being pushed between the glass and the metal frame into the inside part of the roof. I then spent another huge amount of time cleaning up all the excess silicon, before re-fitting it all back into the car.

Fingers crossed I have cured the first leak!!!!

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

watching with interest, had similar drips. sometimes comes from motor area
or usually from edge roof trim around sunroof hole. found can reduce it by having
screen sunroof has packed has packed up so used duck tape around outside seal
for now.

Also have issue on back door seal, which i think doesnt sit tight so water comes down
frame under seal rather to outside side of it then creeps under bottom plastic trim
so far now trying more duck tape on bottom plastic piece to drive water away.

 

[Banshee]

You're all a bunch of big drips :lol

Duct tape

I did have the sunroof drip as well when I had the Maverick which turned out to be blocked drain holes and also had the passengers footwell leak which I was never able to find the source!!!!

But he's gone now to Terrano heaven :fiddle:

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

watching with interest, had similar drips. sometimes comes from motor area
or usually from edge roof trim around sunroof hole. found can reduce it by having
screen sunroof has packed has packed up so used duck tape around outside seal
for now.

Also have issue on back door seal, which i think doesnt sit tight so water comes down
frame under seal rather to outside side of it then creeps under bottom plastic trim
so far now trying more duck tape on bottom plastic piece to drive water away.

I had problems with the back door, and did this thread on how I fixed it..

http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21439

No more leak since then, although once or twice I have seen water sitting on the outside, by the foam tape, but having it under the plastic trim that goes across the bottom of the door has worked a dream, and there is no water inside the car... well at the back anyway...:doh

 

[jims-terrano]

My sunroof had a leak which made the blind wet and dripped on to the passenger seat. Mine too was the rubber seal where it fits to the glass. I ran some tiger seal under the rubber so it in effect glued the seal to the glass.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Well I had a spare day here, so decided to continue the search for the drivers side leak..

I removed all the trim from the drivers side door sill, and the kick panel, and checked under the carpet.... Soaked through again. The water actually ran into your hand as you touched the underlay... I felt up under the dash, to where the thick Rubber underlay is, and went along the top edges, but that was all dry until I got the where the top of the accelerator peddle is, where you could feel some wet. I then placed a puppy pad on top of the carpet, and tucked it as far up under the dash board as I could.

Under the Bonnet, I took the fuse and relay holder out, and moved as much out of the way as possible so I could look down into the corner of the engine bay. I then used a bright torch, and the air line to blow along the seams, which looked fine with no rust. I then filled a 5 litre container with hot water, and poured it down into that corner of the engine bay, and when I looked inside, the puppy pad was soaked...

I used the airline to dry the engine bay corner back out, turned the puppy pad round, and then using my trusty large syringe, sprayed water all along the join/seam between firewall and wing with as much pressure as I could. Checked the puppy pad again, and it was dry.

Next I sprayed water onto the large rubber cable grommet, when I looked inside the car, there was a large wet patch on the puppy pad.

I set my very bright torch up in the bonnet shinning at the grommet, and looked up under the dash, where I could just see some light coming through.

Before I got the car, someone had added 12v sockets into the boot, and had run a cable through that grommet, from the battery to the back of the car... The thing was, there was no fuse, and the although they had used good quality double insulated cable, they had run it under the carpet and not through the ducting that runs from front to back, needless to say, as soon as I spotted this, I disconnected this cable, and at a later date, used it to pull a couple of new cables through, which were then wired up with fuses etc, and run through the ducting. What I had not realised was, they had used a knife to cut a slit in the grommet, and the slit had then torn. To make things worse, the cables I ran, came straight up the fire wall, with out first dipping down to make a drip loop, so any water getting onto these cables just ran straight into the car at express speed.

Basically, the water was running in the corner of the engine bay, by the bonnet hinge, under the seal that runs across the rear of the bonnet, down the bulk head, and then tracking along the wires through the grommet and dripping off just inside the car.

I have now used silicon sealant round the wires, and will see how it goes.

I just need to try and dry out the carpet now. I think this may take a few days though, I placed an old towel under it, which came out soaked, and after a few more bits of cloth, I now have a puppy pad under it. I will lift it back up tomorrow, and allow the air to circulate under it as well (If the weather holds out), and then put another puppy pad under there to absorb anything that is left.

Fingers crossed that is it....

My sunroof had a leak which made the blind wet and dripped on to the passenger seat. Mine too was the rubber seal where it fits to the glass. I ran some tiger seal under the rubber so it in effect glued the seal to the glass.

That was my first thought, but I wanted to see what was actually going on, so decided to go the whole way, take it all off, and see how, why and where... Having said that, getting the seal back on so the two ends met again was not so much fun, so your way is a lot easier.

 

[Sweety]

Glad you have found where it's coming from & the silicon should stop any more water getting in:thumb2 when I have to run wires through grommets I push a small screwdriver through to make a hole & depending on the size of the wire I push a larger screwdriver though soaked in WD40 then spay the first 6-8" of wire with WD40 & it feeds through great & the grommets so far have always sealed up around the wire
Drying it out is the hardest job but if you have a hoover that can handle water hoover the underlay to suck out as much water as you can. The other 2 options that work is lift the underlay up & place a small fan heater in blowing at the wet underlay or cut out the underlay with a sharp knife & hang the underlay up to drip dry, once dry gaffer tape it back into position which saves you from having to strip the truck down to get it out

 

[jims-terrano]

Good news about the leak being traced and fixed. When my tailgate seal was leaking I ended up proping the carpet up and putting a fan heater inside the car for a few hours. Best of luck but now its just time isnt it.

 

[sp00k]

Had one like that on mine a few months ago and took bloody ages to work out why but mine was that in each corner on the front of the sunroof when I removed it there is ment to be 2 small rubber bits in the corner that where missing that sit on the lip on the bend,so what it did was I had a old rubber floor matt and use the outer lip from one and glued it on each corner and hay presto leak was gone :thumbs

 

[AlexD333]

!!!

But he's gone now to Terrano heaven :fiddle:

Your not still on about that are ya

Your starting to sound like rustic :augie

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Glad you have found where it's coming from & the silicon should stop any more water getting in:thumb2 when I have to run wires through grommets I push a small screwdriver through to make a hole & depending on the size of the wire I push a larger screwdriver though soaked in WD40 then spay the first 6-8" of wire with WD40 & it feeds through great & the grommets so far have always sealed up around the wire
Drying it out is the hardest job but if you have a hoover that can handle water hoover the underlay to suck out as much water as you can. The other 2 options that work is lift the underlay up & place a small fan heater in blowing at the wet underlay or cut out the underlay with a sharp knife & hang the underlay up to drip dry, once dry gaffer tape it back into position which saves you from having to strip the truck down to get it out

That's pretty much how I normally run my wires, I have a long piece of wire rod, that I have sharpened the end to a point. I use insulting tape to attach the wire to the rod, then, I normally use "car wash soap" to lubricate, as that is normally easily to hand, and just push the rod through, then get the other side and continue pulling it. The great thing with the rod, is I can bend it as I feed it, so I can pass round things... Like you say, I have never had a problem with it sealing.

I worry about who owned the car before me, I get the feeling they were not very mechanically minded, as everything was fixed by a garage, even bulbs, so I have a nasty feeling that the rear sockets were fitted by a "Professional"....

 

[jims-terrano]

Got to say any wires that I have run have all been simply tucked under the edge of the kick plates in recent years. Think I took it all apart to run orinal tow bar wires tho.

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

You're all a bunch of big drips :lol

Duct tape

I did have the sunroof drip as well when I had the Maverick which turned out to be blocked drain holes and also had the passengers footwell leak which I was never able to find the source!!!!

But he's gone now to Terrano heaven :fiddle:

Issue for me is electric sunroof has packed up, wont move at all, on previous T2 there
was an emergency tool to overide it. On this one not even convinced the spindle would
take a tool.

Already got too much moisture in truck and mists up, this will likely be internal frost
in a few weeks. Looking at a dehumidiifer but outside temperature is increasingly against
me, might try a mains fan heater as atleast we now have a drive on which to run mains
cable. This is why gone for route cause analysis of stopping any more rain entering.

Its a bodge, til can get sun roof open and fixed. Mind last time it opened the drains seemed
ok?

 

[AlexD333]

Issue for me is electric sunroof has packed up, wont move at all, on previous T2 there
was an emergency tool to overide it. On this one not even convinced the spindle would
take a tool.

Already got too much moisture in truck and mists up, this will likely be internal frost
in a few weeks. Looking at a dehumidiifer but outside temperature is increasingly against
me, might try a mains fan heater as atleast we now have a drive on which to run mains
cable. This is why gone for route cause analysis of stopping any more rain entering.

Its a bodge, til can get sun roof open and fixed. Mind last time it opened the drains seemed
ok?

A few funny ways to treat moisture inside the car, number 1 being aircon, I never knew but the aircon will condition the air (yes it's in the name)

The other, try not to laugh, is catnip apparently :nenau good for absorbing moisture and stop the kitty smells :lol

Leave a small tray of it on centre console, all moisture should be soaked up :thumbs

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

A few funny ways to treat moisture inside the car, number 1 being aircon, I never knew but the aircon will condition the air (yes it's in the name)

The other, try not to laugh, is catnip apparently :nenau good for absorbing moisture and stop the kitty smells :lol

Leave a small tray of it on centre console, all moisture should be soaked up :thumbs

Interesting, is it easy to fit air con ?

Did have some cat litter in to capture, but didn't seem to work as well as salt, might
put some more in. Best capture was a pot of silicone pellets which then stored the
moisture below. Think was from poundland but not seen since, have seen them on
multibuy deals on amazon.

 

[AlexD333]

Interesting, is it easy to fit air con ?

Did have some cat litter in to capture, but didn't seem to work as well as salt, might
put some more in. Best capture was a pot of silicone pellets which then stored the
moisture below. Think was from poundland but not seen since, have seen them on
multibuy deals on amazon.

Ah nicely done sir. It's funny what easy tips are available :thumb2

 

[jims-terrano]

Yeah air con demists windows very quickly when working, my old truck the ac doesnt work so that is noticeably misty windows due to the ac not working. Think it dries the air, to be honest mine normally stays on all the time. Suspect the ac has a slow leak in the 05 plate truck.

 

[Mobieus_uk]

I got a similar problem with my sunroof and what I've found is where the motor is bolted though there is a gasket, one side the bolt was loose so tightend it up and its now compressing the gasket, hopefully that has solved my problem

 

[solarman216]

I got a similar problem with my sunroof and what I've found is where the motor is bolted though there is a gasket, one side the bolt was loose so tightend it up and its now compressing the gasket, hopefully that has solved my problem

Doubt it, if it has got that far then it is already too far, Rick

 

[elty001]

My sunroof is sealed shut.
Not by me and I only found out this summer when I tried to open it.
Wouldn't move so I had a look to see what the problem was and found the switch disconnected and a bead of sealer all around the inside.
Left it well alone.