Steaming North
New Member
- Posts
- 52
Hi all,
After a few months of a leaking sunroof I had a fit of stupidity yesterday and decided to have a go at fixing it - fingers crossed it might have worked so I thought I'd let everyone know what I've done in case you're experiencing the same problem.
I must stress that I am awful at car mechanics - too fiddly and everything seems to snap, but touch wood this went ok.
To start with this covers getting access to both sunroofs.
CHECKING THE PIPES AREN'T BLOCKED
Sat in the front, pull away (by hand) the plastic strip that runs from the dash to the roof (A-frame?) between the windscreen and the door. Near the top of the metal is a hole covered with black tape - remove this tape and hook out the black pipe (carefully - don't pull it away from the sunroof). There will be nearly 2 foot of pipe so pull it all out - there;s one on each side of the car by the way. Blow down the end of the pipe - from this you will tell whether the pipe is blocked or not. Mine weren't so I started stripping the roof lining out. Before you do that though it's probably worth feeding a long piece of wire down it to dislodge any blockages if it does appear to be blocked.
Once the pipe is clear, check it by pouring some water into the corner of the sunroof tray (sunroof open). It wants to be going in at the front of the metal runners for the sun roof, right in the very corner - I couldn't actually see the drain hole. If the water comes out the end of the pipe then put it back - you're laughing. If it floods through the roof lining then you need to go a bit further on in the process.
For the rear the process is the same but you remove the light cluster (brakes, indicators etc) in the panel and you will see the end of the pipe clipped onto the car.
REMOVING THE ROOF LINING
Start at the front - with the two A-frame panel covers removed as described above. Unscrew the sun visors, including the stand alone clip. You'll need a flat head screw driver to remove the little cover on this.
Now unscrew the whole map holder unit - there's a little plastic cover in the centre which you'll need to remove. Also you'll need to unplug the electrics to the reading light.
Pull away the fabric runner which goes around the sunroof.
Using a (7 or 8mm?) socket, unscrew the two Jesus handles (so called because when you go round a corner too fast you grab hold of them and shout Jesus). At this point the front of the headlining will drop down. if it's just the front sunroof causing problems you may be able to stop at this point but may need the next step too.
Remove the plastic covers where the front seat belts come through. To do this, pull away both the front and rear door seals from the area. You'll see two clips on each side - use a screwdriver to get these out the way then simply pull. Bear in mind one of them has the alarm sensor attached - unplug this.
Remove the rear Jesus handles as you did with the front ones.
Remove the fabric cover which goes around the sunroof.
Remove the little plastic cover by the light and unscrew it. You may also be able to disconnect the light from here - I forgot and have now knackered the connections.
Go to the boot.
Remove the clear plastic cover for the boot light and using an 8mm socket or spanner remove the two nuts an pull the light unit away and unplug it.
Pull (hard) away the plastic cover that goes across the top of the door.
Now go to the big plastic cover on one side (surrounding the rear side windows). The two covers which are nearest the window, at the bottom (either side of the window) need to be removed with a flat screwdriver (careful you don't snap this cover clean off) and unscrew. The rest of the covers are actually ribbed plastic studs - just pull them all out with a clean, sharp, hard pull (holding onto the big plastic surround. Some of these are longer than the others - note which ones are which (I didn't and wish I had).
Do the same for the other side. Bear in mind one of these has an alarm sensor on which needs pulling out and unplugging.
Unless there's anything I've missed, the whole headlining is now unattached.
I did all of the above, on my own in less than two hours.
FIXING THE PROBLEM
From what I could see, the two front corners of the sunroof have a plastic box with a ribbed plastic pipe/nipple sticking out - the drain pipe is pushed onto this.
In my case I could see there was water coming through the seal between the metal frame of the sunroof and the plastic box and that the plastic pipe from the box had snapped off.
If this is the case then I would suggest that this is where you need to concentrate your efforts.
What I have done is what I thought - I am not saying it's right or that it will even work (glue hasn't dried yet).
To replace the snapped plastic pipe I went to a camping shop and bought some 1/8" female to nozzle adaptors as used for connecting up gas bottles (brass ribbed connector). I roughed these and the plastic boxes up with emery cloth and applied araldite - I bought some stuff that takes a long time to set and needs to be held in position with tape which was very awkward - if you can I'd suggest buying a quick setting glue.
I then applied marine sealant around to the area to help it stick further and also try and stop any water coming through.
To try and seal up the box itself I bought some 75mm "Flashband Flashing" from B&Q. Heat the box a bit with a hair dryer and heat the flashing slightly and stick this on over the seams. Once in place heat it again with the hair dryer to make it workable and hopefully get a better hold and seal. Repeat this until you've got all the area you need covered.
Now put everything back again.
From rubbing the opening the glue and the new connectors to getting back in the house took me about 3 1/2 hours - again on my own.
If this has worked I'll be very happy. As long as the connectors haven't moved whilst I was putting the headlining back on I can't see why it won't have and it will have cost me £25 in total.
Every garage I asked told me they'd have to replace the sunroof or that they just wouldn't do it. Hopefully this will be a cheaper, easier alternative.
Joe
After a few months of a leaking sunroof I had a fit of stupidity yesterday and decided to have a go at fixing it - fingers crossed it might have worked so I thought I'd let everyone know what I've done in case you're experiencing the same problem.
I must stress that I am awful at car mechanics - too fiddly and everything seems to snap, but touch wood this went ok.
To start with this covers getting access to both sunroofs.
CHECKING THE PIPES AREN'T BLOCKED
Sat in the front, pull away (by hand) the plastic strip that runs from the dash to the roof (A-frame?) between the windscreen and the door. Near the top of the metal is a hole covered with black tape - remove this tape and hook out the black pipe (carefully - don't pull it away from the sunroof). There will be nearly 2 foot of pipe so pull it all out - there;s one on each side of the car by the way. Blow down the end of the pipe - from this you will tell whether the pipe is blocked or not. Mine weren't so I started stripping the roof lining out. Before you do that though it's probably worth feeding a long piece of wire down it to dislodge any blockages if it does appear to be blocked.
Once the pipe is clear, check it by pouring some water into the corner of the sunroof tray (sunroof open). It wants to be going in at the front of the metal runners for the sun roof, right in the very corner - I couldn't actually see the drain hole. If the water comes out the end of the pipe then put it back - you're laughing. If it floods through the roof lining then you need to go a bit further on in the process.
For the rear the process is the same but you remove the light cluster (brakes, indicators etc) in the panel and you will see the end of the pipe clipped onto the car.
REMOVING THE ROOF LINING
Start at the front - with the two A-frame panel covers removed as described above. Unscrew the sun visors, including the stand alone clip. You'll need a flat head screw driver to remove the little cover on this.
Now unscrew the whole map holder unit - there's a little plastic cover in the centre which you'll need to remove. Also you'll need to unplug the electrics to the reading light.
Pull away the fabric runner which goes around the sunroof.
Using a (7 or 8mm?) socket, unscrew the two Jesus handles (so called because when you go round a corner too fast you grab hold of them and shout Jesus). At this point the front of the headlining will drop down. if it's just the front sunroof causing problems you may be able to stop at this point but may need the next step too.
Remove the plastic covers where the front seat belts come through. To do this, pull away both the front and rear door seals from the area. You'll see two clips on each side - use a screwdriver to get these out the way then simply pull. Bear in mind one of them has the alarm sensor attached - unplug this.
Remove the rear Jesus handles as you did with the front ones.
Remove the fabric cover which goes around the sunroof.
Remove the little plastic cover by the light and unscrew it. You may also be able to disconnect the light from here - I forgot and have now knackered the connections.
Go to the boot.
Remove the clear plastic cover for the boot light and using an 8mm socket or spanner remove the two nuts an pull the light unit away and unplug it.
Pull (hard) away the plastic cover that goes across the top of the door.
Now go to the big plastic cover on one side (surrounding the rear side windows). The two covers which are nearest the window, at the bottom (either side of the window) need to be removed with a flat screwdriver (careful you don't snap this cover clean off) and unscrew. The rest of the covers are actually ribbed plastic studs - just pull them all out with a clean, sharp, hard pull (holding onto the big plastic surround. Some of these are longer than the others - note which ones are which (I didn't and wish I had).
Do the same for the other side. Bear in mind one of these has an alarm sensor on which needs pulling out and unplugging.
Unless there's anything I've missed, the whole headlining is now unattached.
I did all of the above, on my own in less than two hours.
FIXING THE PROBLEM
From what I could see, the two front corners of the sunroof have a plastic box with a ribbed plastic pipe/nipple sticking out - the drain pipe is pushed onto this.
In my case I could see there was water coming through the seal between the metal frame of the sunroof and the plastic box and that the plastic pipe from the box had snapped off.
If this is the case then I would suggest that this is where you need to concentrate your efforts.
What I have done is what I thought - I am not saying it's right or that it will even work (glue hasn't dried yet).
To replace the snapped plastic pipe I went to a camping shop and bought some 1/8" female to nozzle adaptors as used for connecting up gas bottles (brass ribbed connector). I roughed these and the plastic boxes up with emery cloth and applied araldite - I bought some stuff that takes a long time to set and needs to be held in position with tape which was very awkward - if you can I'd suggest buying a quick setting glue.
I then applied marine sealant around to the area to help it stick further and also try and stop any water coming through.
To try and seal up the box itself I bought some 75mm "Flashband Flashing" from B&Q. Heat the box a bit with a hair dryer and heat the flashing slightly and stick this on over the seams. Once in place heat it again with the hair dryer to make it workable and hopefully get a better hold and seal. Repeat this until you've got all the area you need covered.
Now put everything back again.
From rubbing the opening the glue and the new connectors to getting back in the house took me about 3 1/2 hours - again on my own.
If this has worked I'll be very happy. As long as the connectors haven't moved whilst I was putting the headlining back on I can't see why it won't have and it will have cost me £25 in total.
Every garage I asked told me they'd have to replace the sunroof or that they just wouldn't do it. Hopefully this will be a cheaper, easier alternative.
Joe
