How to clear out sunroof drain lines....if sunroof is seized?

[OnTheEllipse]

my 2001 has been sitting for a couple of years now (3rd car/had kids/doesn't get driven much). I'll start it up monthly or bi-monthly and put a couple of miles on it just to keep the juices flowing.

I have rubber floor mats.

Yesterday, I decided it was time to dust off the 3rd gen, clean it up and put it back on the road.

I pulled the rubber floor mats out and found a good amount of water and mold. I also discovered the sunroof won't open. I hear the motor make a noise, but it's not going to open. I talked to my mechanic and he said that replacing the mechanism for the sunroof is pretty costly and that if I could live without it, I should consider just leaving it shut. No problem there for me.

But, I think I have 2 problems: a clogged sunroof drain and a clogged AC drain. The majority of the water was in the passenger foot well. I had the truck running with the AC on for a half an hour before I discovered the water in the passenger footwell. I assume that's the AC drain line. That I can figure out.

If my sunroof drain line is also clogged, and I have no intention on trying to open it again to fix it, is there any way to clear the sunroof drain lines without opening it?

Bonus question: has anyone had success cleaning mold stains out of carpet? I'm confident I can neutralize/kill the mold once the water issue is addressed, but what about the color/stain on my tan interior?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[dogtail]

The sunroof can be removed fairly easy. Remove the rear section trim pieces and pop the others back and you can slide out the headliner thru the back. Then you can see all the lines and even remove the sunroof very easily with a few bolts. If you never intend to use your sunroof again, you can just unplug the motor.
Front carpet can be removed, cleaned and dried out easy enough also if you want.

 

[OnTheEllipse]

The sunroof can be removed fairly easy. Remove the rear section trim pieces and pop the others back and you can slide out the headliner thru the back. Then you can see all the lines and even remove the sunroof very easily with a few bolts. If you never intend to use your sunroof again, you can just unplug the motor.

Rear section trim pieces inside of the car or on the roof?

Front carpet can be removed, cleaned and dried out easy enough also if you want.

is the front section not connected to the rear? does it split under the front seats?

thanks for the reply

 

[OnTheEllipse]

in this Timmy The Toolman video, he's removing the entire headliner:

YouTube

you don't think that's necessary?

 

[Brian.]

You can remove just the sunroof glass to check/clean the drains (at least I assume you can get to them, I pulled the whole unit). Slide the interior shade back, there are plastic trim piece on the drivers and passenger sides of the glass that are held on with plastic tabs, pop those off. Underneath will be 4 10mm bolts, 2 on the drivers and 2 on the passengers side, those hold the glass to the mechanism. Remove and the glass pops straight up. This Should give you full access to the sunroof drains.

If you're not going to be using the sunroof anymore, I'd suggest removing the glass and running a bead of silicone around the edge, then putting it back in place. No need to worry about the drains at that point (in theory, but never hurts to make sure they're clear) as it Should be fully sealed.

 

[OnTheEllipse]

You can remove just the sunroof glass to check/clean the drains (at least I assume you can get to them, I pulled the whole unit). Slide the interior shade back, there are plastic trim piece on the drivers and passenger sides of the glass that are held on with plastic tabs, pop those off. Underneath will be 4 10mm bolts, 2 on the drivers and 2 on the passengers side, those hold the glass to the mechanism. Remove and the glass pops straight up. This Should give you full access to the sunroof drains.

If you're not going to be using the sunroof anymore, I'd suggest removing the glass and running a bead of silicone around the edge, then putting it back in place. No need to worry about the drains at that point (in theory, but never hurts to make sure they're clear) as it Should be fully sealed.

excellent. i'll give that a shot. thanks a lot

 

[Joelzy]

my sunroof doesnt work eitehr and I cleared the drains from the bottom. seemed to do the trick until i pull the headliner out.
It was a pain to get to them all but Timmy's vid shows you where they all are.

 

[OnTheEllipse]

my sunroof doesnt work eitehr and I cleared the drains from the bottom. seemed to do the trick until i pull the headliner out.
It was a pain to get to them all but Timmy's vid shows you where they all are.

from the bottom of the glass or from under the truck?

 

[sawguy]

I think he means from under the truck. Just fish a long piece of string trimmer line up the drain tubes(4) and see if it will let water out.

 

[Joelzy]

from the bottom of the glass or from under the truck?

^what he said, I didnt do the weedeater line route but just used compressed air. only one that exits is the body outside is one of the rears, i cant remember but if you take off the front side kick panels you can access the fronts inside the cab. Watch Timmy's vid and you'll see.

 

[AntleredRuin]

I was in the same predicament you were. Stuck shut sunroof, couldn't get to the front drains to clear them, etc.

Had water pouring in, staining the headliner and carpet, getting the seats wet, etc.

I wound up just taking black RTV (gasket maker) and going along the outside seam. No need to remove the window, etc, just a line all the way around that you can flatten in with your finger. If you're careful, it'll look just like a stock 'non-moving' window.
It's been that way for years now, through car washes and hurricanes, no problem.

I never understood why there was a drain in the first place. Why not just make it water tight like a skylight or something? Seems like a much easier solution.



To remove the headliner, you just have to take off the side trim pieces, grab handles, sunroof trim, etc. Then just carefully pull it out the back hatch.
I cleaned the headliner with Simple Green and alcohol and some towels. Just spray and scrub.



To remove the carpet, you need to remove the door floor trim, front seats, center console, and the bottom section of the rear seats. It's all one big piece. The backs of the seats attach to the cargo area in a separate piece.
To get the water stains out of the carpet, I sprayed the stains HARD with a water hose to get the most obvious stuff off, (or you can pressure wash it) then sprayed it liberally with Simple Green cleaner, let it soak for a bit, then hit it with the water hose again. Then took a carpet cleaner to it to scrub/suck the water back out. Then just left to dry draped over a fence in the back yard for a day.

Installation in reverse. The headliner is a *****, but can be done with one person. I'd suggest reinstalling the carpet and seats first so you can prop the headliner on them while reinstalling.

At the risk of sounding all hippy, if you still have a musty smell when it's all done, Lemon essential oil works great. Just spray an oil/water combo with a squirt bottle on the carpet, seats, etc, then leave the windows open with a fan. Helps immensely.