Sunroof Drain Cleaning

[mtbtim]

Hey Dudes and Dudettes,
[MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I have another video for you. Do you have water dripping from areas of your headliner? Do you have a sunroof in your vehicle? If the answer is Yes to both questions, watch this video to try to isolate where your leak is coming from. It could be because you have clogged sunroof drains that need to cleared.

You can clear your own drains with a little persuasion from weed whacker line or some other type of solid line you can snake in the drains.

**In the video, I say the driver side rear drain travels down the B-Pillar but it actually travels down the C-Pillar and then over the wheel-well and into the drain tray.

**Some people have employed the use of compressed air but you need to be careful if you choose this method. If you use too high of air pressure, you could force the drain tube off the fitting and then you'd be forced to pull down your headliner so you can reattach the drain tube.

Enjoy the Show!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qalXo4etX3Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[sleepydad]

[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] I have my headliner down right now, and my entire sun roof assembly out. recovering the entire headliner, sliding door and trim piece. big hole in my roof.

I could have shot some vid for you showing all the internals oh well. I will pour some water down the tubes to make sure they are clear.

 

[Boreas]

I finally figured out my sunroof leak and the fix wasn't too hard.

First, many people don't realize the seals on the glass are NOT designed to keep water out. This is why there are 4 drains - one per corner. I flushed my drains, and had good flow, but still was getting leaks at the front drains. So I bought a tool to clean the tubing (brush on a cable), thinking the flow was just impeded with filth. In so doing, I was a little too aggressive, and knocked the tubing completely off of the drain. Ugh. Small leak to HUGE leak!

I had feared the headliner removal scenario, tried and failed the impact driver removal of the A-pillar hand grip. So out of frustration, I just removed my visors and carefully pulled the trim away above the doors (did not have to remove) and pulled the corner of the headliner away from the roof. My headliner was water stained/damaged so was far from pristine anyway. I damaged (bent/wrinkled) the headliner a little, but was able to access the front drain. All looked well, and as I suspected, the Tygon tubing was stiff and the cheap wire clamp wimpy, so it was TOO LOOSE on the drain fitting, and would weep every time water went down the drain. Most water would drain, but some always leaked out. So, working through the small corner of the headliner, I cut about 3/4" off of the end of the tubing to achieve a smaller ID, then used a manly hose clamp to reattach the tubing. Then replaced the headliner. The only permanent damage was a wrinkle or two. Fine with me.

Repeat on passenger side, but had to remove the grab handle on the roof which was easy. Same scenario and fix on the passenger side.

LEAK FIXED!!!

I would start a new thread with this fix, but am not worthy yet - not enough posts.

 

[Bad Luck]

I finally figured out my sunroof leak and the fix wasn't too hard.

First, many people don't realize the seals on the glass are NOT designed to keep water out. This is why there are 4 drains - one per corner. I flushed my drains, and had good flow, but still was getting leaks at the front drains. So I bought a tool to clean the tubing (brush on a cable), thinking the flow was just impeded with filth. In so doing, I was a little too aggressive, and knocked the tubing completely off of the drain. Ugh. Small leak to HUGE leak!

I had feared the headliner removal scenario, tried and failed the impact driver removal of the A-pillar hand grip. So out of frustration, I just removed my visors and carefully pulled the trim away above the doors (did not have to remove) and pulled the corner of the headliner away from the roof. My headliner was water stained/damaged so was far from pristine anyway. I damaged (bent/wrinkled) the headliner a little, but was able to access the front drain. All looked well, and as I suspected, the Tygon tubing was stiff and the cheap wire clamp wimpy, so it was TOO LOOSE on the drain fitting, and would weep every time water went down the drain. Most water would drain, but some always leaked out. So, working through the small corner of the headliner, I cut about 3/4" off of the end of the tubing to achieve a smaller ID, then used a manly hose clamp to reattach the tubing. Then replaced the headliner. The only permanent damage was a wrinkle or two. Fine with me.

Repeat on passenger side, but had to remove the grab handle on the roof which was easy. Same scenario and fix on the passenger side.

LEAK FIXED!!!

I would start a new thread with this fix, but am not worthy yet - not enough posts.

We get it... You fixed your sunroof leak. No need to post the same thing in 6 different threads. If you can't start a thread yet, but need help with anything in the future please use this thread (The 3rd Gen All Questions Allowed Thread) instead of spamming the forum

 

[mtbtim]

I finally figured out my sunroof leak and the fix wasn't too hard.

First, many people don't realize the seals on the glass are NOT designed to keep water out. This is why there are 4 drains - one per corner. I flushed my drains, and had good flow, but still was getting leaks at the front drains. So I bought a tool to clean the tubing (brush on a cable), thinking the flow was just impeded with filth. In so doing, I was a little too aggressive, and knocked the tubing completely off of the drain. Ugh. Small leak to HUGE leak!

I had feared the headliner removal scenario, tried and failed the impact driver removal of the A-pillar hand grip. So out of frustration, I just removed my visors and carefully pulled the trim away above the doors (did not have to remove) and pulled the corner of the headliner away from the roof. My headliner was water stained/damaged so was far from pristine anyway. I damaged (bent/wrinkled) the headliner a little, but was able to access the front drain. All looked well, and as I suspected, the Tygon tubing was stiff and the cheap wire clamp wimpy, so it was TOO LOOSE on the drain fitting, and would weep every time water went down the drain. Most water would drain, but some always leaked out. So, working through the small corner of the headliner, I cut about 3/4" off of the end of the tubing to achieve a smaller ID, then used a manly hose clamp to reattach the tubing. Then replaced the headliner. The only permanent damage was a wrinkle or two. Fine with me.

Repeat on passenger side, but had to remove the grab handle on the roof which was easy. Same scenario and fix on the passenger side.

LEAK FIXED!!!

I would start a new thread with this fix, but am not worthy yet - not enough posts.

Good job fixing the issue.

Maybe you didn't see my video, but I have one on removing the headliner which includes dealing with those stubborn A-pillar grab handle screws that Toyota in their infinite wisdom put thread locker on.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Here's the video:

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[brillo_76]

What I found to work with the a piller screws for the grip is a set of JIS Phillips screw drivers. As the Japanese Industrial standard Phillips is Slightly different then the American Phillips and why folks have issues getting those Phillips screws out.

I use them all the time when working on the 4 runner.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[TheDurk]

What I found to work with the a piller screws for the grip is a set of JIS Phillips screw drivers. As the Japanese Industrial standard Phillips is Slightly different then the American Phillips and why folks have issues getting those Phillips screws out.

I use them all the time when working on the 4 runner.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

Absolutely. Non-JIS drivers on a Toyota will cam out every time if the screw is tight.

 

[mtbtim]

What I found to work with the a piller screws for the grip is a set of JIS Phillips screw drivers. As the Japanese Industrial standard Phillips is Slightly different then the American Phillips and why folks have issues getting those Phillips screws out.

I use them all the time when working on the 4 runner.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

You make a good point about using a JIS screwdriver instead of a Phillips on a Japanese vehicle, but the main reason those A-pillar grab handle screws are hard to get out without stripping is because Toyota stupidly used loctite on them. Were they that scared the screws would back out? It was a bad decision on their part. I own a JIS screwdriver set as well but I like using the impact screwdriver to get those screws out without stripping them.

 

[brillo_76]

You make a good point about using a JIS screwdriver instead of a Phillips on a Japanese vehicle, but the main reason those A-pillar grab handle screws are hard to get out without stripping is because Toyota stupidly used loctite on them. Were they that scared the screws would back out? It was a bad decision on their part. I own a JIS screwdriver set as well but I like using the impact screwdriver to get those screws out without stripping them.

You can get impact JIS tips too. I can see folks wanting to use nut drivers to loosen them because of the loctite. Mostly my large JIS screwdriver backs them right out. All i use are JIS screwdrivers on all Toyota screws. Makes your life alot easier.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[Boreas]

I finally figured out my sunroof leak and the fix wasn't too hard.

First, many people don't realize the seals on the glass are NOT designed to keep water out. This is why there are 4 drains - one per corner. I flushed my drains, and had good flow, but still was getting leaks at the front drains. So I bought a tool to clean the tubing (brush on a cable), thinking the flow was just impeded with filth. In so doing, I was a little too aggressive, and knocked the tubing completely off of the drain. Ugh. Small leak to HUGE leak!

I had feared the headliner removal scenario, tried and failed the impact driver removal of the A-pillar hand grip. So out of frustration, I just removed my visors and carefully pulled the trim away above the doors (did not have to remove) and pulled the corner of the headliner away from the roof. My headliner was water stained/damaged so was far from pristine anyway. I damaged (bent/wrinkled) the headliner a little, but was able to access the front drain. All looked well, and as I suspected, the Tygon tubing was stiff and the cheap wire clamp wimpy, so it was TOO LOOSE on the drain fitting, and would weep every time water went down the drain. Most water would drain, but some always leaked out. So, working through the small corner of the headliner, I cut about 3/4" off of the end of the tubing to achieve a smaller ID, then used a manly hose clamp to reattach the tubing. Then replaced the headliner. The only permanent damage was a wrinkle or two. Fine with me.

Repeat on passenger side, but had to remove the grab handle on the roof which was easy. Same scenario and fix on the passenger side.

LEAK FIXED!!!

I would start a new thread with this fix, but am not worthy yet - not enough posts.

UPDATE: Somehow the driver's drain got clogged again during a deluge. Apparently 3 other drains aren't enough. Even sitting level, I was getting water coming in along the driver's SIDE of the sunroof - not so much by the windshield. Upon troubleshooting, I found the water was actually entering the interior through the mounting system for the aero flipper. The water would fill up the channel, then flow in through the mounting bracket, then drip through the mounting bolts. Pulled the assembly apart and filled every cavity and joint with RTV sealant. Blew out the driver's drain once again, and the sunroof made it through a 6-day nor'easter at Cape Cod courtesy the remnants of hurricane Ian. Fingers crossed...

 

[RodrickHeffley]

I've been fighting a leak that I thought was from my B-Pillar for about a year now, got around to pouring some water into the holes tonight and found that the water is actually seemingly coming in from under the kick panel on the passenger side.

Any ideas on what could be causing this? or is it just clogged?

i don't think there's anything blocking the pinch weld on the passenger side, but I haven't taken it apart enough to check the inside

edit: on closer observation, it seems to be dripping down behind the a pillar plastic, both in the corner of the dashboard and behind the kick panel and onto the weather stripping too. seems like a clog to me, but i'd like a second opinion just in case

 

[brillo_76]

If you have sunroof. You can have leaks. My one is actually leaking through the sunroof glass seal itself. Being the front 2 drains empty into the rockers, they can plug up along with the 2 rears. It takes all 4 drains functioning properly to control the water. Thus, it's best to verify drains are clean with leaks from the roof.

The 2nd area would be the rack seals for the roof rack. Then the weildshield.

With water on the drivers kick panel area. That could be a ripped grommet for the wiring harness. The wiring boot is not sealing. Or your upper weather strip, strinking, letting too much water come down that pillar.

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