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Is this a sun roof drain tube leak?

4.2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  ChadSahdad  
#1 ·
Came out to drips coming from (or about to) these parts of the overhead today. Is this a leak from the sun roof drain tube? Other posts lead me to believe it may be but I haven't seen another post stating this location where they saw water. I was able to see water inside of that door area there (pulled the weather stripping and part of the soft part down) but couldn't tell where the water is coming from. The blue is about how far the wet spots went back. Let me know if the image isn't showing properly. First time doing that.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Clogged drain tubes (looks like it would be both fronts, in this case) would cause water to be visible in this area. Check down on the floor on both sides - the carpet may also be wet since the water will flow down the back side of the a-pillar trim. The sill plate just pops straight up to check.

You can also open the sunroof to see if there is still water being held up in the sunroof pan. Keep in mind that ALL sunroofs leak - that's why the drains are there. If the drains are kept clear, it is no problem.

Previous generations had issues with the seam sealer between the roof and side body panels cracking and leaking, but that would more likely start on one side first. There have been a small number of similar leaks on the 4th gen vans, but it is less likely. Check those sunroof drains first.

-Charlie
I believe I fixed the problem.....Floor wasn't wet so I think the clog wasn't too bad or it had just recently clogged up. Per other suggestions in posts I used trim line to get down in the tube and hit any clogs. The bit of water that was in there slowly drained. I hit it again with more water in the little catch pan to hopefully flush more down and out. No wonder it was clogged...it was pretty dirty up there. Probably never got cleaned by previous owners over the years. It's raining again so hopefully I don't come out tomorrow morning with a wet ceiling or floor.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Just to update, and for any future people that may come across this post. I, in fact, did not clear out the clogs like I thought I did. I may have just pushed them down. They leaked again driving back from vacation during a huge downpour. Anyways, having read the mentioned post, I had found the location where the drain tubes meet the part where they go to the exterior of the car. For the driver side, all it took was a good wiggle and that cleared whatever out. Flushed it a few times and consistently got good flow out the drain hole in the wheel well.

The passenger side was another story. Wiggle didnt work so I got my old old straw tube cleaner from my Camelbak, pulled the tube out (came out quite easy) and cleaned out a good bit of gunk. Tested it again and learned the clog was in the portion on the exterior side of the car. Got a good shot of water when that happened... Couldn't get into the opening for the exterior drain very well with the tube cleaner so I eventually hit it with an air pump. That worked nicely. Both sides now clog free after flushing with water. I can post pics of the location if anyone is interested. Just let me know

TL;DR: Didn't actually unclog the drain tube as I first thought, had to go underneath dash, find, and clear tubes on that end. After some trail and error, finally got both sides clog free.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
With all your challenges cleaning the drain tubes, other posts suggest using plastic trimmer string pushing it down the tubes to clear it.

I did do that at first. I used trimmer string to try to clear it from the drain holes at the top. Was able to work it clear some but it clogged again and using trimmer string for a second time didn't clear it out.