Sunroof drain plugs

TDI_Dog

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2003
Location
Back in little North Beach, Maryland
TDI
none - yet. Used to have a '02 MK4 Golf GLS TDI
How do I clean my sunroof drain plugs - the other night after a heavy downpour, the driver side floor board was full of water. Just so happened it was sitting in the dealers lot after having a TB/Water Pump/EGR service, they told me the water was from the sunroof drain, but didnt tell me how to unclog it.

Any idea's?
 

Luv My 02 TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2002
Location
(Hybla Valley) Alexandria, VA
TDI
Jetta MK5(2010) and MK6(2015)
It was at the dealers? Did this ever happen to you? I hope they cleaned it up for you. I would sure hope they tell you. But I also think I read a thread on how to clean the sunroof drain in the past week. I did a search but could not find the answer
 

Rustynuts

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2004
Location
Richmond, North England
TDI
VW Jetta 2.0ltr Sport TDI
I believe the drains are in the hinge side of the front doors. Open the doors wide and somewhere in there are the drain tubes which will have a fattened end. Squeeze these to re-open them, and all should be well.
Just speaking from memory as I don't have a sunroof!

Edit: that should read "flattened" end
 

vbenw

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2004
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2000 Golf GLS TDI
you can take a small plastic hose or whatever else you can find (it has to be some what stiff) and run it through to clean them out. As stated previously they drain in front door hinge. Look for a rubber plug looking thing with a hole in it.

I forgot to mention the hose should be about 6-7 feet long. You also have two rear drain hoses which empty under the rear bumper below the tailights. The same hose should work.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I just love to rub it in! Don't you just love that sun roof?

Your problem is exactly why I wouldn't own a car again with a sun roof. I owned a 1987 Quantum VW and had more problems with leaks from the sun roof ...... especially stopped-up drain hoses.
 

McBrew

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Annapolis, MD
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI, 5 speed, Silver/Grey
Andy... I can understand that. It happened to my Golf once. I don't know for sure if it was the sunroof drain... but I parked it on an incline (front left was downhill) and there was more than an inch of water on the floor.

However, I must say that there are good sunroof designs. I have owned a few Mercedes... and worked on hundreds of them. I have never seen one with a leaky sunroof. Yep, even ones with over 400k miles on them (like my last one). Mercedes outsourced their sunroof work to Webasto. The first thing I did when I got in my new Golf (back in 2002) was to open the sunroof. I looked around for a "Webasto" name on any of the parts and was somewhat dismayed when I couldn't find it. Oh, well...

PS: I never had to clean the sunroof drains on my Mercedes. I owned it for 6 years and 210,000 miles (it already had 200k on it when I bought it). It sat outside under trees the whole time I owned it... just like my Golf. A good sunroof design makes all the difference.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
McBrew... Yep, I have actually seen lots of good stories about sun roofs. My son's car has a sun roof that hasn't given him any problems either.

I was just jabbing a little.

Gees! My old Quantum would leak and the temp would drop below freezing leaving a skating rink in the floor board.

Just something to jab about!
 

jddaigle

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2004
Location
Denver, Colorado, USA
TDI
No TDI Anymore
It's not just VWs--Volvo 240s and 740s also have easily-clogged sunroof drain lines that lead to leaks! For a while I kept a paper cup in my 740 for when it rained. I just wedged it between the seat and the center console and it caught a drip I couldn't seem to get rid of.
 

TDIinRI

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Location
NOT in RI
TDI
2003 GOLF silver
Sunroof drains on e30 3series BMWs are also know to clog up and should be cleaned periodically. I guess its the nature of the beast. That being said, I have never owned a car without a sunroof. I love them. Cleaning the drains once every year or two ain't a biggie
 

OSUJAKE

Active member
Joined
May 15, 2004
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
TDI
99.5 Golf GLS TDI auto(Wife) 99.5 Jetta GLS TDI 5 speed(mine)
I have 2 TDIs with sunroofs and when the drain on my Jetta got clogged it filled the drivers side floor with water. I cut the flattened edge off of the drains and used a small screw driver to clean out what appeared to be mud out of the lower part of the drains. I then "snaked" the drain with weed whacker line. Then I poured water down it and it is no longer restricted. I cut the flattened edge off of the drains on my girlfriends golf at the same time as pm I hate wet carpet in a car.
 

autdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Location
Alabama
TDI
2000 NB, 2003 NB, 2006 Touareg, 2015 Jetta, 2013 Beetle, 2013 Touareg
Can someone point me to the location of the front drains on a 2000 Beetle? I've got the same water in the passenger front issue, and ran weedeater string down the drain, and ran into something fairly far along. It pulled back mud on the end of the line, so I'm guessing it is clogged. I looked in the door hinge area, but nothing like the drain described here jumped out when looking at it.
 
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