2009 Jetta Sportwagen panoramic sunroof LEAK

Happy New Year to all.

Dtragg, I suspect you may need to put some sealer in both ends of the elbow thing at the sunroof drain, but I will know more tomorrow (19 Jan 15). Seems the right front drain in our 09 JSW has started leaking, and I'm now outside the CPO warranty, argh! So, I get to go in and experience the joys of headliner partial dropping and all that. I'll get pictures if possible.

I tried to get the dealer to replace all 4 tubes when the left front started leaking, the service writer wouldn't budge, she only would authorize the one that was leaking at the time (left front). Guess where I'm NEVER going again for service.

OK, did the right front and both rear tubes today. Pictures when I get a few. All three had the usual coupling to tube leakage, and the rear two were almost 100% plugged. Blew the rears open with compressed air, and reworked the coupler to tube joints x3. After prying the couplers from the tubes and cleaning all with brake cleaner, I applied RTV, and secured the coupler with heat-shrink tubing over the coupler and tube. I also put a bead of RTV on the outside of the joint between coupler and tube before sliding the heat shrink on. After shrinking down with a heat gun, the coupler is firmly held, the RTV is well spread and compressed, and after letting things cool down a bit, I could reassemble immediately. Clear any RTV out of the inside that might have oozed into the bore of the tube or coupler before reattaching, though a little on the ball joint end might not hurt, as long as it's not in the bore.

One note, watch where the hot air goes, if it plays on the PVC tube beyond the heat shrink for too long, it could melt the tube. Ditto the interior trim/headliner/etc. Just use normal caution. Also, don't cut the heat shrink too long, it will keep the PVC tube from bending and may kink it where it bends coming off the frame. I ended up with about a 2" length of heat shrink just big enough diameter to slip over the coupler.

Also, the two front tubes on my 09 JSW were brown, the right rear was green, the left rear was yellow.

I'm having the same problem with my 2010 JSW.

ANy pics would be appreciated.

I'm out of warranty too of course.

Anyone know how to remove or minimize the water stains on the nice light headliner?

Really peaves me that this stuff is not sorted by VW, when they had a large class action suit for the same dang problem. Of course, my 2010 is not in the class action group. I'm going to check with the dealer just in case, but my guess will be I'll be told to pony up.

Do one of you guys know how to get at the front pano motor? I have the roof control frame all taken down but I think I need to drop the front of the headliner to actually swap the motor out for a new one. Any tips or bentley pics would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

Can someone tell me where the pano roof drains are supposed to terminate?

now mine is leaking up front, I repaired the left rear last year...start of the rainy season but I think this started at the beginning of winter

TDIFred said:

now mine is leaking up front, I repaired the left rear last year...start of the rainy season but I think this started at the beginning of winter

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How did you "repair" the left rear?

pull the headliner down, really gently (might have to remove grab handle from above left rear seat). you should be able to shine a flashlight in there and see the pipe and hose. i pried the hose off the pipe and put some black gasket cement all around the inner part of the hose. popped it back on the pipe. so far so good. there are pictures on here somewhere. Pacific NW (anywhere near Portland?)

If you have to fix one then go ahead and do the others as well. It is just a matter of time before they start leaking.
Pay the price of admission one time and see the whole show!
These things are pitiful!

Can someone comment and provide advice / tips for how to lube the rails. I have a link to the correct lube but confused on what the best way to get it in there, effectively. Thanks!

Think I fixed my sunroof drain problem here's how

Newbie to the membership here. Thanks for allowing me in.
Driving an 09 Jetta Sportwagon TDI with the monster sunroof.
Two weeks ago I started smelling a mildewey(sp) odor and found the passenger front floorboard was damp. I switched with my wife and put my car into our bone dry garagewith the doors and windows open and a fan on it for a couple days. Then I pulled it outside facing the hot sun and let it bake for a couplle days...Now confident it was dry. In the meantime I studied here on the forum about potential causes and there seemed to be a concencus of opinion that the sunroof drains may well be the cause; My thought also. What I did not like was that folks on here say the drain tubes empty above the innner fenderwells. I have been an equipment maintenance mechanic for all of my adult life, save for uncle sam's time and having owned this car for about 2 years now it is nearly the most PITA car I have ever worked on so tearing into the fenderwell was not my first thought. My SOLUTION...With the doors wide open and the sunroof all the way open I found that standing, one shoeless foot on each front seat was about the optimum workspace. I placed towels around to protect the paint etc., and everything I thought I would need. Ok you folks said the drain holes were hard to find...in the relatively dark garage with a flashlight I found the holes...larger than you would think and on the sides of the trough in the front on both sides not in front as you might think. One of you folks said to use a pointed blowgun to blow compressed air and unplug the hose outlet. In my experience, IF the problem at the drain hole exit is stronger than the "rubber elbow" at the beginning up under the headliner then forcing air at the top may well loosen completely the upper fitting causing more headaches. Solution....I had a long piece of 1/8" neoprene hose with a 5/16 outside diameter. I cut the one end of the hose so as to make an exaggerated point then carefully fed the hose as far as possible (Roughly 3 1/2 feet,) until it bottomed out presumeably at the outlet. When i pulled the hose back out and laid it down aloge the pillar post it extended to a little past the firewall. Anyway with the hose fully inserted and bottomed out I started with small bursts of compressed air, keeping one hand close enough to the drain hole that I could tell there was no backdraft. then I progressed to a full blast of air and after a short while the rubber "lips" on the outlet started a high pitched chattering. roughly the same sound as if you blew backwards through the reeded mouthpiece of a saxophone, or a 2 cycle carb fitting. Voala I believed I That would do the trick so I duplicated it on the other side with the same results. Just in time....We had a fairly wet night last night with lots of rain and all seems dry. Maybe this will be of some help to you all. Again thanks for the forum

First off: Welcome.

Second: I don't think owners find the front drain holes hard to find, it's the exits that are a little tricky.

I like the idea of pushing a tube down in and then using compressed air to clear the blockage. I just used weed wacker line and kept shoving it in and out and pulling out muddy sediment. Eventually I got brave enough to test the drains with a cup of water.

Now, mine backed up all the way from the bottom to the top, ran around my pano frame and eventually dumped water all over the window motor and fried it. My point is that I never had a leak IN THE car despite it backing all the way up. So, what I'm wondering is do you still have a compromised line but its draining well now and so you're not getting a noticeable amount of leakage in the car? Does that make sense?

Hey guys, check this out:

I called the dealership. They want $12 for the rubber seal lube and $32 for the magical VW rail lube.

But get this...

The service is a courtesy service. In other words, find any other cheap service to go in for (in my case I'm way over due for brake fluid flush) and they do it for free lol.

Some folks have asked about pulling the headerliner out to get at the drain hoses, but nobody has fessed up to doing so that I've noticed.

Because of leakage and a buggered up sunshade, I bit the bullet and pulled mine - 2009 JSW with the pano sunroof.

Here are some words and pictures about the process.

It's a royal pain, just because of the sheer number of parts you have to remove to get it off, and the difficulty in particular with the clips that hold the shell of the overhead console (that's part of the headliner) to the roof of the car.

I've located a leak in one of the drain tube couplers, and show a bit about how I sealed things up with flowable silicone (which is still curing as I type this).

David

I met up with a guy who bought a 2009, new. He's pushing 400,000 miles, never serviced the panoroof and never had any problems. So, its not all doom and gloom on these .

Best thing I know of if you have one is to leave it alone and don't open it.
We just got a new to us 2013 JSW with the Pano roof and it squeeks like heck.
Connie is going to take to the the dealer to have it looked at under warranty. Still under 36,000 miles.

My 2009 JSW has a pano roof that is working just fine. I admit to opening it when it's frozen more often that I should and all the seals and drains still work fine.

redbarron55 said:

Best thing I know of if you have one is to leave it alone and don't open it.
We just got a new to us 2013 JSW with the Pano roof and it squeeks like heck.

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I think it's best to keep the rails and drains clean, and rails properly lubed. I do it every year. Seems like the more I run it the better it sounds and moves (after servicing). I have 73K miles. Also, I'm not much of an AC guy so I like to drive a lot with all the windows down and I love having the pano all the way back. Its almost like a convertible . I couldn't stand it if I had a panoroof and just resigned myself to never opening it.

Well, I'm a repeat customer now on the pano roof leak. My first instance was July 2014 where I had to bring it in to Mall of Ga VW for water stains on the headliner. (page 4 of the thrrad) The leaks/stains were both the driver and passenger handles and the rear drivers side. Aka, where the drains are.

At that time it was said to be the leaf debris taken in by the cowl vents. That's fine, I now jack the car up every month and clean out the traps behind the wheel liners with compressed air.

Well, guess what is back? Large softball size stain/wet spot on the passenger side rear. The worst part is the smell. The musty, mildew/mold smell.

I have two dehumidifying gel units sucking up the humidity just to keep the car tolerable. Luckily it's been crazy hot here in SC and not much rain, so I'm drying out a bit now.

I was debating taking down the headliner the first time to re-tube and glue to drains as many have done. But she was under warranty then. Now we are at 50k, so no warranty.

Question: since this is the rear drain and never would've been effected by debris in the front cowl, is it worth going back to make another warranty claim? Even if they honor it, would the dealer actually glue/replace tubes?

I've not seen a TSB or new replacement part numbers for the pano drains... so they would most likely just push fit the tubes again. Aka, it's just going to keep happening. I've got the skill to do this (rebuilt a BMW E30/rebuilding w124 300D) but I'm more than annoyed to do so on the "new car", 2013 is way to young to have this issue. I get there is always someone that has 20yrs and a million miles without issue. For this jsw roof I think this will be one of the historical weaknesses of the car. A colleague of ours has a grey JSW with pano and dark interior. We are watching hers closely.

Our roof squeaks too btw.
So +1 for that. Always when closed. It's like a tension/torque type of sound.

Rushtone, post #74, epic write up with perfect pictures!!
Exactly what I'm looking for.
How long did that take you in total? Hours or days?

Looked like a 2 day project.

Me Too

Just did this on my 2009 JSW.
After reading this thread a few times and committing it to memory I did the 2 fronts in a couple of hours, and 30 minutes of that was letting the Duraflex wet-set before putting the hose back in the fitting.
Also smeared a bit around the rim of the socket side so when inserted onto the nipple would form a light seal there as well.
I pulled the visor and handles and blahblahblah and pulled the hoses out the side.
On the drivers side its easier to take the hose over the top of the blue wires to pull it further out of the headliner.
Jewelers screwdriver to very carefully separate the hose from the nipple and good to go.
No car wash or rain for 48 hours.
Additionally, there was a nest of leaves and road grit behind both of the wheel wells.
That, combined with the drip from the fitting when water poured into the drains, explains the wet Birkenstock after a trip to the East Coast.
Caught it before it got moldy, so that's something...

Appreciate this thread a load.
Thanks.

I've had my '09 for about 6 months now. I bought it from an anal owner that always garaged it, ran amsoil in it, and took it to the dealer for any issue or schedule maintenance.
I really dig the car for driving during the week with my year and half old daughter, she loves the big sunroof and I love the fuel economy.
3 weeks ago I found the rear drivers floorboard soaked, which I couldn't figure because I'd sealed the drain tubes after buying it, after reading this type stuff on the Internet.
It was raining decent today, so I checked and sure enough them floorboard was wet again!
I pulled the headliner down and found water dripping from a "black box" in front of the drain and the drain flowing good.

Anybody have any idea how to fix this?i dont even know what I'm looking at. I'm a decent mechanic but this is the first sunroof I've owned.
Pics on next post.

Captb said:

...
I pulled the headliner down and found water dripping from a "black box" in front of the drain and the drain flowing good.

Click to expand...

Where is this "black box"?

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Just ahead of the drivers rear drain. Along the rail or trough, whatever it's called. I don't see any wires coming from it, but do go by it to the rear, and I assume it's a cable assembly too that goes by it.
I can't load the pictures for some reason.

Is it possible to take the glass up? The rear panel?

Looking at it some more, I'm guessing it's where the trough/ frame is joined in that rear corner. I do not see a way to seal it though.
What's the opinion of a body shop working on this, or is it something that HAS to go to VW for?
I just can't see a way, physically or mechanically, that it can be sealed from the inside. I think the glass would have to come up.

I have a '09 JSW with pano sunroof. The L front and both rears are leaking like crazy. Damn you VW for using these crappy nipples! The rear leaks somehow fill up my spare tire well. Thanks to those on this forum who posted pics and shared techniques. I just did my L front as shown in post #s 19 and 20, it took about 30 minutes. I'm going to tackle the rears next and found post # 74 very helpful in getting a handle on where things are. Good job picture documenting guys.

Thought I would post my latest in our leaking pano.
The leaks were at all 4 corners, in the headliner (we have the cornsilk color).
Never did we have water in the floorboard or spare tire.

Given the fun of taking down the headliner, I brought it back to the dealer.
The first time we brought it in, it was under warranty. This time, it was not. VW NA did cover part of my cost, but not all like some owners. I'm happy it wasn't all my $$$ for the 4 hours of labor.

The tech said it was due to "partial clogs" at the ends of all the hoses, where they connect to the body. I pushed back that I had run trimmer wire all the way though each drain and visually verified water was flowing from all 4 drains...with the fronts freely flowing. After that it was only a "partial blockage" but in the pictures maybe one was fully blocked. You can see where the trimmer wire was putting a pattern into the debris.

I did get the impression if there is any debris... you're the problem. Where we live, I can't park the car in the garage every single day. The VW had been in the garage for the past 2 months, which is why the debris was so dry in the pictures.

They did modify the bottom nipple to be wider.
I specifically asked them to seal up the connectors at the drain boxes, you know in the headliner where it is leaking.
It was hard to tell in the pictures, but if they sealed that up, it was with a very small amount of sealant compared to other's repairs. Aka, wasn't the black silicone goo.

I have a feeling I'll be back within 30 days with the top boxes still leaking. But who knows.

Here is some pictures from the dealer. They also really didn't like that I had the VW OEM backup camera installed.
Lots of pictures of those two wires...like it was making the drains not work or something.

These were the rear, bottoms after being cut. The back driver's was the "full" blocked if there were any. What a SMALL opening though for a drain.

I hope this is sealed and not the base, from the factory connecting....

Anyone with this problem ,which is most of the pano cars should have the dealer go to VWOA and ask for help to pay for the repair. I had mine partially paid for.They should all be covered because this is a defective design. With all VW is involved with now they should be taking care of their customers,if they want to survive the emissions disaster.

I too have a leaky pano roof.

I've collected a variety of information regarding how to fix the issue. I've also removed the headliner and associated items. My problem right now is narrowing down where the front drains terminate.

I've read up that they drain into the wiper cowl, but my question is... where?

Do I need to take the fender liners out to see the ends?

Any help would be appreciated, as the weather is getting colder and I need to finish this up ASAP!

The front drains come down through the front pillar into the fender wells behind the covers. Service manual has pictures I think. I use weed trimmer line and snake down from the top.