Sunroof drain problem - not typical clog

mvoss15

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Location
Indiana
TDI
2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI (previous 05 Jetta TDI, 09 JSW TDI, 05 Jeep Liberty CRD)
I've searched through all related forum posts that I can find, and cannot seem to find anyone who has this issue. I'm hoping someone can provide some advice here. My car is an early 2005 Jetta TDI, A4 style.
I've recently begun to have water in my driver's side footwell, and it is dripping from above the hood release handle. Thinking it was a clogged sunroof drain "nipple." After checking that, however, when it rained yesterday, i was still getting a leak. I put my car in the garage, opened the sunroof, and poured some water in the track. A significant amount of water came out from undderneath my dash, right around the hood release handle.
My next thought was that somehow the tubing became disconnected from the rubber grommet and nipple. I removed that, and the tube was still firmly inserted. I removed the rubber nipple, left the tube pointing through the hole in my doorframe, and poured some more water. Some of the water came out through the tube as it's supposed to, but most of the water came out underneath my dash.
I'd prefer to avoid having to remove the headliner and replace the entire tube...and was hoping someone may have a suggestion on how I could fix this. Thanks!
 

mtltdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2003
Location
Canada
TDI
2003 Golf GLS, Indigo Blue
Sounds like the hose became detached at the sunroof end.
 

mvoss15

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Location
Indiana
TDI
2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI (previous 05 Jetta TDI, 09 JSW TDI, 05 Jeep Liberty CRD)
This is definetly what appears to have happened. I tried gently pushing some weedeater string through the drain hole in the sunroof, and i can hear/feel it hit the top of the headliner.

So, my question (to anyone who may be able to help) is: how do I reattach the drain hose to the sunroof assembly? Is there an "easy" way to do this, or will I have to drop the entire headliner? Thanks for any help that you can provide!
 

JimTDI

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Joined
Jul 15, 2004
Location
Saint Paul, MN
TDI
Jetta Wagon PD-TDI, 2004, Wheat Beige, TipTronic Trans.
if your car is a 2005 - shouldn't this be covered by the VW warranty? Gasser or TDI... this sounds like an issue to have the dealer look at.
 

mvoss15

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Location
Indiana
TDI
2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI (previous 05 Jetta TDI, 09 JSW TDI, 05 Jeep Liberty CRD)
Warranty...yeah...that's a good idea. I'll take it in soon, I'm almost to 50k. Another thought that I just had...earlier this summer, my Jetta was hit by hail. The body shop that did the "paintless" dent repair (they did an excellent job) had to remove the headliner if I recall. There's a good chance that they loosened the hose by accident, and it has just now come fully undone. They're a very reputable shop...most likely they'd fix it no charge.

Thanks for the thought - I just took a look at my warranty paperwork--for some reason I thought that it ended at 40K. I see that it actually goes to 50K! Hmm...now, what else do I want them to take a look at? ;)
 

mtltdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2003
Location
Canada
TDI
2003 Golf GLS, Indigo Blue
As little as possible. Try to minimize the carnage, at best you'll probably have greasy prints all over your headliner. hehe
 

PDiesoiler

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Jun 26, 2004
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PNW TDI Capital of the World; (ok maybe just the U
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TDI-less
I had the same problem with mine. Ran a weedwacker wire through the drain but it never came out the other end. Took it to the dealer under warranty and they discovered the tube in the A pillar had come loose or perhaps had never been installed correctly. That fixed the leak which was coming from the same place yours is...right out near the hood release lever. When I picked it up they told me it was a 5 hour ordeal so.........best to get it done under warranty.
 

DieselFan1947

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Location
Dallas
TDI
2005 Station Wagon
Sunroof drain: where is it?

We have a 2005 Jetta TDI Station Wagon. We had a similar leak after the dealer washed the car during service. On the way back from that service session, water started leaking from around the headliner light fixture! We turned around and took it back. The dealer took all of 5 minutes to fix the problem. They said that part of the scheduled maintenance (which we had not yet done) includes blowing debris out of the sun-roof drain tube. They did that and we have had no leaks since.

Later, I asked the dealer how to locate the sunroof drain so I could blow it out myself. They flatly asserted that such an action was not something I could do, that it had to be done by the dealer! :(

If I have correctly interpreted what I'm reading here, their claim is not true. Can anyone tell me how to locate the sun-roof drain ao I can clear it our myself with compressed air? Is there any potential pitfall in doing this?

Thanks,
 
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mvoss15

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Location
Indiana
TDI
2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI (previous 05 Jetta TDI, 09 JSW TDI, 05 Jeep Liberty CRD)
Sunroof drain location

Just as an update - I took my car back to the bodyshop that did my hail dent repair---they confirmed that they had removed the headliner, and must have failed to properly reconnect the tube. Fixed it that morning for me, free of charge. They are a bit more expensive than other bodyshops in town, but their honest guys. I'd never go anywhere else.

Location of the sunroof drains: check out this post:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=152295

This is from a new beetle, but the drains on the Jetta are in the same place. From what I've gathered from reading on this, the front ones are the only ones you'll need to clean. The rear ones rarely get clogged from what I've read in some other posts. To be honest, I haven't even tried to locate my rear ones. Do a few searches here on TDI club--there seems to be various suggested methods for cleaning the drains, compressed air has some potential drawbacks i believe. Good luck to ya.

Matt
 

owr084

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Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Location
Northern Virginia (NoVA)
TDI
Passat GLS, 2005, Stonehenge Gray
DieselFan1947 said:
If I have correctly interpreted what I'm reading here, their claim is not true. Can anyone tell me how to locate the sun-roof drain ao I can clear it our myself with compressed air? Is there any potential pitfall in doing this?

Thanks,
Don't use compressed air - you may end up blowing the connections apart. Use weedwhacker cord or bicycle brake/gear cable (make sure the end is capped so the wire doesn't fray). You can see the drains when the sunroof is open. There is one in each corner. Just remember - easy does it.
 

asheyb

Active member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Location
Wyoming
TDI
sadly...none..yet
I also have the same water in the footwell problem..Had VW check it out and they told me basically that the "tubing was too short from the factory to reach thus water was leaking out partway through it's drain sequence"...so they have to take everything apart and start over. Better to find it now than later I suppose...no need to find Nemo waving at me from within my car someday after a big rain.
 
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